Coding #3 Animation basics

Today's coding section is "Animation Basics."

Coding # 2 Coloring and Variables

These coding assignments are sequential, so if you did not finish the first 2 sections, you must finish those first.  The next 2 sections are assigned for today and tomorrow.  The first one is shorter than the second.  For sure you should finish Coloring and begin working on Variables today.

If you are not getting the coding work done in class, you will need to work on these sections outside of class, so that you don't fall behind.  

Coding #1 Intro and Drawing basics

Today, you are going to sign in to khanacademy.org with your google account.  You will need to add me (misterwalske@gmail.com) so that I can grade your work.  We are going to be doing some coding for the next weeks of this class.

Coding is a very lucrative career with many available jobs.

In the the Computer Programming section, select "Drawing and Animation."

For today's assignment you are to do the first two sections.

You will be provided with headphones to use during the video tutorials.  These headphones are only for the video tutorials.

Today you will be completing the Intro to Programming and Drawing Basics sections.

Blog #6 Perseverance

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.  Thomas A. Edison

Have you ever heard of the noun perseverance or the verb persevere (to persevere)?

Life is not easy for any of us.  But what of that?  We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.  We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.

Marie Curie

If you were offered $50 right now or $100 in one year, which would you choose? And Why?

Successful people persevere when attempting to accomplish something.  Graduating college, running a marathon, earning money to buy a car, losing weight, these are examples of accomplishments that require perseverance.  These things take work and dedication to accomplish.  Once you decide on a long term goal there are endless instant gratification activities that can derail your plans.  Should I study for the test or play Xbox?  Should I go to the gym and workout or lounge on the couch and watch television?  Should I save my money or spend it on random junk?

Most if not all significant accomplishments in life involve some form of delayed gratification.  Built in to the process of succeeding is hard work and failure.  Everyone fails from time to time, sometimes repeatedly.  Someone is considered a failure if they quit and stop trying before succeeding.  The question is "Are you OK with failure?  Or are you going to keep trying (persevere) until you succeed?"  As a sophomore in high school Michael Jordan was left off of the varsity basketball team (he played on the junior varsity team) before he became the greatest basketball player on the planet.  That let down fueled his drive and desire to succeed.

Winners never quit and quitters never win.

Vince Lombardi

Not everyone is going to be a professional athlete (actor, singer, model, etc.), but whatever your chosen goal you must persevere to accomplish it.  Once you realize that meaningful things often times require hard work and dedication, you will begin to prioritize your life around your goals.

"If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail."  Benjamin Franklin

Some of you might already know what you want to do with your life.  Others of you might still be trying to figure it out.  The first steps to success are choosing a goal and creating a plan.  Do you have any long term goals for your life?  What are your goals and have you created plans to achieve these goals.  Write about your goal(s) in life and detail the steps you need to do to achieve those goals.

Whether you're shuffling a deck of cards or holding your breath, magic is pretty simple: It comes down to training, practice, and experimentation, followed up by ridiculous pursuit and relentless perseverance.
David Blaine 

This is a blog assignment.  Title it "Perseverance."

The post must be at least 3 paragraphs of at least 150 

words.

David Blaine

Angela Lee Duckworth

Rodney Mullen

Blog #5 Being Charitable

This is a blog assignment.

Name your post "Being Charitable."

Here is the hypothetical situation.  Mark Cuban mega-rich business man and owner of the Dallas Mavericks shows up at Back Bay High School with two million dollars to spend.  He offers you a job.  The pay for this job is one million dollars. The job is to choose a charity that you care about.   Mr. Cuban wants to donate the other one million dollars to that one charity.

Let's be charitable.

Your job is to research different charities to find one that means something to you.  After you find the charity that you want to support, you will write a blog entry that 1) **briefly describes the charity in one paragraph, 2) details (at least 2 paragraphs) why this charity is important to you (what about this charity is personally meaningful to you) 3) includes a link to the charity's website and 4) includes at least 2 pictures related to the charity.

There are a total of 3 paragraphs in this assignment.

**The link to the charity's website will include all the information about the charity.  This is why you will only briefly describe (a few sentences) the charity in your post.

Google #9- Drawing

Today's assignment is the last of the "technology proficiency" assignments.  Log in to your Google account and go to Drive.

You are going to explore the drawing program in Google Drive.  You will spend time creating a masterpiece.

You final drawing must contain 

lines, 

shapes, 

different colors, 

and letters (your name at the very least).

Your final art must be school appropriate. 

You must spend at least 45 minutes creating this assignment.

Google #8 Letter of Recommendation

This is a Google drive assignment.

Today's assignment is writing another business letter.

Specifically, you will be writing a letter of recommendation.  When applying for certain jobs (usually the higher paying ones) or scholarships you will be asked to provide letters of recommendation (usually 3).  These letters are written by teachers, principals, former bosses, etc.

For this assignment you will be writing a letter of recommendation about yourself.  You will be writing this letter as President Barack Obama.  It needs to be typed in the proper format in Google Drive.  Find the assignment in the google drive folder for this class.  Make a copy of that assignment and rename it correctly.  Move the assignment to your folder that is already shared with me.

Follow the example (pictured below).  Write this letter "Dear Mr. Walske:"  instead of "To whom it may concern:"

Your letter needs to have at least three paragraphs.  For example the paragraphs could be 

1) background information about you  2) skills/talents that you have 3) accomplishments you have made.

This letter is by President Barack Obama, about you, and addressed to me.

Barack Obama

President

United States of America

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington, DC 20500

April 17, 2015

Mr. Walske

Teacher

Back Bay High School

390 Monte Vista Ave

Costa Mesa, California 92627

Dear Mr. Walske

You will not be writing in first person "I this and I that."  You are writing about yourself (as the President), but you are not writing as yourself.  This letter will be written as Barack Obama in first person.

Example: this would be how I would write about myself as Barack Obama.

          I would like to recommend Mister Walske for the Governor of California.  He is a very intelligent and motivated person.  Mister Walske has great problem solving skills and works well under pressure. Blah, blah, blah, etc.

Blog #4 Bucket List

A bucket list is a list of things that you want to do/accomplish before you die ("kick the bucket").  There is a 2007 movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman called The Bucket List about 2 terminally ill men attempting to complete all the items on their bucket lists.

For today's assignment, you are to come up with 5 things that you want to accomplish during your time here on earth.  Do not include things that you have already done.  Graduating college and having children are not on my bucket list, because I have already done those things.  List the things from 1-5 including at least 1 sentence describing why you want to do/accomplish each thing.

Minimum requirements

this is a blog assignment

numbered list of 5 things/goals/etc. that you haven't done yet.

at least 1 sentence describing why each thing was chosen

1. run a half marathon faster than 1 hour and 55 minutes-  I will never be an elite level distance runner, but I consider running 13.1 miles in less than 2 hours an accomplishment. My original goal was under 2 hours but 2 years ago I ran a 159:47.

2.  run a marathon (preferably in under 4 hours)-  I have yet to attempt this goal.  I will hopefully run my first marathon next year.

3.  complete a triathlon-  I know I can swim, bike and run.  The question is "can I find enough time to properly train for a triathlon?".  One day I will.

4.  travel overseas-  I have a passport, but have never used it (except for Mexico).  One day I would like to travel to many countries.

5.  Donate platelets as many times as possible-  I used to donate blood, but I was told for my blood type (A+) it was better to donate platelets.  Platelets can be donated every 2 weeks.  The problem for me is that the process takes about 3 hours and with 2 little ones at home I can't get away on the weekends for that amount of time.  Right now, I donate during the summer and vacation times since 2010.

Short Wednesday Blog Assignment #3

Write about what you did with your week off from school.

You blog post should be 

at least 150 words

at least 3 paragraphs

at least 1 picture

with correct punctuation, grammar, and spelling.

Google #7 Resume

Today you are going to be creating a resume for yourself in Google Drive.

 Use the picture below as a guide.

 

1)  Center your name, address and contact information.

2)  Include each of the 5 headings (Objective, Education, Experience, Relevant Skills & Courses, and Interests)  If you have not taken any college or vocational courses name the fourth heading "Relevant Skills."

3)  You don't need the horizontal lines to separate each category.

 

Notice that each heading is in bold and starts at the left margin.  All of the information after each heading starts at the same tab unless it is a further indented bullet point.  Correctly formatting a resume will make it look professional.  

 

The last thing you want is your resume to stand out for being sloppy and/or unprofessional.

Google #5

This is the fifth Google Drive Assignment

Today, we are doing a one-page flyer document created with Google. The content of this flyer will be whatever you choose (lost dog, garage sale, baby shower, etc.).

Minimum requirements

Flyer must be school appropriate.

Large title in the document

  

(Lost Dog, Garage Sale, etc.)

at least 2 pictures (found in Google images)

at least 5 descriptive details about your topic.  (you can 

write in complete sentences or use bullet points)

full contact information 

including name, 

full address, 

phone number 

email address  (can be fake info)