End of Quarter

End of  Quarter October 2012	Please answer the questions fully in the spaces below.
Name	Jake Zigler
Module	Computer Science
Has the atmosphere in the class changed since the first half of the quarter? How has it changed?	Yes I find myself a lot more focused in class. I also feel like I understand what I’m doing a lot more.
How have your experiences been different in the second half of the quarter? Are you more or less satisfied with your progress? Are you doing more of less work out of class?	I am lot more satisfied with my progress and I think I am using my time in class a lot more wisely.
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?	Computer Science is something that you really need to pay close attention too to make sure you understand.
What will you have achieved by the end of the module? What will you have learned? What projects will you have completed? What have you learned about yourself as a learner.	I think I will have a better understanding on how 2D games work.
Imagine that you want to employ a person with the kind of information technology skills that you have.  Write one paragraph describing the skills that you (as the employer) are looking for. Start the paragraph like this.. Our company is looking for someone who…..	Our company is looking for a person who knows how to code in their sleep. If you want to work here you need to really understand how code work because it is very essential for this job.
Have you contributed in any ways to the other members of this learning community?	No not really. Now I usually keep to myself  in class.
What module would you like to take in the second quarter? Please explain your choice.	Maybe animation. It seems very interesting but very hard and requires a lot of time so I’m still not so sure yet.
Your teacher will be entering a grade-in-progress in PowerSchool for end-of-quarter (mid-semester). 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.	Highlight the word(s) that you think describes your performance. Look at the statements in the left column. Comment on your performance in each area. Use the questions as guidelines.
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) At the beginning of the quarter I was very distracted in class now I find myself a lot more focused. I think this maybe because I understand what I’m doing a bit more.
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 only missed one class and that was when I went on vacation and I made up my work then. Other then that I am always on time and always there for class.
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 actually do not talk that much at all anymore about stuff that is off topic. I am either asking Mr. Daley a question or classmate is giving my ideas to improve the game I made.
His/her written communication (logs, 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?	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) The blog is something I struggle with sometimes. Sometimes I don’t know what to write about. But I do make my best effort to get stuff on it.
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 takes unnecessary breaks, arrive late, leave early?	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) I like to say that now I am always on task. Once I got an idea for my project I was committed to it. Even more when I got it to work. Temptations sites were a problem for me in the first half but that problem has gone away for me.
He/she has positive attitudes towards acquiring technology skills, and makes a conscious effort to acquire new skills and apply them in meaningful ways. Have you found ways to apply your skills beyond classroom exercises?	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) I am very positive about learning computer science because I know it is going to be such a big thing in the future.
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 a very good independent worker I tend to procrastinate a lot and if I do have a problem I will go to a teacher for 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 AUP (Appropriate Use Policy) and Academic Honesty Policy. Are you respectful, appropriate, honest?	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) I find myself very respectful to classmates I don’t really talk that much anymore even my friends.
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
If full attendance, coming on time, being on-task, and leaving on time (not including any work outside class) represents 100%. Estimate what time percentage have you put into this class? (take into account any documented work that you did in school outside class time, or at home)	80%
To what extent will you have completed your module by the end of the quarter? How far did you get? What chapters did you cover? What projects have been completed?	I finished chapters one through four and finished one big projects and I made a bunch of other mini projects where I was kind of screwing around trying to get an idea.
What was your last grade-in-progress (see PowerSchool) To what extent does this grade reflect your overall performance A - (95) - Outstanding B - (85) - Good (the descriptions above apply to me) C -(75) - Adequate D - (65) Inadequte	82% was my last grade I think this time I deserve a bit higher I’m not sure an A but a B+.
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/her work, on the whole, is good. How would you rate your overall performance during the quarter? Please explain.	inadequate adequate good outstanding (highlight and comment) I think I did good not outstanding because there was times where I did not take the course seriously.
What could you do to improve your performance in the second quarter?	Really work hard on understanding my module and not fall behind.
What module are you interested in doing during the second quarter?	Maybe animation but I’m not sure it seem really hard.
Is there any other information that you would like to provide your teacher to help decide on your grade-in-progress for the quarter?	No not really

My project is finally compete!

How the game looks

I have finally finished my project for computer applications! This is the first time that I have really been able to come up with an idea of my home and stick with it.  How the game goes is you are a sniper and you are trying to shoot wombats using the W,A,S,D and space keys. There were many obstacles for while I was making this game. One problem was that I couldn’t get the scope to move up and down. There are still many problems with the game but they are very minor problems. One problem is when the scope hits the side of the world the reticle shifts away from the center. Not a big problem but just makes it look kind of bad. My last problem, which is really bothering me is ending the game. I have all the code for it and it’s compiling but it doesn’t work in the game. It’s supposed to shoot eight wombats and then stop and play a sound but for some reason it doesn’t work. All in all though the game works fine and I’m glad that I finally got something on Greenfoot to work my way. You can play the game by clicking on the link.http://www.greenfoot.org/scenarios/6310 

I Finally get something to work on Greenfoot

Haven't posted in a while mostly because I have been trying to do  make a bunch of stuff on Greenfoot which in the end didn't work out my way. But now I think I finally came up with an idea that I might actually be able to do. The game is a pretty much a first person shooting range. What I did was take a picture from a first person shooter video game and I cropped the gun. What I plan to do is have it firing at moving targets.

The Shooting Range

\

Snake game continued

I added more to my snake and mouse game. Tried to make it more like the game snake on the phone so now when my snake its the side of the world the game ends. What I'm trying to do now with this game is make levels. So I made another world and added more wombats and mice and made the game itself faster so that is harder.

Here is level 2 of my game.

Snake and Mouse Game

I wanted to try to try my to make my own game on Greenfoot but I didn't really know what to do. I was looking into making an old fashioned arcade type kind of game like pong or snake. I decide to do snake because it seemed pretty simple. What I did was I put one snake in the world which the player controlled using the arrow keys. The player has to try to eat 5 mice to end the game but there is also a wombat running around that can eat the snake. My game is very similar to the Crab Scenario. I am going to continue to change it though so that it can be less like the Crab Scenario.