Final reflection

Name	Jake
Module	Computer science
How many days have you missed class this quarter?	1 I believe
What have you done to make up lost time?	Just continued with my project and did more at home
How have your experiences been different in the second quarter? Are you more or less satisfied with your progress? Are you doing more of less work out of class?	I am less satisified with my progress. Though my I think improved my understanding and skills in green foot but my blogging is horrible. I do, do a lot of work I just don't blog it
Has the atmosphere in the class changed during the course? How has it changed?	During the end after winter break I’ve been unfocused more I used to be more on top of everything but that kind of stopped post winter break.
What advice can you give to students who are about to start on the module that you are just finishing? What can you say that would help them have a more effective learning experience?	Don’t rush through the modules at the begging. Really make sure you understand it and take your time.
This course provided you with an opportunity to extend your knowledge skills and understanding in areas that you have chosen. Chose and describe, one significant area of knowledge or skill or understanding than you gained from this course.	For the score counter in order to count the points it had to connected to the world, actor and score counter. That was interesting to learn. Also I learned
This course also provided you with the opportunity to manage your own learning. Effective lifelong learners are independent, curious, persistent, they forge relationships that support their learning goals, they find meaning in their learning by making connections with what they already know and value, and can do. Give one example of how you have changed as a learner as a result of this course.	I’ve learned to learn something without a teacher and I didn’t fully fail at it. It was hard at first but I did get the hang of it once I got the basic skills down.
What will you have achieved by the end of the module? Describe your project. Is it finished? What do you still need to do?	I finished my project but there are still things I would like to add, for example I want to make my actor shoot. Basically in my project  you play as Mario and you try to collect coins with out falling and getting eaten by a dragon. What is cool about my project is I got a score counter and got my actor to stand and jump on and of the ground. When Mario collects the coins the score counter counts it. Also once you get to a flag it ends the game.
Highlight sentences in the descriptions of student given below that you feel reflects your performance in this course.
How does a student that receives a B grade perform? Commendable Creditable Good Respectable	Typically this student makes effective use of class time by increasing his competence and confidence using software that he has chosen. He attends all class sessions, coming and leaving on time, and making sure to make up missing time by working during free periods or at home. His oral communication during class is focused on the learning tasks that he is engaged in.   His written communication (blogs, e-mails, and reports) are done according to deadlines and contain enough information for the teacher to understand what he is doing, what kinds of problems he is facing and how he feels about his learning experiences. During class he remains focused on the task at hand and generally respects the integrity of the learning environment for all students. He has positive attitudes towards acquiring new skills, and makes a conscious effort to acquire new skills and apply them in meaningful ways. He is an independent learner, who tries to solve problems by himself, but finds effective ways to overcome problems using a variety of other resources.   He is respectful of all members of this learning community and his behavior is in compliance with all school policies, in particular the AUP (Appropriate Use Policy) and Academic Honesty Policy. This is an appropriate course for this student and the performance of the student is such that it can be said that the student is meeting the standards well. His work, on the whole, is good.
In what ways is the performance of a student receiving an A different from that of a student receiving a B? Brilliant, Exceptional, Outstanding	An A student performs as described above. She also demonstrates a particularly high level of understanding or performance. She might be doing substantial work out of class. She might have authentic clients for her computer skills. She will tend to show leadership qualities in group oriented projects and she will be approached by other students for help because they recognize her superior skill levels. She will be very independent and confident in her approach to learning. She will be interested in developing her own learning objectives and finding ways to meet them.   She will tend to reflect on her learning experiences and on her learning needs in her logs in such a way that her reflective log becomes a learning plan.This is probably an appropriate course for her.
In what ways is the performance of a student receiving a C different from that of a student receiving a B? Adequate, Sufficient,Good Enough, Satisfactory,Reasonable	This student does not perform at the level of a B student in some areas. They may lack confidence or tend to work rather slowly. They may not be fully engaged during class time. This is an appropriate course for her, and she adequately meets the standards for the course.
Under what circumstances would a student receive a D for this course. Inadequate, Poor, Insufficient, Deficient, Unsatisfactory, Unacceptable, Sub-standard, Not good enough, Lacking, Incomplete, Wanting	This student is failing to meet the standards (described in B) to such an extent that this might not be an appropriate course for this student at this time. This student is in danger of failing the course.
Given the highlighted sentences above, what do you think is an appropriate grade for you in this course? A-outstanding-95 B-good-85 C-adequate-75 D-inadequate-65	A low B is what I think I deserve. I just totally lost it at the end of the quarter and just did not put as much effort as I could have in the blogs but I did put a lot of work into my project.
What else would you like to communicate to your instructor to support your estimated final grade for the class?	Nothing else really.
Is there any other information that you would like to provide your teacher to help decide on your final grade for the class?	Nothing else really.

Stuck for a while

I haven't been posting for a while now because I've been kind of stuck.  I've tried to do the chapters but they are very challenging for me.  I have also been stuck on my mario game I've been trying to make the game end once the actor reaches a flag but that hasn't really worked. I also am trying to add a score board to the world. The last time I tried I had some difficulties but im ready to try again. My latest contribution was I added many sounds to the game from the original mario game. I also added a dragon as an enemy. I am also thinking about having mario being able to shoot the dragons and if he succeeds he gets more point. And I may have a coin that is worth more then the others.

Progress with 2D game

I've finally made some progress with my Mario/2D game. I've now gotten him to collect coins. Before that was a serious problem for me but I now got Mario to eat the coins. I also add many sound effects that are actually from the original Mario game. I got the jumping noise, the ding for when Mario collects coins and I even made the game over music. What I am trying to do now is make a scoreboard. I am using one of Michael Kolling's videos on YouTube. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LINK I USED. There is still more I want to do with the game. For example, I want to make text appear when the player beats or loses the game.

What the game looks like so far 

Mid Quarter Report December 2012

Mid Quarter December 2012	Please answer the questions fully in the spaces below.
Name	Jake Zigler
Module	Computer Science
Summarize what you have achieved in the first half of this quarter.	I learned how to make actors in Greenfoot jump, fall and walk on ground. I am now trying to put these skills into a basic 2D game.
Please indicate any days that you know you will be missing between now and the end of the course.	None that I know of.
Describe what you expect to achieve by the end of the module? How much material will you have covered? What projects will you completed?	I should be finished with my 2D game soon and after that I want to work on making the classic Atari game, Pong.
Your teacher will be entering a grade-in-progress in PowerSchool for mid-quarter. He will be considering your performance in terms of the assessment guidelines. At this stage he will be asking about the extent to which the statements below apply to your performance in the course.	Comment below if you feel there has been a change since mid-semester.
His/her written communication (blog, e-mails, and reports) are done according to deadlines and contain enough information for the teacher to understand what he/she is doing, what kinds of problems he/she is facing and how he/she feels about his/her learning experiences. Are you consistently doing your blogs? How does your BLog keeping compare to the first half of the quarter? Are you providing more details of your learning? Do you take care to express yourself clearly and use conventional grammar and spelling? Are you using images, videos, links to illustrate the work that you are doing? Are you satisfied that your blog reflects in a complete way what you are doing?	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) My blog post were not as common as I would have liked them to be this quarter. Usually I don’t know what to write.
Typically this student makes effective use of class time by increasing his/her competence and confidence using software that he/she has chosen. Are you using your time effectively? Are you learning each time you come to class? Are you becoming more competent and confident?	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) I do work hard in class. It may not show on my blog but I rarely get of task in class.
He/she attends all class sessions, coming and leaving on time, making sure to make up missing time by working during free periods or at home. Have you missed class this quarter? How many times? What have you done to make up lost time?	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) I have made it to all classes so far and have not been late.
His/her oral communication during class is focused on the learning tasks that he/she is engaged in. Are your conversations in class focused on your learning tasks?	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) I am usually asking the classmates sitting next to me about Greenfoot stuff but we do get off topic every now and then.
During class he/she remains focused on the task at hand and generally respects the integrity of the learning environment for all students. Do you stay on task throughout the block? Do you effectively resist temptations to use the computer for unrelated activities (other homework, e-mail, facebook, youtube, sports results, music etc.)? Do you resist temptations to take unnecessary breaks, arrive late, leave early? Are all your interactions with other students focused on the task at hand?	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) I work on my own stuff and I believe that I don’t distract any of my other classmates. I also think that I am pretty good at resisting temptation sites.
He/she has positive attitudes towards acquiring technology skills, and makes a conscious effort to acquire new skills and apply them in meaningful ways. Are you acquiring new skills each class? Are you effectively documenting these in your blog? Have you found ways to apply your skills beyond classroom exercises?	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) Yes. I am very interested in computer science and coding. I’ve always wanted to do it.
He/she is an independent learner, who tries to solve problems by himself/herself, but finds effective ways to overcome problems using a variety of other resources. Have your become more independent as a learner? What resources are you using to learn effectively?	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) I am not the best independent learner. When I have problems I am quick to ask a teacher or friend for help. Lately though, I have bee better with fixing my own problems.
He/she is respectful of all members of this learning community and his/her behavior is in compliance with all school policies, in particular the AUP (Appropriate Use Policy) and Academic Honesty Policy. Are you respectful, appropriate, honest? Do you make sure that your behavior does not interfere with the learning of others to by distracting them from their work?	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) I don’t think that I really distract anyone in the class. I do usually keep to myself.
Your grade will take into account your performance in the above areas and also..  The amount of documented learning time that you have spent in and out of class. The amount and/or depth of material that you have covered
What is your grade-in-progress (see PowerSchool)? Typically if the grade is in the 80s your overall performance has been good. If your grade is in the 70s your performance has been adequate. How would you describe your overall performance at this point? Is your assessment in-line with the assessment of your instructor?	B. I would describe my performance as good. I think I could do better and write more in my blogs though.
Is there any other information that you would like to provide your teacher to help decide on your grade-in-progress?	No.

Mario Game

Lately I have been working on a basic 2D game. In my game I've been using the jumping  and falling I learned. You control Mario from the popular Nintendo game. So far I've gotten Mario to jump but to also come down. When I was learning how to jump at first it wasn't really jumping. It was just going up in the world and falling when I released the space bar. I used to be able to just hold the space bar and I could pretty much my my actor fly but I changed that. I wrote the code so that the actor can only jump when he is on the ground and not in the air.

Jumping

On Greenfoot I learned to make my actor jump. Making him jump is very similar to making an actor fall. What you do is write public void jump(). Then in the parameters you write vspeed = -(whatever number you want);. The negative makes it go up. then you write fall() in the parameters. In my last post I believed I defined fall().  Then in the checkkeys I made the spacebar make the actor jump. Now that I know how to make an actor run,jump and fall I think I have all the things I need to make a very basic 2D game which I think I'm going to try to do.

Running, Jumping and falling

Instead of working on  chapter 6 I have been working on another project where I am learning how to switch images when moving  a picture and make it able to stay on a ground and when it is not on the ground it falls. I will continue watching the tutorial so that I can make it my actor jump. Here are the links for the videos I have been watching Part 1  Part 2. So in my project I have a pig. The pig can move left and right. I found the picture of the pig on google images. When I got the picture I put it in word and flipped it so that it could face to the left. Then when I typed in the code I told it that it would move to the right but also have the picture face the right and when I am moving to the left the pig face the left. This what the code looks like.

 private void checkkeys()

    {

        if (Greenfoot.isKeyDown("A") )

        {

            setImage("Pig Left.png");

            moveLeft();

        }

        if (Greenfoot.isKeyDown("D") )

        {

            setImage("Pig Right.png");

            moveRight();

        }

This is also the first time I used a moveRight(); method. Usually I use move(4) and Move (-4). I have to say the moveRight() method is more complex and I don't see me using it that much. You can't tell it just to move right. You have to say the speed and then write this  public void moveRight()

    {

        setLocation ( getX() + speed, getY() );

    }

    public void moveLeft()

    {

        setLocation ( getX() - speed, getY() );

    }

So ya that was new.  Then I learned how to make the pig fall.  I first needed to make a command called public void fall(). Then I set the vertical speed to 0 and made it accelerate by 2. Here is the code.

public void fall()

    {

        setLocation ( getX(), getY() + vspeed);

        vspeed = vspeed + acceleration;

       

    }

Then I wanted to make the Pig stand onground and not fall. This was pretty complex and hard for me but the video helped a lot.

public boolean onGround()

    {

        Actor under = getOneObjectAtOffset ( 0, getHeight() / 2, Ground.class);

        return under != null;

    }   

I am going to finish watching the videos and learn how to make the pig jump. There are some flaws in the project through. For example, its seems whenever I compile it everything works fine for once but when I set it up manually without compiling it doesn’t work right. I might change into a game once I fix everything. It probably be having to get to a certain point to another while avoiding certain obstacles.

Here's the project so far