March 31–April 3

Coding Assignments (2)

Please do two more coding projects this week. If you have a Mac, you can finish the Personality Quiz and move on to lessons in Unit 4. If you do not have a Mac but you do have a Windows computer, you can do two more lessons in the JavaScript for Kids book.

Mac Projects

For the Personality Quiz, to get full credit you need to personalize it. This means you have to ask questions other than the ones they gave you in the lesson. I need one additional or different question of each type (there are three types). You can also change the theme of the quiz.

For the Unit 4 projects, you need to turn in both the tutorial project and the lab project at the end of the lesson.

JavaScript Projects

To get full credit on the JavaScript projects, you should think about some of the Programming Challenges. For example, the Hangman project has several challenges on page 121. In this case, you should be able to add all these features to the program. Some challenges might be harder than others, but see what you can do. The ones on page 121 are all easy.

How can you help?

Please do the How can you help essay. Be serious. After you write it up, I will ask you to do what you have suggested.

Get a Mac

At this point, I am going ask you to do your best to beg or borrow a Mac that you can use for the course work. Finishing the final project in this course requires that you have a Mac. Right now about 40% of you have a Mac. You'll need a relatively recent Mac. (I have one from 2014 that works fine.) It needs to have enough room to install Xcode. Windows won't work for this project, and neither will an iPad. See if you can borrow one for the next few weeks. Let me know what you can come up with.

Adobe Illustrator

A few of you have got back to me about problems installing Adobe Illustrator. We are trying to work out those problems. If you have not tried installing it yet, please wait one more day before trying.

We only have one or two small assignments that will use Adobe Illustrator, but I need to know that you were or were not able to get access. If you didn't get back to me, I don't know whether

• you did not try installing it, or 
• you did not make a metroed.net email address, or 
• you had problems.

For that reason, I am going to make these assignments. Your first assignment is to just send me an email from your new metroed.net email address. (The instructions are elsewhere on the blog.)

Next Week

Next week, two new things will be happening. We will start using Canvas, and we will start using Google Hangouts.

Canvas

I will send you instructions how to get on to Canvas. If you haven't used it before, Canvas is similar to Google Classroom but has more features. On Canvas, I will create discussion groups so you can all help each other with your projects.

Google Hangouts

We will start having face-to-face sessions every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 8:00 am. We will take attendance. I will send you a link where you can register. I may do a voluntary test run on Friday of this week.

How can you help?

My wife and I have sometimes volunteered with various organizations. Our favorite is City Team, which feeds homeless people and has a residency program for people who have drug problems. We helped with their turkey giveaway this last Thanksgiving at PAL stadium. Last summer, we even had the opportunity to work with a similar group in Ireland! We taught them crafts including the color wheel we did in class. That was a lot of fun.

However, now we find that our options now are more limited. My wife is in a high risk category. So she really should not be associating with people or even going to the grocery store. I can get out a little bit, but if I am exposed, I could expose her. So it's best if I stay in. Also, the City Team web site says they have cancelled all volunteer opportunities. Some people from our church need help, but every time I expose myself, I potentially expose my wife.

So, given the constraints we all face, such as the shelter-in-place order, how could you help others during this difficult time? Brainstorm a little bit. Remember, you need to stay safe and also keep your family safe. Some of you live with elders who might be affected by your choices. Remember also that you might have a hard time getting together with your friends to work on something bigger, because it is probably a violation of the order to isolate. But think of something specific you could do safely and legally. Is there something going on at your church, in your neighborhood, even at your home school that you could be involved with?

Now, think about how you could use some of the things we have learned in this course. How could you use them to help? Could you make a poster using Adobe Illustrator? Could you write a web page? Could you make an app? What would that be? Be specific. Don't just say "I could make a poster." What would the poster be about, and how would it help?

Write me no more than one-half page with some ideas. Use sentences and paragraphs, not bullet points, and use good grammar and spelling. Write it in Google Docs, or, since it is short, you could just write it directly in email.

Then, go out and do it. Let me know how it works out for you.

Grading

I have about 50 assignments to grade. I have been taking a long weekend as today (Monday) was a holiday. I will catch up on grading tomorrow (Tuesday March 31) and I will post your assignments for the upcoming week.

Update Thursday March 26

Schedule

• We will continue to work remotely until May 1. This is subject to change.
• Our Spring Break will be the week of April 13–17. We will work all the other weeks.
• We will have a holiday on Monday, March 30. There will be only 4 assignments next week instead of 5.
• This week's work will be due by 7:30 am on Tuesday, March 31. I suggest you try to turn it in by this Friday so it's not hanging over your head the long weekend.

Communication

I hope to set up a mechanism where we can communicate in real time using some kind of forum. This could be in Google Classroom and it could be in Canvas. (Canvas is better but more of you are familiar with Google Classroom.) Then we can have discussions so you can ask for help and help others. The first step toward making this happen is for you to get the metroed.net email address. So do this right away and let me know whether or not you were successful.

We could also try to have a live session using Zoom or Google Hangouts.

The school may put together a mechanism where you'll have to sign in every day so we can take attendance.

Future activities

We have two main activities to complete the requirements for your certificate, letter of competency, and college credit.

• You need to finish your resume and add it to your online portfolio.
• I will post a video how to do this.
• You need to create a final app in Swift.

Final App Preparation

Most of you do not have a Mac at home to work on a final app. If you do, then you'll be able to start your final app now. If not, we cannot allow you on the school campus and you probably cannot go to your home school or a library to work on your app. So, the strategy is this: between now and May 1 when we hope to be back on campus, we need to do everything possible for your final app except the actual coding. We are going to do this using checkpoints as we have done with other large projects like the poster, logo, and portfolio. You can expect that we will be working on these activities:

• Defining the target audience for your app
• Creating an icon for your app using Adobe Illustrator
• This is why it is important that you sign up for Adobe Illustrator using your metroed.net email address as soon as possible. 
• (Some people have had problems with Adobe Illustrator and we're trying to work out those problems with the Adobe company.)
• Defining every screen for you app.
• This is why you need to finish Lesson 3.9 as soon as possible. The pizza app exercise is your trial run for doing something similar for your own final app.
• Creating a list of all the graphics and sounds your app might need.
• Creating all the graphics your app might need, using Adobe Illustrator.
• Creating any sounds your app might need, probably using Adobe Audition.
• Compiling any data your app might need, such as a list of food banks, homeless shelters, barber shops, or whatever it is your app is about.
• Perhaps a few or many other steps depending on your app.

If you don't have a Mac at home, I suggest you plan to mock up your app as a web app using HTML and JavaScript. Then when we are back in the classroom, you can make a Swift version. This is actually a very good practice, because then Apple users will be able to use a native app, and Android users will still be able to run the web app.

Metro Ed Email Accounts

Each of you has a *@metroed.net email address. You'll need access to this email address to get the extended free trial of Adobe Illustrator. You access these email addresses by logging into Gmail with the new email address. Your password is your birth date in mmddyyyy format. (8 digits, no spaces, add a 0 (zero) in front of single-digit months and days.) This all depends on your birth date being correct in Infinite Campus. If you can't log in with this password, check your birth date in Infinite Campus.

Your email address. In general, your email address is firstInitial.lastName@metroed.net. For example:

• a.marin@metroed.net

In some cases, they had to add a number to your email address. Use this email if you are in this list:

• g.aldana1@metroed.net
• c.dang1@metroed.net
• j.diaz8@metroed.net
• v.le4@metroed.net
• a.nguyen5@metroed.net

If you have another Gmail account, which most of you do, it could be a pain to switch back and forth between this email account and your  other Gmail account. This is also true for most of the teachers, so this is the general strategy we have found most useful. Use a separate browser for your metroed.net email address and your other Gmail account. For example:

• Use Chrome for the metroed.net email account
• Use Firefox or another browser for your other Gmail account

Save your password. The system may require that you change your password from the default of mmddyyyy. If you lose your password, I can't help you. The people in the back can help you, but they are all working from home and they are overloaded. So make sure to save your password. (Mac users: there is a program called Keychain Access that saves all your passwords for you.)

Adobe Illustrator. Here is the process:

1. On the web, create an Adobe account using your metroed.net email address. You can't get the extended free trial from your other email addresses.
2. You'll get an email from Adobe on your new email address.  So you'll need to check your new email account and reply to the email somehow, perhaps by typing in a code.
3. Download the Adobe Creative Cloud program. This program coordinates all your other downloads.
4. Download Adobe Illustrator. We are currently using version 2017, I think, but download whichever version it lets you.
5. If you think you'll be creating sound files, you could also install Adobe Audition.

Let me know. Send me an email if you were successful, and send me an email if you are unsuccessful.

Update Wednesday March 25

Clarification on code assignments

There was some confusion about the Personality Quiz assignment and how it fits into the overall scheme of things. This is because the PM class almost finished it but the AM class just barely started it.

If you are running Xcode on a Mac, your highest priority is to finish the Personality Quiz. Then you can move on to certain Unit 4 assignments. Completing the Personality Quiz will take some time. I can cut you some slack on other assignments if you finish the Personality Quiz.

If you do not have a Mac, you can't complete the Personality Quiz or any other Xcode assignments. So I've given you some JavaScript assignments to sharpen your skills.

I gave you a lot of assignments to keep you going for a long time. But I'm only expecting you to do two JavaScript assignments this week or the Personality Quiz or two Unit 4 assignments, depending on your setup. The other three assignments are Assistive Tech, Usability, and the Status Report.

Next week, you'll do more coding assignments from the same list, either from Unit 4 or from the JavaScript textbook.

Clarification on Adobe Illustrator

In order to get the free deal on Adobe Illustrator, you need to have a metroed.net email address. I thought we already had those. They are going to issue email addresses for you today. Don't try to sign up for Adobe until we get you those new email addresses. If you already tried to sign up, you probably got a 7-day or 30-day free trial, but with a metroed.net email address you can create a new account where you can get a 2-month free trial.

Your code from the classroom

I have a list of students who want specific code from the computers in the classroom. I will start sending those out today. If you don't get what you asked for by 3:30 pm today, send me another email. If you didn't request anything yet, send me an email letting me know what you need.

Do you have a Mac and Xcode?

• AM class: Talia, Geno, Konan, Hira, Derek, Vivian.
• PM class: Brenda, Jason, Daniel.

If your name is not listed above, and you can do Swift coding on a Mac using Xcode, let me know right away.

Extra credit video: Objectified

https://www.ohyouprettythings.com/free
 
This video is about 75 minutes long. Watch the video and write me one page telling me what the movie is about that proves you watched the entire video from beginning to end and you understand it. You cannot receive extra credit unless you also complete all the other assignments.

For your amusement ...

This are some things I've been working on while you've been working on stuff for me.

Corona Bingo

Virtual Fidget Spinner