Today, I attended a fraction of computer science class and left early to attend a cross-country meet.
Before I left, Mr. Arkin went over the SFTP instruction. I know that a lot of people last night was not able to upload their files up on FilleZilla. I got some phone calls and messages myself from my classmates asking if I got my file up on the net. There was also the page on Wikispaces that classmates created. It turns out that many people who were not successful in accessing FileZilla was because they did not follow the instructions to change into SFTP. Before I sleep today, I will try my best to change it as well.
I stayed for part of Mr. Arkin's discussion about new glossary terms. The homework today is apparently to create a validated Basic Computer Glossary. I missed half the lesson so I don't know if I missed some crucial definitions or can I simply obtain the definitions on the web. Where is a classmate to answer my question when I need one?
Since it is already too late to call anyone, I will just finish the glossary using definitions I find on the web (with references, of course) and fix any errors tomorrow in class.
Blog: finished
Glossary: long way to go..
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Glossary and Introducing... Notepad++ (SEPT/29/2010)
Today, Mr. Arkin discussed the construction of our glossaries, of a basic webpage, and he announced the new FTP password. (Shh!)
Mr. Arkin today talked about citing our definitions that we obtained directly from the Internet. There is a particularorder in which we place information such as: the author, date, title of page, link, etc. More information can be found on touque.ca
Before giving us time to work on our glossaries, he talked about lab 235 opening at lunchtime for students to work on their assignments. In addition, there will be leadership opportunities for us to supervise the room. I definitely would be using the lunchtime opportunities when possible to work on assignments. And in regards to the supervision opportunity, I will try my best to clear my schedule to be a part of this initiative.
I panicked a bit, because the glossary was due at 10pm tonight. However, I had to attend enrichment classes in Thornhill that night and had to bus there. Busing there alone was 1hr and 15minutes. Even if my father drove me back, I would literally get home at 9:45pm. Frankly, I hadn't made much progress on my glossary. I only completed the glossary and bare minimum of the actually definitions and references.
Before Mr. Arkin gave us time to work on the glossary, he told us to install Notepad ++. I have been using it, and it is not bad. It is very organized and convenient. However, it will take me sometime to adapt to it, as I have been using the regular notepad for a long time.
I made quite a bit of progress in class, and before I left class, Mr. Arkin said that I would be able to upload it at lunch! The only problem is that right after I reached my locker that day I realized that I have to attend a crosscountry meet the next day. This means that I will not be able to upload it the following then!
When I got home at 10:15pm (miscalculated my time a bit. Turns out that even if my dad drove me I would still not make it home by 10pm!), I went straight to my computer to work on the glossary. To be frank, I actually took sometime to look at the updates on the class rep page! Votes should be in by next Friday! Can't wait for the results! Back from my tangent, I finally finished my glossary late at night and uploaded some links on the definitions resources page on Wikispaces. The references section was very painful, I must say, and it took the most time to complete.
This is it for my blogging at the moment. I will be missing part of class tomorrow for the cross-country meet! Wish me luck!
Mr. Arkin today talked about citing our definitions that we obtained directly from the Internet. There is a particularorder in which we place information such as: the author, date, title of page, link, etc. More information can be found on touque.ca
Before giving us time to work on our glossaries, he talked about lab 235 opening at lunchtime for students to work on their assignments. In addition, there will be leadership opportunities for us to supervise the room. I definitely would be using the lunchtime opportunities when possible to work on assignments. And in regards to the supervision opportunity, I will try my best to clear my schedule to be a part of this initiative.
I panicked a bit, because the glossary was due at 10pm tonight. However, I had to attend enrichment classes in Thornhill that night and had to bus there. Busing there alone was 1hr and 15minutes. Even if my father drove me back, I would literally get home at 9:45pm. Frankly, I hadn't made much progress on my glossary. I only completed the glossary and bare minimum of the actually definitions and references.
Before Mr. Arkin gave us time to work on the glossary, he told us to install Notepad ++. I have been using it, and it is not bad. It is very organized and convenient. However, it will take me sometime to adapt to it, as I have been using the regular notepad for a long time.
I made quite a bit of progress in class, and before I left class, Mr. Arkin said that I would be able to upload it at lunch! The only problem is that right after I reached my locker that day I realized that I have to attend a crosscountry meet the next day. This means that I will not be able to upload it the following then!
When I got home at 10:15pm (miscalculated my time a bit. Turns out that even if my dad drove me I would still not make it home by 10pm!), I went straight to my computer to work on the glossary. To be frank, I actually took sometime to look at the updates on the class rep page! Votes should be in by next Friday! Can't wait for the results! Back from my tangent, I finally finished my glossary late at night and uploaded some links on the definitions resources page on Wikispaces. The references section was very painful, I must say, and it took the most time to complete.
This is it for my blogging at the moment. I will be missing part of class tomorrow for the cross-country meet! Wish me luck!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Class Representative and Glossary! (SEPT/28/2010)
Oh wow! It has almost been a month!
Today in class Mr. Arkin gave us the full period to work on our glossaries. However, before he let us go to our computers, he talked a little bit about choosing a class representative. I want to run for this position. Even if I don't win (which I hope I do), I think this will be a good experience for me. I created a wikispace page and posted my personal statement on it. Take a look!
In regards to the glossary, I finished validating the HTML and CSS of the skeleton version of the glossary. In class I added all the terms onto the glossary, but I did not get a chance to add the definitions, because I spent sometime helping Zahra and Zainab with their coding. However, I feel that the whole class, including myself, has become a lot more knowledgeable about website design! As my classmate, Zainab said, "I can't believe I now know what all this [coding] means!"
Tonight, I got home at 8pm after I attended a science club meeting that I stayed behind to help and a session at Kumon math and reading center. I did not get a chance to work on my glossary so I hope that tomorrow I will get more time to work on it. After all, I need to get some sleep to mentally and physically prepare me for tomorrow!
At the moment, this is all I have to say! Today was a great day!
Today in class Mr. Arkin gave us the full period to work on our glossaries. However, before he let us go to our computers, he talked a little bit about choosing a class representative. I want to run for this position. Even if I don't win (which I hope I do), I think this will be a good experience for me. I created a wikispace page and posted my personal statement on it. Take a look!
In regards to the glossary, I finished validating the HTML and CSS of the skeleton version of the glossary. In class I added all the terms onto the glossary, but I did not get a chance to add the definitions, because I spent sometime helping Zahra and Zainab with their coding. However, I feel that the whole class, including myself, has become a lot more knowledgeable about website design! As my classmate, Zainab said, "I can't believe I now know what all this [coding] means!"
Tonight, I got home at 8pm after I attended a science club meeting that I stayed behind to help and a session at Kumon math and reading center. I did not get a chance to work on my glossary so I hope that tomorrow I will get more time to work on it. After all, I need to get some sleep to mentally and physically prepare me for tomorrow!
At the moment, this is all I have to say! Today was a great day!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Computer Science Terms! Glossary! Yay! (SEPT/27/2010)
Computer Science Terms! Glossary! Yay!
Today at the beginning of class we were taught ordered lists, unordered lists, and definition lists. Mr. Arkin then gave us some examples, what it would look like in an HTML file. I actually learned this by myself as I was exploring the different HTML and CSS tags on the Internet a week ago. However, I am glad Mr. Arkin went over it today because often the explanations on the Internet are not always very succinct and informative.
After the mini lesson about lists, we were asked to take out our class glossary with terms that were accumulated from day one of the semester. The assignment in class was to brainstorm "informal" definitions, and we were encouraged to use computer science terminology learned in class. Then, the homework today was to make a skeleton html file of a glossary webpage with definitions taken from the web. Of course, we would need references if it is copied and pasted.
The homework for today is: Complete a validated Glossary skeleton and save it in the Dropbox. (The dropbox is a new program introduced to us near the end of this class.)
At the moment, I am currently working on the glossary skeleton and I have created my Dropbox.
I don't have any questions today, but I just read over this class' course outline, and I found out that we are spending the next 40-60 periods learning about computer software. I managed to survive this unit, because I had some foundation and prior knowledge about webpage designing. I do hope that this unit will not be too difficult.
Overall, today was not a bad day. One big assignment was finally over and done with. Now, I am simply curious to see what will await as the classes progress.
Today at the beginning of class we were taught ordered lists, unordered lists, and definition lists. Mr. Arkin then gave us some examples, what it would look like in an HTML file. I actually learned this by myself as I was exploring the different HTML and CSS tags on the Internet a week ago. However, I am glad Mr. Arkin went over it today because often the explanations on the Internet are not always very succinct and informative.
After the mini lesson about lists, we were asked to take out our class glossary with terms that were accumulated from day one of the semester. The assignment in class was to brainstorm "informal" definitions, and we were encouraged to use computer science terminology learned in class. Then, the homework today was to make a skeleton html file of a glossary webpage with definitions taken from the web. Of course, we would need references if it is copied and pasted.
The homework for today is: Complete a validated Glossary skeleton and save it in the Dropbox. (The dropbox is a new program introduced to us near the end of this class.)
At the moment, I am currently working on the glossary skeleton and I have created my Dropbox.
I don't have any questions today, but I just read over this class' course outline, and I found out that we are spending the next 40-60 periods learning about computer software. I managed to survive this unit, because I had some foundation and prior knowledge about webpage designing. I do hope that this unit will not be too difficult.
Overall, today was not a bad day. One big assignment was finally over and done with. Now, I am simply curious to see what will await as the classes progress.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
9:30pm! 9:56pm! 10:02pm! (SEPT/24/2010)
Today was the final work period for the autobiography assignment. The main goal today in class was to have our peer editing sheet completed and up live on the web. I spent the period working on the final touches for my webpage and the end of the period editing my partner Govind's webpage. There was not much of a lesson today in class as Mr. Arkin gave us the time to complete our big assignment.
Unfortunately, Govind was not able to mark my page until 5pm afterschool. I had to leave for Kumon (math tutor) and art class afterschool and did not return home until 9pm. It was, in a way very stressful, because I still did not validate CSS, and I wasn't sure if Govind uploaded the peer marking sheet. When I checked, the CSS for the peer marking sheet did not show-up. I sent Mr. Arkin an email, but there was no reply. I had ONE HOUR until the deadline. Every ten minutes I would glance at the digital clock on the bottom right corner of my monitor. 9:30pm, 9:40pm, 9:50pm.... It was slowly moving towards the 10pm mark. After much struggle, I finally managed to complete my webpage up to minimal satisfaction and figured out the CSS problem. At that time, when I finished uploading my webpage, it was exactly 9:56pm with a few minutes to spare.
Overall, I am not completely satisfied with my webpage (I am such a perfectionist!) but I am glad I got it up on the web before 10pm. If not, even if I was 30secs late, the connection would break and my transfers would fail. Now, I cannnot do much except wait anxiously for the feedback.
Unfortunately, Govind was not able to mark my page until 5pm afterschool. I had to leave for Kumon (math tutor) and art class afterschool and did not return home until 9pm. It was, in a way very stressful, because I still did not validate CSS, and I wasn't sure if Govind uploaded the peer marking sheet. When I checked, the CSS for the peer marking sheet did not show-up. I sent Mr. Arkin an email, but there was no reply. I had ONE HOUR until the deadline. Every ten minutes I would glance at the digital clock on the bottom right corner of my monitor. 9:30pm, 9:40pm, 9:50pm.... It was slowly moving towards the 10pm mark. After much struggle, I finally managed to complete my webpage up to minimal satisfaction and figured out the CSS problem. At that time, when I finished uploading my webpage, it was exactly 9:56pm with a few minutes to spare.
Overall, I am not completely satisfied with my webpage (I am such a perfectionist!) but I am glad I got it up on the web before 10pm. If not, even if I was 30secs late, the connection would break and my transfers would fail. Now, I cannnot do much except wait anxiously for the feedback.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Work Period! Peer edit! Too much for me to handle? (SEPT/23/2010)
Today in class we had a great amount of time to work independantly on our assignments. I chose my partner for the peer marker and had the chance to use the peer-marking scheme to review my webpage. I made some notes about what I should add when I get home and emailed them to myself.
In class I learned that it would be best if I added a comment after a hex color code. A comment would show up on a source code like:
/* SPACE NAMEOFCOLOUR SPACE */
It would not be seen when viewed as a webpage.
At home, I contacted my partner, Govind, and he helped me look over my autobiography (writing component), and I helped him look over his. Tomorrow we will evaluate each other's work. Well, that's the plan at least. I do hope everything goes as planned. I want to finish the twenty pgs of tutor math and ten pages of music theory as well. Hopefully my time management skills will not fail me.
Tomorrow is the dealine! I shall make it on time without depriving myself of sleep. :)
In class I learned that it would be best if I added a comment after a hex color code. A comment would show up on a source code like:
/* SPACE NAMEOFCOLOUR SPACE */
It would not be seen when viewed as a webpage.
At home, I contacted my partner, Govind, and he helped me look over my autobiography (writing component), and I helped him look over his. Tomorrow we will evaluate each other's work. Well, that's the plan at least. I do hope everything goes as planned. I want to finish the twenty pgs of tutor math and ten pages of music theory as well. Hopefully my time management skills will not fail me.
Tomorrow is the dealine! I shall make it on time without depriving myself of sleep. :)
Friday deadline! (SEPT/22/2010)
Today in class after the usual routine of logging on and taking out our notebooks, we learned about linking files to different locations in a hierachical file structure. Mr. Arkin gave us different cases ont he board and showed us how to properly link a webpage in that certain scenario (add an anchor). For example, we learned how to link from the homepage and how to link from the autobiography webpage.
I was also informed that the Superpower Autobiography assignment will be due on Friday at 10pm (so we can sleep ontime)
Later on in the period, we got time to work on our assignment using the peer-marking form to guide us.
Tonight, I think that I am ready to hand in my assignment. However, due to the fact that I am a sem-perfectionist, I like to do things to the point where I think that I can no longer improve it anymore. I would like to edit the format (CSS) a bit more and proofread my autobiography one more time.
I must say, getting my assignment to this point was not easy. I wrote my autobiography on Word Processing so I had to find all the special characters and replace them with the codes (e.g. ”) See? I typed the entities so many times that I know the codes by heart! Then, after I finally finished adding the special character entities, it was already 11pm so I decided to stop and validate my HTML. To my surprise, it was actually validated on the second try (after I fixed a typo)! Amazing! The first time I tried to validate my HTML file, it took over an hour!
Tomorrow is one more day closer to the deadline. Goal: finish it with satisfaction and get enough sleep :-)
I was also informed that the Superpower Autobiography assignment will be due on Friday at 10pm (so we can sleep ontime)
Later on in the period, we got time to work on our assignment using the peer-marking form to guide us.
Tonight, I think that I am ready to hand in my assignment. However, due to the fact that I am a sem-perfectionist, I like to do things to the point where I think that I can no longer improve it anymore. I would like to edit the format (CSS) a bit more and proofread my autobiography one more time.
I must say, getting my assignment to this point was not easy. I wrote my autobiography on Word Processing so I had to find all the special characters and replace them with the codes (e.g. ”) See? I typed the entities so many times that I know the codes by heart! Then, after I finally finished adding the special character entities, it was already 11pm so I decided to stop and validate my HTML. To my surprise, it was actually validated on the second try (after I fixed a typo)! Amazing! The first time I tried to validate my HTML file, it took over an hour!
Tomorrow is one more day closer to the deadline. Goal: finish it with satisfaction and get enough sleep :-)
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
"Eat! Move! Sleep!" and Grade Nine Day (SEPT/21/2010)
Today we had a guest teacher and a grade nine activity day. So, we did not have class. I won't go on about what happened today in activity as this blog is for computer science class discussion, material, updates, etc.
Speaking of updates, I just found out that the deadline for the Super-power assignemnt is on Friday! I now can get more sleep today. As Mr. Arkin says, "Eat! Move! Sleep!" This is my motto from now on— at least for tonight. My goal is to get more than 8hours of sleep tonight and work on my assignment so I can finish it by Thursday.
This is all for today! I once again look forward to tomorrow!
Speaking of updates, I just found out that the deadline for the Super-power assignemnt is on Friday! I now can get more sleep today. As Mr. Arkin says, "Eat! Move! Sleep!" This is my motto from now on— at least for tonight. My goal is to get more than 8hours of sleep tonight and work on my assignment so I can finish it by Thursday.
This is all for today! I once again look forward to tomorrow!
Monday, September 20, 2010
My goodness! I am not prepared! (SEPT/20/2010)
My goodness! I am not prepared!
Today in class Mr. Arkin announced that the superpower autobiography was due on Wednesday! I was completely shocked! I was not prepared for this assignment to be due in two nights without me completely at least a fraction of it! I have to work harder from now on!
Anyways, back on track, the class began with Mr. Arkin's "Questions Arising" session when students can ask Mr. Arkin any questions they have in regards to the class. Then, he gave a brief introduction to client-server paradigms. He also talked about protocols: HTTP and FTP. Finally, we learned about the importance of increasing line spacing when using different colour combinations.
After this small lesson, he gave us all time to work on our assignment and walked around to answer any questions we had. I had most of my work on the autobiography assignment on a USB flash drive at home. Therefore, I simply worked a little bit more on improving my index page. Mr. Arkin looked over my index page and gave his say on it. After a few more moments, it was already time to log out and go to our next class.
At home, I am happy to announce that I am halfway finished through the HTML file of my autobiography.
My goals for the next two days are:
Tonight: Proofread final version of aubiography, finish majority of coding and design
Tomorrow in class: Finish all designing and coding
Tomorrow night: Validate and review
Wed in class: Review if time permits
It was a great day. Tomorrow, I will once again be the student host as Mr. Arkin attends a conference.
Today in class Mr. Arkin announced that the superpower autobiography was due on Wednesday! I was completely shocked! I was not prepared for this assignment to be due in two nights without me completely at least a fraction of it! I have to work harder from now on!
Anyways, back on track, the class began with Mr. Arkin's "Questions Arising" session when students can ask Mr. Arkin any questions they have in regards to the class. Then, he gave a brief introduction to client-server paradigms. He also talked about protocols: HTTP and FTP. Finally, we learned about the importance of increasing line spacing when using different colour combinations.
After this small lesson, he gave us all time to work on our assignment and walked around to answer any questions we had. I had most of my work on the autobiography assignment on a USB flash drive at home. Therefore, I simply worked a little bit more on improving my index page. Mr. Arkin looked over my index page and gave his say on it. After a few more moments, it was already time to log out and go to our next class.
At home, I am happy to announce that I am halfway finished through the HTML file of my autobiography.
My goals for the next two days are:
Tonight: Proofread final version of aubiography, finish majority of coding and design
Tomorrow in class: Finish all designing and coding
Tomorrow night: Validate and review
Wed in class: Review if time permits
It was a great day. Tomorrow, I will once again be the student host as Mr. Arkin attends a conference.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Character Entities! Studio 218! (SEPT/17/2010)
Today, on Sept 17, we learned about Character Entities in STUDIO 218! Every Friday from today onwards, Mr. Arkin will allow us to play music in his classroom (studio). Today Mr. Arkin was the DJ and he played us some of his selections. There is also a page on touque.ca that tells us more information about it. See: Studio 218. In addition, I noticed that none of my classmates from Class A created a page on Wikispaces to choose the DJ for the upcoming week. So, I took the initiative to create it. See: Studio 218 Class A DJ selector. I created a system where students can nominate themselves and vote for their upcoming DJ.
NOTICE: I was supposed to write this blog on Friday, as this is Sunday now. Don't worry, I didn't forget about it, I was very busy assisting my cousin with her wedding on Friday night and Saturday. And to go off on a tangent, I was the bridesmaid! :-) Therefore, there may be some mix up in the mentionings of when I accomplished what and when events occurred.
Later on in class, Mr. Arkin gave us time to work with a partner and review each of our printed versions of index pages. My partner had trouble uploading her webpage on the web, so a fraction of the time was spent assisting her to get in FileZilla and upload her webpage. After that, I had the chance to fix some of my misuses of underlining. (I learned that underlining is only used to indicate a link.) Then, it was time to go.
As far as homework goes, as I mentioned, I was not able to do any work until later today. I had the chance to make some changes to my revised index page and upload it one last time— or so I hope! (LOOK! An "mdash"!) However, I suppose change is good, and I should always make changes to my page by applying pieces of information I constantly obtain in class.
Lastly, Mr. Arkin gave us his recommendations of softwares we should download for home use. I will try my best to install these softwares before I go to sleep today.
Overall, Friday was a fairly good day.
Look forward to lots tomorrow!
NOTICE: I was supposed to write this blog on Friday, as this is Sunday now. Don't worry, I didn't forget about it, I was very busy assisting my cousin with her wedding on Friday night and Saturday. And to go off on a tangent, I was the bridesmaid! :-) Therefore, there may be some mix up in the mentionings of when I accomplished what and when events occurred.
Later on in class, Mr. Arkin gave us time to work with a partner and review each of our printed versions of index pages. My partner had trouble uploading her webpage on the web, so a fraction of the time was spent assisting her to get in FileZilla and upload her webpage. After that, I had the chance to fix some of my misuses of underlining. (I learned that underlining is only used to indicate a link.) Then, it was time to go.
As far as homework goes, as I mentioned, I was not able to do any work until later today. I had the chance to make some changes to my revised index page and upload it one last time— or so I hope! (LOOK! An "mdash"!) However, I suppose change is good, and I should always make changes to my page by applying pieces of information I constantly obtain in class.
Lastly, Mr. Arkin gave us his recommendations of softwares we should download for home use. I will try my best to install these softwares before I go to sleep today.
Overall, Friday was a fairly good day.
Look forward to lots tomorrow!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
A new perspective on computers! WOW! (Sept/16/2010)
The class today began with the typical routine: logging on and taking out our binders and notes ready for a lesson with Mr. Arkin. Today in class, Mr. Arkin discussed typography. Typography is using keyboard shortcuts to replace occasional uses of the mouse. I knew great fraction of the shortcuts Mr. Arkin was talking about; however, I was completely left in awe when he talked about some other shortcuts on the Windows computer that I have never heard of! It was definitely eye-opening. As I would say, it gave me a new perspective on computers. I have always thought that I knew ample about computers and even some basic knowledge of programming, but over the course of the past several classes, I found that, as wisemen would say, "The more I know, the less I know."
Then, after Mr. Arkin finished discussing keyboard shortcuts and answering questions that arised, he provided us with the rest of the period to work on either validating our index pages, and/or completeing the autobiography assignment. Today since I finished writing my autobiography, I simply started designing an outline of the webpage on the program, Paint, and started the HTML coding. I wouldn't say that this period was the most productive class I had, but I am definitely satistifed with what I accomplished.
At home, the only homework I had was read the "Typography" section of the class website, and by the time I finished, it was already 11:30pm since I had to go somewhere afterschool and did not arrive home until 10pm. I do hope that I will be able to finish the entire autobiography assignment by the end of this week (Sunday) and be able to concentrate on other things during class. When I finish, I will post a link to my webpage! :-)
Today was overall a very productive and eye-opening class. I look forward to much more knowledge that I will obtain in the near future.
Then, after Mr. Arkin finished discussing keyboard shortcuts and answering questions that arised, he provided us with the rest of the period to work on either validating our index pages, and/or completeing the autobiography assignment. Today since I finished writing my autobiography, I simply started designing an outline of the webpage on the program, Paint, and started the HTML coding. I wouldn't say that this period was the most productive class I had, but I am definitely satistifed with what I accomplished.
At home, the only homework I had was read the "Typography" section of the class website, and by the time I finished, it was already 11:30pm since I had to go somewhere afterschool and did not arrive home until 10pm. I do hope that I will be able to finish the entire autobiography assignment by the end of this week (Sunday) and be able to concentrate on other things during class. When I finish, I will post a link to my webpage! :-)
Today was overall a very productive and eye-opening class. I look forward to much more knowledge that I will obtain in the near future.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
A day of validating and finalizing (SEPT/15/2010)
Today was September 15, 2010. In class Mr. Arkin mainly focused on helping us validate our index pages and answering any questions we had. As I mentioned yesterday, I worked very hard at home trying to validate my index page. I asked Mr. Arkin some questions on wikispaces, and I finally knew how to validate it. I didn't get a chance to fully correct my errors and revaildate my index page until today in class. I must say, I felt extremely accomplished when I finally did. It took a lot of struggle to finally validate both my CSS and HTML files. After I did, I hit yet another obstacle. I did not know how to properly link my local copy of the two badges to my index page. After I asked Mr. Arkin how to fix my mistake, it was already time to go to our next class. So, I had to leave out the final task of finally completing my webpage at home.
The first thing I did when I arrived at home was, very evidently, take out my USB flash drive and finalize my index page. Then, within minutes, I had my fully validated and formatted index page live on touque.ca as a subsite.
I left for an English out-of-school class afterwards and when I returned at 10pm, I took some time to finish writing my autobiography. Now, my Superpower Autobiography assignment is now ready to be formatted and uploaded. I do hope that I will be able to finish by the end of this week so I can be less stressed out about my assignments and focus on taking extra time to learn more about HTML and CSS formatting.
Overall, I feel like this was a day of triumph, for I finally got my webpage fully validated and uploaded live on the web! :-)
The first thing I did when I arrived at home was, very evidently, take out my USB flash drive and finalize my index page. Then, within minutes, I had my fully validated and formatted index page live on touque.ca as a subsite.
I left for an English out-of-school class afterwards and when I returned at 10pm, I took some time to finish writing my autobiography. Now, my Superpower Autobiography assignment is now ready to be formatted and uploaded. I do hope that I will be able to finish by the end of this week so I can be less stressed out about my assignments and focus on taking extra time to learn more about HTML and CSS formatting.
Overall, I feel like this was a day of triumph, for I finally got my webpage fully validated and uploaded live on the web! :-)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Index page is finally up! (SEPT/14/2010)
Today was another work period with a supply teacher, because Mr. Arkin was away for a funeral. We were given instructions yesterday about uploading an index page and working on our superpower autobiographies. I didn't mind having a work period today, because I still had to upload my index page and finish my superpower assignment.
During class, I was not able to upload my index page, because many others were already connected to Filezilla. By the time I finally got connected, it was too late to upload my files. Therefore, during class time, I experimented a little more of CSS and added a little more styling to my index page.
Please refer to this URL to see my first webpage live on the net! http://touque.ca/EC/ICS2O/students/2010-09/ICS2O7A/XiaoL/
I definitely feel very accomplished. I finally uploaded my index page! I even got my CSS file to be validated! In addition, I currently just received an emai on Wikispaces from Mr. Arkin in regards to validating my HTML file. I will continue to work on validating my file tomorrow in class, if not tomorrow night.
At the moment, I am currently working on the draft of my superpower autobiography. Once I finish the written component, which is hopefully by tomorrow night, I will begin to work on my HTML and CSS coding to put it on a webpage.
The experience of making changes to my CSS or HTML file and refreshing my webpage to see the changes is completely and utterly rad!! Computer science has become a lot more interesting after I have become more confident about HTML.
My goals for tomorrow: Try to understand more of what Mr. Arkin will be teaching us; finish the writing component of my autobiography; validate and upload my index with a link to my autobiography assignment.
During class, I was not able to upload my index page, because many others were already connected to Filezilla. By the time I finally got connected, it was too late to upload my files. Therefore, during class time, I experimented a little more of CSS and added a little more styling to my index page.
Please refer to this URL to see my first webpage live on the net! http://touque.ca/EC/ICS2O/students/2010-09/ICS2O7A/XiaoL/
I definitely feel very accomplished. I finally uploaded my index page! I even got my CSS file to be validated! In addition, I currently just received an emai on Wikispaces from Mr. Arkin in regards to validating my HTML file. I will continue to work on validating my file tomorrow in class, if not tomorrow night.
At the moment, I am currently working on the draft of my superpower autobiography. Once I finish the written component, which is hopefully by tomorrow night, I will begin to work on my HTML and CSS coding to put it on a webpage.
The experience of making changes to my CSS or HTML file and refreshing my webpage to see the changes is completely and utterly rad!! Computer science has become a lot more interesting after I have become more confident about HTML.
My goals for tomorrow: Try to understand more of what Mr. Arkin will be teaching us; finish the writing component of my autobiography; validate and upload my index with a link to my autobiography assignment.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Mr. Arkin is back! ..To teach us a new language: HTML (SEPT/13/2010)
Today is when Mr. Arkin returned from his two-day absence. At the beginning of class, everyone had a chance to log on. Then, we were seated in rows ready to take notes of the lesson he was going to teach. I learned about hierachies, directories, subdirectories, and he listed several examples of each. Then, he talked about how to upload our files live on the web and answered some questions. Frankly, it wasn't completely confusing as many of my classmates expressed, but I didn't feel like I fully understood the concepts until I went home and experimented for hours today. I will explain more of my progress at home later on in this blog.
After his small lesson, Mr. Arkin gave us individual time to work on our index pages. He circulated the room to see if we have any questions. I did not feel confident at all when I worked on my html file, for I had only a fraction of the concepts understood in my head. (It may have also been because it was the end of the day, and I was exhausted from my cross country practice. Or perhaps that is simply an excuse) :-)
At home, I began my homework by searching up several html templates and analyzing and experimenting with them. What I did for the past couple of hours tonight (5pm-8:30pm) was taking pieces of the templates apart and putting it on my "TestingOne.html" file. Sometimes when I tore the templates apart, some sections of the website would not show up the way I wanted to, and I challenged myself to figure out why using Google and the Trial + Error method. This process began as a result of curiosity, but ended in frustration. However, I feel like I am more competent in HTML. I spent so much time self-teaching it tonight that I feel like I am speaking another language! My head feels dizzy and disoriented, and that is why I am taking a break by writing this blog.
I also worked on getting my files validated. It took a while, but I PARTIALLY succeeded. I posted a few questions on the Wikispaces discussion tonight and got my answers. Hopefully before I sleep I will be able to finish my other hwk from other subjects and get my index page validated and uploaded live on the class website.
Honestly, I truly believe that the learning of HTML is bittersweet. It can make a learner, like me, SO frustrated and doubtful when he/she encounters an obstacle. On the other hand, (for example) I felt like a million bucks when I finally got my file validated (until I found out that it was only PARTIALLY validated, of course)
Am I good at HTML coding? Of course not.
Am I ready to face the challenges and become better? YES.
After his small lesson, Mr. Arkin gave us individual time to work on our index pages. He circulated the room to see if we have any questions. I did not feel confident at all when I worked on my html file, for I had only a fraction of the concepts understood in my head. (It may have also been because it was the end of the day, and I was exhausted from my cross country practice. Or perhaps that is simply an excuse) :-)
At home, I began my homework by searching up several html templates and analyzing and experimenting with them. What I did for the past couple of hours tonight (5pm-8:30pm) was taking pieces of the templates apart and putting it on my "TestingOne.html" file. Sometimes when I tore the templates apart, some sections of the website would not show up the way I wanted to, and I challenged myself to figure out why using Google and the Trial + Error method. This process began as a result of curiosity, but ended in frustration. However, I feel like I am more competent in HTML. I spent so much time self-teaching it tonight that I feel like I am speaking another language! My head feels dizzy and disoriented, and that is why I am taking a break by writing this blog.
I also worked on getting my files validated. It took a while, but I PARTIALLY succeeded. I posted a few questions on the Wikispaces discussion tonight and got my answers. Hopefully before I sleep I will be able to finish my other hwk from other subjects and get my index page validated and uploaded live on the class website.
Honestly, I truly believe that the learning of HTML is bittersweet. It can make a learner, like me, SO frustrated and doubtful when he/she encounters an obstacle. On the other hand, (for example) I felt like a million bucks when I finally got my file validated (until I found out that it was only PARTIALLY validated, of course)
Am I good at HTML coding? Of course not.
Am I ready to face the challenges and become better? YES.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Work periods! Experiments! Guest Teacher! (SEPT/10/2010)
Work periods! Experiments! Guest Teacher!
Today was definitely not as intense as the class Mr. Arkin taught two days ago! Frankly, I found it kind of wasted- in a way. Today was yet another work period under the supervision of a guest teacher. I was the student host, but everything was in order during that period so all I had done to play my role was introduce myself and help the teacher answer any questions the students had about the Superpower Assignment.
I had prepared a rough outline of the webpage I wanted to create for the assignment at home. Therefore, I spent the period testing several html codes that would fit the theme of my webpage. I ran into some trouble with the coding, and I spent a majority of the period trying to solve the problem. As I mentioned earlier, in a way found it a wasted period. It is because when I encountered the problem on my website, no one was able to answer my questions, and I couldn't fully continue to progress on my assignment until I solved it.
On the other hand, I do enjoy occasional work periods. They are a great way to catch up on my assignments and homework, as well as time to absorb all the materials that were previously taught in class. Two days of work periods in a row are enough. I am now waiting impatiently for Mr. Arkin to return and surprise me with another bundle of new material!
In regards to the homework that I was assigned, I currently still have to complete a daily log, which is the last one of the week, and the Superpower Autobiography.
In short: This is the end of the first week of high school. So much has occurred, and I am glad that I recorded them down in blog posts over the past several days! First week of high school: Completed; Superpower assignment: Soon (hopefully by Monday!)
I look forward to the first day of my second week of high school!
Today was definitely not as intense as the class Mr. Arkin taught two days ago! Frankly, I found it kind of wasted- in a way. Today was yet another work period under the supervision of a guest teacher. I was the student host, but everything was in order during that period so all I had done to play my role was introduce myself and help the teacher answer any questions the students had about the Superpower Assignment.
I had prepared a rough outline of the webpage I wanted to create for the assignment at home. Therefore, I spent the period testing several html codes that would fit the theme of my webpage. I ran into some trouble with the coding, and I spent a majority of the period trying to solve the problem. As I mentioned earlier, in a way found it a wasted period. It is because when I encountered the problem on my website, no one was able to answer my questions, and I couldn't fully continue to progress on my assignment until I solved it.
On the other hand, I do enjoy occasional work periods. They are a great way to catch up on my assignments and homework, as well as time to absorb all the materials that were previously taught in class. Two days of work periods in a row are enough. I am now waiting impatiently for Mr. Arkin to return and surprise me with another bundle of new material!
In regards to the homework that I was assigned, I currently still have to complete a daily log, which is the last one of the week, and the Superpower Autobiography.
In short: This is the end of the first week of high school. So much has occurred, and I am glad that I recorded them down in blog posts over the past several days! First week of high school: Completed; Superpower assignment: Soon (hopefully by Monday!)
I look forward to the first day of my second week of high school!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
HTML, CSS. I can handle it (SEPT/09/2010)
Today we had a guest teacher in our CS class, because Mr. Arkin is away today and tomorrow for a celebration of the Jewish New Year. The students entered the classroom, and immediately logged on to our computers not wasting one minute of our computer work period. My friends and I also took the liberty to open the blinds while the computers were logging on after we signed in.
This period was meant for us to practice and apply the different things we learned in class yesterday about HTML and CSS. At the beginning of class, I had trouble opening my file on the computer. (I had already prepared an HTML file to test in class when I was at home yesterday.) After that, I inserted the stylesheet link to my file and created a CSS file to go along with it. A few minutes later, there it was: the first website I designed by HTML and CSS from scratch. A feeling of pride and joy overwhelmed me at that moment.
It turns out that I was one of the few successful people that did not have trouble with figuring out how the concept of HTML and CSS files work together. I took the majority of the period assisting and explaining to several of my classmates, as well as experimenting on my own website by adding images, links, and even a comment box that I learned how to code on Google! It was such an enjoyable class today! I also enjoyed hearing my peers' cries of triumph ("Yes! I finally figured this out!") after I helped them figure out why their webpages did not turn out the way they wanted to.
I had a couple of questions about the autobiography at the beginning of class, but a classmate of mine showed me the marking scheme, and it gave me the responses to my questions- and more!
In regards to the homework, as far as I know, all I have to work on is the SuperPowers assignment and complete this daily blog.
Tomorrow is another day of working on the assignment under the supervision of a guest teacher. In addition, I will be one of the student hosts!
Overall, it was a great day today!
This period was meant for us to practice and apply the different things we learned in class yesterday about HTML and CSS. At the beginning of class, I had trouble opening my file on the computer. (I had already prepared an HTML file to test in class when I was at home yesterday.) After that, I inserted the stylesheet link to my file and created a CSS file to go along with it. A few minutes later, there it was: the first website I designed by HTML and CSS from scratch. A feeling of pride and joy overwhelmed me at that moment.
It turns out that I was one of the few successful people that did not have trouble with figuring out how the concept of HTML and CSS files work together. I took the majority of the period assisting and explaining to several of my classmates, as well as experimenting on my own website by adding images, links, and even a comment box that I learned how to code on Google! It was such an enjoyable class today! I also enjoyed hearing my peers' cries of triumph ("Yes! I finally figured this out!") after I helped them figure out why their webpages did not turn out the way they wanted to.
I had a couple of questions about the autobiography at the beginning of class, but a classmate of mine showed me the marking scheme, and it gave me the responses to my questions- and more!
In regards to the homework, as far as I know, all I have to work on is the SuperPowers assignment and complete this daily blog.
Tomorrow is another day of working on the assignment under the supervision of a guest teacher. In addition, I will be one of the student hosts!
Overall, it was a great day today!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Intense, fast-paced, thrilling, IB CS Class! (SEPT/08/2010)
I was enrolled in IB, because I found the regular Ontario Curriculum easy, and I wanted a challenge. Those who say be careful what you wish for are wise, for today there was a lot of new material taught in class.
At the beginning of class, Mr. Arkin discussed the duties of the students in a first period class. We were told that we must open the blinds on a sunny day and log on to the computers. There was a few moments of trying to figure out our passwords and attempting to log on. I knew my password, because I changed it over the summer when I checked my schedule online at http://www.tdsb.on.ca/
After all the madness passed, Mr. Arkin began his lesson. It started with HTML and CSS coding then ended with questions and how we can apply this knowledge in our homework.
I must say, even though many of my peers, as well as I, can agree that today's class was very intense and fast-paced, I found it interesting and enjoyable! It may have something to do with the previous knowledge and experience I had with HTML coding. Frankly, I actually learned it while I was playing NEOPETS (http://www.neopets.com/) as a child! When I was in grade 4 and 5, I created a guild with a couple of my friends, and we were required to make create the guild page with HTML. I have forgotten a majority of the knowledge I obtained through that playful experience, this is why I am extremely interested in learning more about webpages and related material.
Today for homework, according to the Daily Log on touque.ca, I have to finish writing a post on my blog and try to begin the superpower autobiography assignment. I am almost finished reading the information on the web mechanics, which will hopefully equip me for the work period I have in class tomorrow.
*On a side note, just to get it out of my system, I have to mention that I wrote eight pages of notes today in class. It was extemely tiring. as well as: Dreadful, alarming, painful, terrible..... (thesaurus) appalling, direful... now I shall stop at this moment before I incorrectly apply these words and offend someone.
At the beginning of class, Mr. Arkin discussed the duties of the students in a first period class. We were told that we must open the blinds on a sunny day and log on to the computers. There was a few moments of trying to figure out our passwords and attempting to log on. I knew my password, because I changed it over the summer when I checked my schedule online at http://www.tdsb.on.ca/
After all the madness passed, Mr. Arkin began his lesson. It started with HTML and CSS coding then ended with questions and how we can apply this knowledge in our homework.
I must say, even though many of my peers, as well as I, can agree that today's class was very intense and fast-paced, I found it interesting and enjoyable! It may have something to do with the previous knowledge and experience I had with HTML coding. Frankly, I actually learned it while I was playing NEOPETS (http://www.neopets.com/) as a child! When I was in grade 4 and 5, I created a guild with a couple of my friends, and we were required to make create the guild page with HTML. I have forgotten a majority of the knowledge I obtained through that playful experience, this is why I am extremely interested in learning more about webpages and related material.
Today for homework, according to the Daily Log on touque.ca, I have to finish writing a post on my blog and try to begin the superpower autobiography assignment. I am almost finished reading the information on the web mechanics, which will hopefully equip me for the work period I have in class tomorrow.
*On a side note, just to get it out of my system, I have to mention that I wrote eight pages of notes today in class. It was extemely tiring. as well as: Dreadful, alarming, painful, terrible..... (thesaurus) appalling, direful... now I shall stop at this moment before I incorrectly apply these words and offend someone.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
A transition to a new chapter- High school (Sept/7/2010)
Today is September 07, 2010. In the morning, I attended my first computer science class of the 2010-11 school year. It was also the first day of high school! I walked in the classroom nervous and anxious. Who can possibly blame me? I am a pre-IB freshman with no clue what to expect!
At the beginning of class Mr. Arkin distributed our locker numbers. Then, he discussed the importance of having a good lock in possession. The class was then asked to copy down our homework for tonight.
"Homework on the first day?!" (Yes, that was I; however, I then accepted this fact and eventually moved on..)
For homework, as explained by Mr. Arkin in class and on the class website, we have to:
1. Review the class website (touque.ca) with a parent/guardian
2. Complete Wikispace assignment (www.wikispaces.com)
3. Preview the Super-power autobiography assignment
4. Create a Blogger account and write a blog.
So far, I have finished assigned homework number one to three, and I am on the verge of finishing the forth. (Writing this blog) Surprisingly, I am actually enjoying the experience of blogging! I find it a way to express myself and finish my homework. Who knew?
In closing: After my first day of high school, I feel that I am now mentally equiped for what challenges high school may present to me tomorrow, and in the next four years. I know I can handle it.
At the beginning of class Mr. Arkin distributed our locker numbers. Then, he discussed the importance of having a good lock in possession. The class was then asked to copy down our homework for tonight.
"Homework on the first day?!" (Yes, that was I; however, I then accepted this fact and eventually moved on..)
For homework, as explained by Mr. Arkin in class and on the class website, we have to:
1. Review the class website (touque.ca) with a parent/guardian
2. Complete Wikispace assignment (www.wikispaces.com)
3. Preview the Super-power autobiography assignment
4. Create a Blogger account and write a blog.
So far, I have finished assigned homework number one to three, and I am on the verge of finishing the forth. (Writing this blog) Surprisingly, I am actually enjoying the experience of blogging! I find it a way to express myself and finish my homework. Who knew?
In closing: After my first day of high school, I feel that I am now mentally equiped for what challenges high school may present to me tomorrow, and in the next four years. I know I can handle it.
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