Last class

The last class I played around with scenarios on the Greenfoot website. I attempted to make my own scenarios. I made a background for an air hockey court on word but when I put it in Greenfoot it only showed half of it. Then I tried to make a checkers scenario. It was easy to set up but I didn't write any code for it.

My air hockey court

Finch Controls

This is how the finches are controlled from Greenfoot.

Mid term questionnaire.

Give a summary description of what you have learned so far in this course.	So far I’ve learned to use the application Greenfoot. So far I’ve been using it to program actors to do certain stuff. For example in on scenario I programmed a crab to run around in a world and eat worms when it comes across them. At times writing the code got hard and confusing but I usually found a way to get around it.
Typically this student makes effective use of class time by increasing his competence and confidence using software that he has chosen.	I usually try to use my time wisely but I can’t lie and say I don’t get distracted.  I think if I stayed a bit more focus in class I think I would understand greenfoot and coding better.
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.	I’ve only missed one class and that was because I was leaving early for vacation. I would have continued to work on my blog but I disconnected from the internet while I was away. Unfortunately while I was gone I found out that this assignment was due while I was gone.
His oral communication during class is focused on the learning tasks that he is engaged in.	I can’t say that when I talk it is always about Greenfoot. I do get off task quite often but I know it is a  problem and I am trying to fix it.
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.	I do my best to keep my blog up to date but sometimes I forget to write my post on it when I have other assignments due in other classes.
During class he/she remains focused on the task at hand and generally respects the integrity of the learning environment for all students.	Like I said. I try to stay focused but my friends and even my computer do distract me. I know this is a problem and I’m trying to fix it.
He/she has positive attitudes towards acquiring technology skills, and makes a conscious effort to acquire new skills and apply them in meaningful ways.	I find myself very positive when learning on greenfoot. Learning about coding excites me because I know that it will be very important in the future. So I’m glad I am getting an understanding of it at a young age.
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.	I think I am still learning to how become an independent learner. I feel like I can fix problems sometimes but Then it might come to a point where I need other help.
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 RUP (Responsible Use Policy) and Academic Honesty Policy.	I find myself to be respectful. Most of the times if they are other people talking I try to make an effort not to talk and to be quiet.
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.	I think so. It is definitely challenging sometimes and so can is my topic. I think my work is good I do it. That was the one thing I was worried about when I first got to this class. I was worried that I was just totally going to blow everything off and put no effort.
She is making good progress with her chosen module. She is learning new techniques each class and building on her previous knowledge.	I think I am making good progress. I find myself very motivated because coding was something I always wanted to learn.
What grade-in-progress do think accurately describes your overall performance in the course so far? A-Outstanding B-Good C-Adequate D-Inadequate	I think a B. I am doing my work but I’m definitely not outstanding.
Does the structure of this class suite your learning style? What could be done differently?	It is a very self-driven class which can be challenging. Especially for someone like me who is not the best independent worker at times.
Do you feel that you understand how assessments are made in this course? Do you have any questions or comments at this stage?	Yes.

Idea for my project

I have been recently working with the Finch robots that we have at school and they are pretty cool. What I do is I plug the Finch into my computer using a USB cable. I then open up a Finch scenario in Greenfoot. In the scenario I am able to control the finch using the arrow keys. I haven't totally mastered it yet but it gave me an idea for my project. So my idea is that I am going to build a soccer field similar to a foosball and have two Finchs playing against each other. 

The Finch robots

Piano

I have now finished the crab scenario and started the piano scenario. In the piano scenario you work to make a working piano by typing in the commands. So far I have been able to animate the key yo make it look like it is being pressed down. This is probably one of the more tricky and confusing scenarios that I have done so far.

Even more codes on the crab scenario

Today I worked on controlling the crabs with keys, ending the crab game, adding sounds and writing code to place the crab in the world so that I don't have to do it manually each time I open the scenario.Alright so in order to control the crab with keys you had to delete all the code about random movement and turning at the edge and replace it with the key code. I replace left and right with "A" and "D" keys because I'm a bit more comfortable with them. Ending the game and adding the sound was pretty simple. For ending the game you just had to go to the lobster class and add this Greenfoot.stop(); under the eat(Crab.class);. This means whenever a lobster eats a crab it will stop running. For the sounds I wrote Greenfoot.playSound("slurp.wav"); this under this eat(Wormy.class);. This meant whenever the crab ate a worm it would make a slurp sound.  Now adding random objects was actually a bit tricky. For adding the crab I had to write this addObject( new Crab(), 150, 100);. The book I was using gave me the coordinates for the crab but then it asked me to add 3 lobsters and 10 worms. I used similar coding but replaced it with either lobster or worm. The problem was that they didn't give me any coordinates so I was just kinda writing random numbers so by the time a compiled it I just had a clump of crabs,worms and lobsters in one corner of the screen. So for next time I'm going to work on fixing that.