Guest Teacher Once Again! (2010-11-30)

Today we had a guest teacher again! From what I heard, Mr. Arkin is ill. I do genuinely hope that he gets better!

I worked more on my substring assignments, and I am currently on assignment twenty. It has been fun, but I do hope Mr. Arkin returns so we can start learning more concepts. I began reading the Turing manual and resources that I found online. I have been learning about graphics. Interesting, I must say. I am actually nervous about the culminating activity. I hope we get to complete it at home so that I get more time to complete it just in case I miss class again due to volleyball.

I always put some extra information about my life in and outside of school at the end of my blog. I try to keep it only about Computer Science class. However, I always end up ranting on and on about my life by the end of my blog post. So, today I am going to do the same. I just had a teleconference with the executives and president of the CCCYC (Chinese Cultural Center Youth Chapter) on Skype, and may I say that I am technologically deprived. I had a panic attack right before the meeting, because I didn't realize that my computer does not have a microphone attached. I must say, that was a facepalm worthy moment. Fortunately, I got it worked out and everything else when smoothly. Again, "Wow, Lisa."

That's all! Goodbye, Blogger!

rkWo riodPe! (2010-11-29)

Today we had a work period to work on the substring assignments. Not much happened today in class, actually. I just spent most of my time learning about substrings and testing out different things. I started on my substring assignements, and finished a few more at home tonight. I am currently on assignment twelve. When I look at how many assignments there are to complete, I get overwhelmed. However, when I actually read the instructions, they are actually not that hard. They are simply very time consuming to add a documentation sections, declare variables, and add the major sections (D.I.P.O.).

Speaking of something-completely-unrelated-to-computer-science, I had the first official league game for volleyball of the season! We won! I have a good feeling about this year's volleyball team. We are on a roll!

There will be a game on Wed, Friday, next Wed, and all day next Thursday for a tournament. Wow, I just realized that I miss a lot of class just for sporting events. First there is cross-country, and now volleyball comes along. It is definitely worth it, and I would be able to catch up. However, it is simply a lot of stress to have to worry about so much.

Lastly, the unit test is postponed to next week. As happy as I am, I just hope it will not be scheduled on one of the days I have to miss computer science class for volleyball... *fingers-crossed*

Tomorrow we will have a guest teacher once again! It will be a work period, I assume.

Ms. Underachiever (2010-11-26)

Today I felt like I just won an award for Ms. Underachiever. On Friday, Mr. Arkin showed us a game he created and as did Prashanth. Tasfia also had a creation of her own! Lastly, Zelin created a tag game as well as a remake of the classic mini game, Pong. As much as I feel happy and proud of my classmates' achievements, I realize that I barely know how to draw a circle in Turing. Sigh... There is so much to do, and there is so little time. I saw this "IB joke" on the Internet a while ago: "I noticed that sleep has been canceling on me lately. Maybe its cheating on me. I guess I have to make plans with homework now then." Anyways, enough complaining, I spent this weekend editing and printing any outstanding assignments. I also spent it starting a test study guide. I wonder when the test will be... I just hope Mr. Arkin won't suddenly announce that it will be on Monday- since he said that we should be prepared.

In addition, I played my band CD for Studio 218 today. Let's just say that the feedback was not so positive. :/ However, that is fine. I actually kind of expected it after I listened to it myself for the first time last month. 

Aside from this, I better start doing some Kumon math. I am really behind on my homework...

Goodbye!

..the most wonderful time of the year! (2010-11-25)

Today was one of the best days of this school year so far! I attended a volleyball tournament today at the school, and I played volleyball for the entire day. As the Staples commercial said, "It is the most... wonderful time.. of the year!" The team played a couple of games and between those games we had time to rest. I spent most of that time wandering around the school and doing my homework. It was beautiful.

We advanced to the finals and played against East York. Unfortunately, it was a very close game. We lost to them by 22-25 in the last set. If only we got those serves in...

Anyways, on the bright side, we received a silver medal that said, "Victoria Park Invitationals Finalist" My first medal of the season!

I had a break near the end of the second period, which was my computer science class. However, since it was already 11:29pm, I didn't feel that it would be suitable to disturb the class just for a few minutes of class.

I visited the daily log. Apparently, I missed a lot of material- or so it seems. The class learned about "the three skills of successful programmers," and the "logical alternatives for repetition assignment 8." I should really get the notes I missed for Tuesday (which I haven't taken the initiative to) and Thursday.

That's all for now! Goodbye!

Fun. (2010-11-24)

Today we learned about arrays. It is such a complex concept, but we only learned two new keywords: array and of. It just goes to show how much we learned over the course of this unit and how far we have come.

For homework, we have to modify repetition assignment twelve to incorporate what we learned today about arrays. We also have to catch up on all programming assignments -except substrings- to prepare for a test next week. Fun. I have a better feeling about this than the first unit test earlier this month. Hopefully I will be able to bump up my average before the Winter Break.

That's it for now. I just noticed that my blog posts are getting shorter and shorter. Whenever I write these posts nowadays, it is always so late at night. At that time the only thing I am thinking of is sleep.

Which reminds me. I need to go to bed. Goodbye.

Slowly Killing Me Inside (2010-11-23)

Today I missed class because of the G20 Summit at Leaside which I attended. Since this is a computer science class blog, I am not going to rant on about my experience there.

I heard from my classmates and read from the daily log and wikispace discussions that we had a printer assignment review. I received an email last night notifying us that the marks are posted in front of the rm 218 door in the morning. It is slowly killing me inside to know what I received.

Anyways for homework, all we have to do is assignment twelve. Aha! My prediction was correct! I am going to do assignment twelve for homework today!

Programming is Fun! (2010-11-22)

Today we had individual time to work on our repetition assignments. We have number nine to eleven assigned for homework. I finished up to ten on Saturday, so I only had assignment eleven to finish. It was quite a relaxing period. I finished the basic elements of the assignment in ten minutes, and I spent another twenty minutes "embelishing" it.

The rest of the period was just spent helping my classmates with their assignments, and I also had some time to play around with my code. I added a continue or exit option at the end. Then, when the user chose to exit, I added several delays. Then, the program outputted, "Sorry, did I annoy you? Okay, sorry about that. Go do your IB homework. Lisa did hers, and you just experienced an exemplar. Goodbye." Class was fun.

I should have spent the time to work on assignment twelve, but I thought to myself I can do that for homework.

However, it turns out that I had to go to a VPLAY meeting to work on a lip-dubber video project. Then, I returned home at 5pm and waited for my French teacher. I am not sure if it was mentioned in the previous blog posts, but I will be attending a G20 Summit at Leaside High School. I will be representing Argentina. As exciting as it sounds, I am truly not prepared for the conference, as I only did very minimal preparation and studying. Very unfortunately, I will not get time to work on assignment twelve tonight. I will probably do whatever is assigned tomorrow (I will be missing class) tomorrow night.

Looking forward to the G20 Summit tomorrow! Now.. about Argentina's economy and its political issues...

Individual work on repetition assignments. Homework: Repetition assignments 9–11. Daily blog posting.

Printer Comparison! Mark Comparison! (2010-11-18)

Today we had some time to work on our reptition assignments. Then, we went to our tables to take some notes. That was when we found out that we were assignmed a website design assignment that is due on Monday. I am still a little confused. So are we expected to upload it by Sunday night? However, on the daily log, it says, "due Monday." Regardless, I am planning to upload it on Sunday.

It is quite sad, however, since I actually planned to spend my PD day with my mom -which she set aside her work for- and the other two days catching up on my music theory. Sigh.

Anyways, we also have to complete a modification of repetition assignment eight to accept integers from the user and display a message whenever a positive even integer is entered. Lastly, the program has to  end when 20 positive even integers have been entered. I finished that in class so now all I have to complete is the Printer Comparison assignment. Speaking of which, my news and events article for Panther Press is due tomorrow! AHHHH! Now is time for panic. I did all my research, interviewed five different people, and now all I have to do is write an article, which shouldn't be that hard. I am just concerned that I won't have enough time to complete and upload the assignment by Sunday night at 10pm.

That's all for now. I am going to go start my webpage outline now...

I love these work periods. (2010-11-17)

Today in class we had time to analyze and desk check a partner's repetition assignment six. Other than that, not much occured. I worked with Mithunya, and I felt that this period helped quite a bit. First, I had time to practice my desk checking. In addition, I was exposed to another individual's work. Usually, I would always make my programs one lateral way. Seeing Mithunya's work told me about other things I can do to improve my assignments. Also, Mithunya pointed out a few things I can do to improve. I love these work periods.

For homework, we have to finishe revisions of assignment six -which I finished- and the modification of assignment seven and the completion of assignment eight.

To be frank, I am so busy with the extracurricular activities, such as volleyball practice and classes outside of school, that I barely have time to complete my homework for school. I am truly grateful that I finished these assignments ahead of time and I have very minimal homework from other classes. What's more is that my panther press article deadlines are coming soon... and I still have not started interviewing my subjects and researching...

That's all for now! Goodbye, Blogger!

Mon Dieu! Homework Check! Quoi? (2010-11-16)

Today is class we had a homework check. Normally I would be panicking, but as I mentioned in my previous blog, I finished assignments 1-8. Gosh, does it feel good to be prepared.

Anyways, apparently according to the daily log, we had a class survey. I wonder what that is about...

Anyways, while Mr. Arkin individually called us up to discuss the assignment, we had time to work independently on the computers to complete our homework for today. Today we have to finish repeititon assignments six and seven "demonstrating [my] best form." (From the daily log) I will spend a few minutes today after I complete this blog to embelllish these assignments. Too bad I have to print them out again...

That's all for now! À demain!

Bullet-proof Programs! Baam! (2010-11-15)

Notice how my date switched from mm/dd/yy to yyyy-mm-dd! See? I am Canadian. :)

Anyways, today we had a homework review of repetition assignment two. Mr. Arkin handed a copy of his modified version of Repetition Assignment 2 to the class. We were asked to do a code analysis on the program, and we along the way we also learned five new procedures and functions: abs, getch, play, whatcol, whatrow. As a musician, I love the play function the most, since instead of uploading a sound file or similar, we can actually compose our own music with Turing!

We also learned that we need descriptive comments to identify and describe different part of the program. It is to allow the programmer to more easily identify and modify the program, such as errors which the programmer cannot easily point out.

For homework today, we have to complete repetition assignment three to five. I technically don't have any homework today, since I completed the repetition assignments up to eight yesterday (Sunday).

Now all I need to do is print them... (It really hurts me to see so much paper used up.)
*For anyone who is reading my blog, could you tell me if there is a function on Turing where you can print multiple files at once and double side them? Thanks!

Awe-inspiring Blogs and Unfortunate Absence (2010-11-12)

Today I missed Computer Science class, because I wasn't feeling so well-- and let's just say I had some things to take care of that time. It was truly an unfortunate absence since I missed my first official repetition lesson. I will need to do a lot of catching up...

I was initially going to contact some of my peers for their notes and what they learned in class today. However, I though to myself, there are so many other alternative ways to do find out what I missed in class, especially in an ICS class. I decided to do some "stalking" and read over some of my peers' blogs. I must say, I felt quite embarrassed after reading some of them. They were absolute amazing! There were pictures, poetry, comics, etc. Wow! 

I will probably spend my weekend more wisely. Well, I always do, but here is exactly what I will do:

1. Practice flute and piano
2. Study and review music theory

3. Finish math homework

4. Revise blogs (from past)

5. Organize ICS binder

6. Dance practice

7. Catch up on repetition

8. Read ahead in repetition and work on assignments 5-6 (if possible)

Lately this week I have been cramming for a Geography unit test. It was just painful and very stressful. When I got to Geography class today to write the test, I realized that I completely overstudied. *oh-my-goodness!*

It was very sad since I could have spent my time doing other things such as catch up on my music theory studying (for the Royal Conservatory of Music). I am pursuing my ARCT Teaching diploma for the flute- which is not happening anytime soon since I can never squeeze in time to practice my neither my flute nor piano.

At least this weekend is a little bit more relaxing so I can spend more time catching up.





Remembrance Day and Unit Test Review! (NOV/11/2010)

Today was Remembrance Day. The day when we honour and remember the lives of the soldiers that fought in war.  In the morning we had a Remembrance Day assembly and after lunch, there was Computer Science class. We had a test review when we pair up with a classmate and create model answers for each question. After we took up the answers, we received the test. The mark is not what I want it to be, but today I truly didn't expect anything high, because even before I handed it in, I had a few more things to complete and add to the test. I unfortunately have to get it signed by tomorrow for my homework along with the posting of my blog.

There is not much to say at the moment since I am not in the mood to write anymore. This is all for now.

Look forward to whatever comes tomorrow.

Programming Unit Test! (NOV/10/2010)

Today we had our programming unit test. It was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Most of the concepts I reviewed over wasn't applicable in the test. In addition, I rushed at the end since I didn't manage my time well and spent most of the time working on the first page.

For homework, we had to complete the arithmetic mean (counter and accumulator) program that we began yesterday.

Today is a gift! That's why they call it the present! (NOV/08/2010)

With a little bit more sleep and time management, who knew? Today actually went quite well!

-The French presentation I was stressing out about went wonderfully.
-I am an official member of VP's Jr Girls Volleyball Team. Go panthers!
-The ICS presentation went smoothly
-New for DECA Regionals Competition: Out of approximately 100 participants in my category, I placed top 10 for written, top 10 for oral, and placed third overall. I will be competing in provincials at Sheraton Center in Feburary!

Back to reality, today in class each group presented their code analysis to the class. I just found out last night that the unit test will be on Wednesday. Wow, the same week as my Geography unit test. Just wonderful. I really need to start studying to ensure a good grade considering both these two unit tests will be worth a lot of my final grade. At the moment, I am just finishing up this blog and then I will begin reviewing the programming unit. I may also write down some questions that I will ask Mr. Arkin tomorrow in class.

Sarcastic moment here: I simply cannot wait for my unit test! Whoot! Yay!

(This is why I will begin studying right now...)

Because [I] had a bad day, [I am] taking one down, [I am singing] a sad song just to turn it around.. (NOV/05/2010)

(Lyrics in the title belong Daniel Powter, artist of the song, "Bad Day")

Today was simply a bad day. Here are the reasons why:

1. In the morning, I woke up at 5am to finish my French homework
2. Left the house at 6:45am in a rush to arrive to school at 7am for my volleyball try-outs (which I was slightly late for)
3. As I was running to my dad's car, I slipped and scraped my leg from my shin to my knee.
4. Attended volleyball practice with a scraped leg.
5. Arrived to ICS class and find out that the presentations for the code analysis will be occuring on Monday
6. Received a 60% on my binder check.


On the bright side, here are the good things that occured:
1. Was selected for a final try-out for the girls volleyball team despite my terrible performance in the morning
2. Was allowed to bring my code analysis assignment home to complete. I shall make the final product amazing. :-)
3. The oral regional competition for DECA will be occuring tomorrow, and I have a good feeling about it
4. My ICS homework will be complete after I click "Publish Post."

DECA! DANCE! DANG IT! (NOV/04/2010)

Today we returned to the desk checking. We received a code analysis assignment. We are required to take an example of a selection assignment and desk check it. We received a big piece of paper, which I assume we have to write our code analysis on; however, we never got a chance to write on it. The entire period was spent desk checking the code. For homework, we have to complete the skills inventories, desk check our three most sophisticated selection assignments, and prepare our binders for a binder evaluation.

For my binder, I have to print out all my HTML, CSS, and Turing codes. I also have to organize it a bit. I was quite afraid that I will not be able to complete these tasks as I knew that I will be writing my DECA exam after school today until 5pm, which then I had to help set up for the dance and I didn't return home from school until (literally) 10:45pm. I am now cramming for my french presentation tomorrow, ICS binder check, and this daily blog post.

My goodness! Wish me luck!

Drag Myself to My Mom's Office Day (NOV/03/2010)

Today is going quite well. All I can say today has been very relaxing and eye-opening- sort of. My mother works for the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) as an insurance advisor. Therefore, she does not stay in her office located at Kennedy and Steeles for most of the time. She mostly works at home making phone calls, sending e-mails, and doing paperwork in her office at my house. I have been to my mother's legitimate office billions of times- figuratively speaking. However, since I decided to participate in Take Your Kids to Work day, my mother took me to her office since she had to fill out some forms and pick up a few policies that have been recently approved. The office is enormous. It is twice the size of Victoria Park C. I.'s cafeteria. However, it is occupied by vacant cubicles and meeting rooms- since most of the employees like my mother has their own appointments with clients to attend or work to do at their offices at home.

This brings me to explain why I am at home at this moment. I spent the morning in a cubicle studying for DECA, a business competition. The written exam will be done tomorrow afterschool, and the oral competition will be held at Ryerson University on Saturday along with the awards ceremony. Then, I returned home at noon when my mother finished with her paperwork and would like to return home to start telemarketing. Yes, I said it: telemarketing. It is because of the fact that telemarketing is what puts a roof over my head that I have gain respect for the people who call my home interrupting my dinner.

I helped my mom send some e-mails (which I do every evening for her) and then continued with my studying for the DECA competition.

I wouldn't say that today was much of an experience since I am practically helping my mother run her business every evening when I help her with paperwork and emails, but I can say that this opportunity should be taken advantage of to experience the work force.

It was a wonderful day!

Yay! Mr. Boole! (NOV/02/2010)

Happy birthday, George Boole! Today we learned about case statements, another way to provide selection to the user. I learned about if statements, and case statements are similar but they make it more efficient and reader-friendly when there are multiple statement in one set. It is up to the programmer to decide which one to use whether it is a case statement or a selection statement. However, case statements won't work with "real". It must be the datatypes: "int", "string", or "chr". We learned three new keywords today: case, label, of.

For homework, we are required to complete the ATM outline provided on touque.ca, and modify the code to guard against negative balances.

Tomorrow is "Take Your Kids to Work Day!" Yay! I will be spending the morning at my mom's office located at Kennedy and Steeles, and the rest of the day at my home- which is also where my mother's "office" is located. Yes, my mother operates her business at our home as well.

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Yes She Can! (NOV/01/2010)

Today we spent most of our period reviewing the thirteen selection assignments and discussing how we can better our program fragments. Additionally, we received our marked quizzes from Thursday. I received a level three, with the highest possible mark level four. I most definitely feel disappointed with my mark, but I cannot do anything to change the mark I got. I can only do the best I can to make up for this mark. Mid-terms are coming up. So, I will try my best to bring up my mark by: finishing homework, reviewing, and getting ahead. Here comes a leftover politician phrase from the rep campaign: "Yes she can!"