Window Tracer! Happy Holidays! (2010-12-17)

Today in class we worked on the window tracer program. Mr. Arkin initially showed us some variations and examples of the programs. I chose to work on what seemed to be the root, "most basic" program. It was the program with the never ending loop of a character appearing around the edges of the run window.

We had the entire class to work on it. However, since it was a half day, I didn't have enough time to get it to work properly. The homework for the holidays it to finish both program and complete today's blog post.

Hurray for the holidays- and sleep! : )

Small Glitches (2010-12-16)

Today we got more time to work on our bouncing-ball program. I found out that although my program works, there are still some small glitches that I had to fix. I also helped some of my classmates with their programs. Cindy and I sought to fix the illogical aspects of my program.

I also had the chance to "embellish" the program a bit more. The program now allows the user to specify the speed in which the character "moved" and whether or not the user would like the program to stop and restart when the screen is filled with characters.

At the end of class, it was concluded that "animation" is truly just the output of something, clear screen (cls), and output of something else at a high speed. It is the same base concept with film making. After all, that is why they call it "motion pictures". Programming is truly a remarkable however tedious and difficult skill.

The Winter Break is near! I am so excited! I finally get to sleep in and catch up on some reading and extracurriculars! I hope to finish reading The Blue Fairies Book, get at least 10 hours of sleep every night, and catch up on my DECA (business competition) studying.

Today was the last full day of school. The stress is starting to disappear. I started watching The Big Bang Theory even though the show is already on its third season. There is a quote from one of the episodes:

"Raj: I don't like bugs, okay? They freak me out.
Sheldon: Interesting. You're afraid of insects and women. Ladybugs must render you catatonic."

They truly bring a new perspective to sitcom humor.

Duo Blog Post (2010-12-15)

Yesterday I forgot to write a blog post so here is what happened:

I had to leave class early to perform at a Seniors home. So, Mr. Arkin gave me back my unit test from yesterday.

Today when I went to class I realized that I didn't sign the test. I didn't check the daily log, either unfortunately. I will get the notes about parameters and executables from a friend tonight.

It turns out that the class was assigned to create a program that asks for a character from the user, and outputs the character moving around the screen and "bounces" when it hits the edge of the run window.

Mr. Arkin gave us the majority of the time in class to work on the assignment. My goodness, may I say it was a challenge to get the program to work the way I want it to. I first tried writing the program using trial and error and constant mental desk checking. When something didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, I would use the debugger menu option to see why. However, even with that I wasn't able to write a program that met the criteria (hints) that Mr. Arkin revealed on Wikispaces. To restate them: (1) 34 lines long (6 of which were regarding the sound, so in reality 28), (2) one loop.

Then, I tried writing the instructions in English first. It may have been because I was doing it wrong, but I found it even more challenging and complicated. So, I finally tried drawing out what is executed in the run window. It helped me understand what had to be incremented and decremented. Before I was able to finish, class was over.

When I got home, I did some of my French homework. Then, I started working on assignment. My program worked half way, then the pathway of the character (ball) changed and was stuck. Finally, after much struggle, the program was complete using only one loop. Hurrah! And it actually works!

Test Number Two (2010-12-13)

Today we had our second unit test. It was slightly unexpected, but Mr. Arkin did inform us. Although I didn't formally prepare for this test, I felt quite comfortable writing it as I found most of the questions easy.

Before the test, Mr. Arkin asked us if we had any questions. Then, he administered the test.

After the test, we had our introduction to graphics. It seems that animation is truly the usage of the function delay after something has been displayed. Some things still seem quite confusing. I will look through the Turing manual that Mr. Arkin posted on touque.ca tonight since I don't have any homework....

.....other than this blog post, of course.

Final/First Peer Tutoring Group! And.. math? (2010-12-10)

Today was a tutoring day for me. Since I missed two days of peer tutoring, today was my first and final day of peer tutoring. My group went over some concepts such as arrays, functions, and procedures.

I actually found out that I knew more than I thought I did about Turing! I will probably review some other concepts and continue reading tho Turing manual this weekend.

On a side note, I never realized that we have a new student! What a surprise! I left early on Wed before he can introduce himself to us and on Thursday as well. It wasn't until today that I realized there was a new student.

Today after school, as I mentioned in my title, I went to the peer tutoring program. I was supposed to tutor Kussai, an applied Gr 9 student, French, but since he didn't show up, I tutored Branson, an IB student in my math class, math instead. I have this crazy dream of specializing in a career related to law and business, and on my spare time I would tutor high school students math. Today I had the chance to experience it to a certain degree. It was quite frustrating at times when I was tutoring him since he would say he understood and then he would ask the same question again. However, other than that, I have to say it was a fun experience, and after this semester I will definitely sign up to be a math tutor.

Yay for tutoring! Now I have to tutor myself (study) for a Geography unit test and the Computer Science test! Horrah.....

International Volleyball Night (2010-12-09)

I am kidding. There is no such thing as International Volleyball Night. Well, maybe there is, but not that I know of. Today in the morning and afternoon, I was at York Mills at a volleyball tournament. It was quite an intense day. We played against four schools one after another. Then, after a one hour lunch break, we played three more schools. Unfortunately, we only ranked fourth place. (Pssh, there were some intense teams!) However, on the bright side, we received pizza as a consolation prize!

Right after the tournament, my dad drove me back to Victoria Park to prepare for the International Night. I stopped at Parkway to buy a meatball sub-sandwich. However, that is a different story. I performed at International Night today. I represented China by playing a traditional Chinese song on the flute. It was nerve racking playing in front of two hundred people, but I take it as an amazing experience. I also got a chance to watch some other acts on top of the Parade of Nations. Most definitely awe-inspiring!

Tonight I got home at 10pm. I was so exhausted that I was about to flop down on the bed. I have to finish my Geography project, but I don't believe that I will be very productive since I am so tired. Anyways, I have to finish my assignment now. Goodbye, Blogger!

(Procedure) Step One: Manage Time (2010-12-08)

Today in class we learned about programmer-defined procedures. It was similar to functions, except there were a few differences such as the absence of the keyword result. One new keyword was, of course, procedure. Last night we had to write the nextConsoant function. Only a few people in my class actually obtained the correct code for the function. I wrote out a rough guess of the code. However, I will check with my peers tonight after I finish my blog.

I left the class early for another volleyball game. To be frank, I feel like volleyball is eating away my energy and ability to sustain a healthy lifestyle. Practices are at 7am in the morning and some end at 5:30pm (not the mention the one hour bus ride..) after school. I also have to constantly catch up on my schoolwork after I miss classes for games. The sacrifice is definitely worth it, but I have to truly learn how to manage time properly.

That will be my goal for this week. That's all for now. International Night is tomorrow! I am nervous and excited at the same time!

Writing Functions + Being Organizaed... (2010-12-07)

Today we learned about functions. To be more specific, we learned about programmer-defined functions. The functions that I was familiar with before was pre-defined, such as ord. We learned today how to declare functions and apply them in the programs that we create. We learned two new keywords: function and result.

In addition, we also learned how to write algorithms in pseudocode. It helps when a programmer is not sure how to write the code in Turing to solve a specific problem. By writing algorithms, the programmer can write the instructions in English and translate it to Turing.

We also had a homework check today. I printed it out but I left it on my printer. I was going to get it when I pack my backpack before I left for school this morning, but I forgot it along with my flute for the dress rehearsal for International Night. Did I mention I forgot my shoes for the volleyball game today after school, too? It just goes to show how important organization is. Fortunately, I was forgiven for missing the dress rehearsal, and Zainab lent me her shoes for the game. Mr. Arkin was annoyed, but there is nothing I can do about what happened. Sigh. I will just be more organized next time.

For homework tonight, we have to write the function for nextConsonant. I noticed on the daily log that Class B and C have to integrate the usage of functions into their substring assignments. I may actually try to do that just for practice. That is, after I figure out the function nextConsonant.

Eight hours? (2010-12-06)

Today it was an early dismissal day! We had our introduction to counted loops. I have to finish some volunteer work so I am going to try to make today's post as succinct as possible. Eight hours of sleep is entirely possible today. Back from the tangent, we learned about the keywords, decreasing, and for.  We also reviewed our substring assignments. I must say, it was very handy to have all my assignments in writing in front of me. I was able to take notes on the revisions and modifications have to make as Arkin went along.

Thanks to Stephanie C., we have to modify substring assignment nine to gather a word from user and exchange every consonant with the consonant that follows. I wouldn't say it is a bad thing, simply the fact that I had more homework today. Regardless, I finished the assignment in five minutes, and I took a couple more minutes to revise and print it out.

That's all for now. As I said, eight hours of sleep is entirely possible today.

Absence once again (2010-12-03)

This morning I woke up at 5:30am to finalize and print my substring assignments in preparation for the quiz. Thankfully, (depending on how you look at it) I checked my e-mail before I began my work. I got an email from Mr. Arkin saying that he will not be here in class today. So, I went back to sleep at got one and a half hours of sleep.

Since Mr. Arkin is not here today again, we had time to fully complete our substring assignments. Since I already finished them, I spent the period teaching the concept of substrings to Zainab and Zahra. I must say, they caught on quite fast. It took me only around five minutes to explain the concept from beginning to end. Well, "end" meaning knowing enough to start the first three assignments.

I went home today and printed out all my assignments. Was it painful? Yes, you bet it was. Is it mandatory and are there benefits for doing so? Of course.

Hopefully Mr. Arkin will return to school on Monday. Once again, I hope I will do well on the quiz! (If we are having one...)

Proper Studio 218? Quiz tomorrow! (2010-12-02)

Today, we once again had a guest teacher. I spent the period helping Mithunya with the assignments and concepts of substrings and revising some of my repetition assignments.

At home, I printed out all my substring assignments. There will be a substring quiz tomorrow. Somehow, I feel quite prepared since I finished all my substring assignments. Hopefully karma will come along, understand that I worked hard, and allow me to do well tomorrow!

I also had the time to create a playlist for Studio 218 tomorrow! I posted a link on Wikispaces, but the link is: tinyurl.com/studio218

It is a shortened URL that redirects the user to a playlist that I created on Youtube. I chose the official music videos and re-production of pop songs. I also purposely chose numerous old classics -which in this case means they were released over one year ago- that many already forgot about. They are, in my opinion, truly the most amazing singles ever produced. There are also some Glee performances released by Fox on Youtube. Sweet!

That is all for now, hopefully Class A will, for the first time in a long time (since Cindy's contribution), have a proper Studio 218!

Substring Assignment Redux! (2010-12-01)

Today is the first day of Deccember! That means that there is only one more month until 2011. The year passed by so quickly it is incredible! Anyways, today I worked a little more on my substring assignments in class. I didn't print them out yet, so I am planning to do that either later on tonight or tomorrow in preparation for the substring quiz on Friday.

I spent a fraction of my time today in class helping my classmates with the assignments. I noticed that most of them had trouble with substring assignment four. Personally, the assignments didn't start to get challenging until I had to switch the cases. I started thinking I had to use case statements, but then I realized that there is actually a simplier way: to control the ASCII codes of each charater outputted.

I am almost finished my substring assignments. I am currently on number 19. Will continue to work on it right now...

By the way, I don't recall adding this, but I understand that some of my classmates are reading my blogs. So, if you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to leave them! I am always looking for ways to improve my blog posts, and I do read my comments. :)