Final Project Parts 2+3

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23554861/

When I started, I picked the sprites I would use and I also looked at the original blocks to see how they would fit into what I was doing. If I came across a problem, I would look to see if any of my instructions conflicted, causing the program to not work. This was usually the problem and it was a fairly easy fix. I just had to get rid of the conflict somehow. I would test it out by trying it every time I added something new to the game.On occasion the computer would glitch and a certain step wouldn't work one time, but it would work every other time I tried it. So, testing multiple times was important to my process.

Final Project Part 1

The purpose of this project is  to remix an already created project. I'm planning on changing the big fish into a dragon and having the dragon eat another sprite, but it has to stay away from the wizards. Every time the dragon eats a sprite he gains a point. Once the dragon gains a certain number of points, he will proceed to  the next level. However, if he touches a wizards, he will lose all his points and go back to level one.

Second Debug It #5

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/embed/23508475/?autostart=false

Second Debug It #4

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/embed/23508055/

Second Debug It #3

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/embed/23507383/

Second Debug It #2

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/embed/23507122/

Second Debug It #1

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/embed/23503951/

Broadcast

Try It!

I had some trouble figuring out how to get the sprite to not touch the arrow when it followed. So, I switched to a different challenge. They were fairly easy and I liked doing this a lot because I got to choose what I did and combine all the challenges into one.

Dialogue Broadcast

When a sprite says something, you can make them broadcast it. When the other sprite receives this broadcast, it will trigger their response. they can broadcast back to the other sprite as well.
You would use broadcast when you want the sprites to have a conversation. When you want the sprite to react with an action rather than a sentence or word.

Make Your Own Block

"Make a Block" allows you to create a sequence of blocks that cause a sprite to do something. Then, you can use that block you created if you wanted to use that sequence again.
This is useful because it shortens the sequence and the amount of time it takes to write the sequence.

Debug It Reflection

Sometimes I would completely reconstruct the scratch activity. I'd do it the way I would do it originally to see if that would work. Then I would go from there.
To help someone "debug" I would ask them how they would do it in the first place before debugging was necessary.

Debug It 5

Debug it 4

Debug It 3

Debug It 2

Debug It 1

10 Block Challenge

1. I learned how to use Scratch more efficiently by using  the repeat blocks. I also learned how to get the "sprite" to do exactly what I wanted it to and go where I wanted it to go. I didn't know before that you could control the way it moved.
2. The 10 block restraint forces you to learn how to use specific blocks and specific sequences to get what you want. It also helps me learn more thoroughly about certain blocks. I'm less confused and overwhelmed by all the blocks because my choices are limited.

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/embed/22932773/?autostart=false

Scratch #1

1. I was surprised by how, even though everything was fairly basic, it was sometimes difficult to find the the things I was supposed to put on my project thing.
2. I liked being led step-by-step. It made everything easier to follow, especially for the first time through.
3. I like having more freedom in the beginning to figure a couple things out for myself. After that, I like to be guided and have more structure so I can learn the necessities.


http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/embed/22878377/?autostart=false
   

HTML Overview

Three Things I Had Problems With 1. I had trouble getting my pictures to show up. It turned out to be a simple fix of correcting the way my quotations were oriented. 2. I also had trouble highlighting specific text. It took a little while to figure out but it was easy enough. 3. Finally, I forgot that I needed to add "
" in order to get a line break; I couldn't just press enter. Two Successes I Had 1. I was successful using a border around a specific area of text. 2. I was able to make a great bulleted list. My favorite part of this project was understanding how to do it. In the beginning I was very confused and I had no clue what was going on. Towards the end, I actually figured out how to use HTML code.

Webpage: Music Festivals 2014

Music Festivals of 2014

• SXSW, March 7-16 (Austin, TX)
• Ultra Music Festival, March 28-30 (Miami, FL)
• Coachella, April 11-13 (Indio, CA)
• Counterpoint, April 25-27 (Kingston Downs, GA)
• Beale Street Music Festival, May 2-4 (Memphis, TN)
• Sasquatch! Festival, May 23-25 (Gorge, WA)
• Electric Daisy Carnival, May 24-25 (NYC), June 20-22 (Las Vegas, Nevada)
• Governor's Ball, June 6-8 (NYC)
• Bonnaroo, June 12-15 (Manchester, TN)
• Warped Tour, June 14-Aug 3 (Throughout NA)
• Firefly Music Festival,June 19-22 (Dover, DE)
• Lollapalooza, Aug 1-3 (Chicago, IL)
• Riot Fest, Sep 12-14 (Chicago, IL)
• TomorrowWorld, Sep 26-28 (Chattahoochee Hills, GA)
• Voodoo Music Experience, November TBA (New Orleans, LA)
• Fun Fun Fun Fest, November TBA (Austin, TX)
• Rock The Bells, TBA (TBA)

Ultra Music Festival

Coachella
To learn more about any of these festivals, click on the following link: http://www.fuse.tv/2014/01/best-music-festivals-2014

Calendar

Check the dates above on the calendar before you buy tickets!

Music Festivals are an incredible experience. If you're lucky enough to get an an opportunity to go,I would highly recommend it. They can, however, be stressful if you're going for the first time. Follow this link to find out what you should bring to your Festival experience to make it easier. http://www.buzzfeed.com/mariasherm/music-festival-hacks-that-will-make-your-experience-way-more

HTML #5

Types

There are lots of kinds of music.

• pop
• rap
• alternative
• indie
• edm

The list could go on forever.

Concerts

There's nothing better than going to see your favorite play live.I've been to four concerts.

1. U2 (twice)
2. Taylor Swift
3. Imagine Dragons
4. Ed Sheeran (seeing him this fall)

Mary Beth

HTML #4

Caring for Cats

Dogs may be man's best friend, but cats are without a doubt the coolest domesticated animals. Unlike dogs, they need very little care. All the owner has to do is:

• feed it
• clean its litter box
• cut its claws
• bring it to the vet on occasion

There's so much less work involved with the care of a cat.

The Best Part About Cats

They're cuddly! As stuck up as cats tend to act, once you get to know them, they're the cutest animal you could ever know. Plus, if you have dogs, the interactions between the two animals never fail to amuse an onlooker.

I have had five pets during my life. It started when we adopted a cat and the list has grown ever since:

1. Tucker (cat)
2. Skittles (cat)
3. Daisy (dog)
4. Reba (dog)
5. Lars (cat)

They're all incredibly smart and loyal animals. I'm lucky to have had them. There is so much that people can learn from their pets when it comes to loyalty and living in the now.

Websites About Cats

10 Things You Didn't Know About Cats

david-grimm/ten-things-you-didnt-know_b_5270407.html

Cat Care Tips

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care

Cat Breeds

http://www.petfinder.com/cat-breeds/

Mary Beth
Cat Lover

HTML #3

They're Pretty Awesome

Hi! My name is Mary Beth and I have the coolest friends in the history of the world.

I'm Lucky to Have Them

Not many people can say that they have a group of friends that would do anything for them. I'm one of the lucky few that can confidently say that my friends are there for me no matter what. They're awesome. Every time we see each other, we always end up laughing. We laugh so much that eventually, things that aren't even funny become hysterical.

Mary Beth
RMHS student with some bomb friends

HTML #2

About School

Students must get up everyday at 6:00am in order to get to school. Classes begin at 7:35am and end at 2:11pm. It's non-stop learning until that time. Even after school ends, we continue learning on our own, doing homework that isn't always mandatory, but it's necessary if you don't want to fail your classes.

Why Students Hate School

School is fun for the first few weeks. You meet up with your friends that you haven't seen in a while and, for a time, the learning isn't so bad. However, eventually it gets boring. Not only does it get boring, but the work starts piling on. If you're lucky, your teachers will "forget" that you take other, intensive classes aside from their own. It's impossible to balance school work, a healthy social life and fulfill all requirements that are necessary to get into a good college. Student will go crazy if they don't have a break to socialize with their friends. But, if they take that break, they won't be able to keep up their gpa and do necessary volunteer work or participate in club or team activities. How can a student be expected to do well in school and stay sane? Believe me, I'm still trying to figure it out.

HTML #1

About Me

Hi, my name is Mary Beth. I'm writing this in HTML for my Computer Apps class.

I'm very confused by everything going on in all my classes right now. The school year needs to end immediately.

Blog Post #8

I like to read websites about music and music festivals. I was thinking of making a website about music.

Blog Post #7

I enjoyed using Excel. It's very helpful and even if I don't really use Excel now, I know it will be useful later in life. I learned a lot of tricks that make using Excel much easier. It's a fast, simple way of recording information and figuring out certain numbers using the information you already have. I also learned a few ways to use Excel that makes me less likely to make mistakes on it.

Blog Post #6

The first thing I did on "code.org" was the Angry Birds activity. I found this to be incredibly easy. Each step was logical and there were special blocks that made this much easier and less time consuming. Also, I thought the recommendations that were given and told the user to use only four or five blocks also made the activity easier. This way there was a limit to the moves you could make and it made each sequence shorter, more simple and easier to follow.
My next activity was Tynker. I didn't like this as much as Angry Birds. I thought it was too simple and that annoyed me a little. The user was supposed to follow a storyline and  they were slowly introduced to the game. The first couple of sequences only had two parts to them and I was bored with the activity.
I liked LightBot because it was easy, but it also had different aspects to it. Not only did it move side to side and forward, but it also moved up and down. It wasn't as boring.

After all of this, we had to program Eliza. It was good at first, the steps were simple enough to understand. However, once we had to start putting "input" into the computer to elicit a response from Eliza, things got confusing. The instructions weren't clear enough for me. I wasn't sure how my input was supposed to show up. I also wasn't sure  how to fix my mistakes or even tell what I did wrong in the first place. The computer told me I had made an error and my code was invalid, but it was unclear what I could and should do to fix my mistake. I found the program rather frustrating and unhelpful after a little while.

Blog Post #5

 Creating my own design on the beadloom.

Blog Post #4 Computer Buying Project

My final choice in the Computer Buying Project was a Mac.When it came to the Hard Drive, Macs were superior to PCs because they have a FireWire port, not just a USB port. FireWire allows for a faster transfer of more data from one computer to another. Macs also have a higher definition and better quality imaging. Not only this, but their screens come in a larger variety of sizes. Macs have a thin, wireless keyboard that is easy to use and has a great battery life. The mouse built by Apple costs significantly more than other Track Pads. However, Mac is compatible with the other, less expensive Track Pads. External Optical Drives that are compatible with Macs are numbered higher than those that are compatible with PCs.
Macs may cost significantly more than PCs, but it is worth the extra money when it comes to stability and dependability. The Mac's operating system is clean without any excess software. It is the excess software-- that isn't always clean-- that causes PCs to often crash program such as windows or Internet Explorer. The Mac also offers Apple's iCloud. This system provides an easy back up for any work, music, apps etc. that the owner might want to save in case the Mac does crash. This makes Macs for stable and dependable and that, to me, is worth the extra money.

Blog Post #3

I learned a lot of useful things in the entire Power Searching with Google Unit.
One of the main things that I learned is that there are websites you can go to that will give you information about a website. You can type in the link to the website and it will give you publication dates, companies that support it, who it's written by, who its creator is and what company it's based off of. This can help me figure out if the website is a reliable source of information and if it has any biases.
I also learned how to use Google Scholar to find different or more specific kinds of web articles. The ones I would find on Google Scholar would be written by reliable people. I would most often use this to learn about important medical discoveries and developments or read articles written by doctors and professors.
Thanks to this unit, I can now find credible answers quickly and use Google to its greatest potential.

Blog Post #2

For the first lesson of this unit, Power Searching with Google, I learned a good deal that has helped me with some of my classes, particularly history. The first thing that has helped me is filtering image results. Often times, I need to find a primary source image for my history classes. These are usually paintings or old news paper headlines. It can be difficult to find these. However, if I filter my images by color for black and white only or by type, it makes it much easier. My results will be narrowed down to mostly old pictures and newspaper headlines from that time period.
The next thing I learned in the first class was how to find text in a web page. Many history documents are long and wordy. If I press control or command F to search the page, I can find my results much faster. It will help me spend less time looking at a document that I don't need and more time looking at and analyzing the important documents.

In the second lesson, Interpreting Results, I learned that you can click on related subjects on the panel to the right of the page to learn more about different parts of the topic or things relating to the topic. This is helpful for English because it will allow me to easily research the author of a book that I looked up.
I also learned that different types of media might be more helpful for different topics. For example, if I'm looking for how to do something and instructions I could look at videos. This could help me if I'm researching a math topic that I didn't understand in class. I could also use this if I want to look up how an atom for chemistry is organized; I could look at pictures rather than just a web search.

The third lesson about Advanced Techniques in searching helped me learn how to narrow my results down to more reliable sources. I can do this by adding an operator for sites into my search. During history class, I often need to find primary resources and pictures for projects.By adding site:.gov to my search, I will most likely be brought to national park websites. I know that these websites are reliable and full of primary resources, not simply clip art and essays.
The second useful thing that I learned how to do is search for intext. By doing this, I can make sure that the results I'm getting will answer my more specific questions about a topic. Often, if I'm searching for a specific kind of molecule and what it does in chemistry, my results will tell me what its chemical formula is and how it's used in science experiments. However, it will not tell me why the molecule works the way it does. By using intext in my search, I can make sure my question is sufficiently answered.

Blog Post #1

Next year, I will be entering 11th grade. It is around that time when people start taking the PSAT and the SAT and thinking more seriously about college. This is both an exciting and nerve-wracking time for everyone. Recently, this has been weighing on my mind a great deal. I suppose it could be because course selection sheets were sent out this week. I need to start asking myself questions about what I want to do in college. Which electives will show that I have an interest in specific majors? Which subjects should I focus on and, which ones can I drop down in to make more room for other challenging courses? I also must ask myself, what is it that I want to do with my four years after high school?

My brother is a bit further along in his college hunt than I am, seeing as he is a year older. His experience has made it easier for me to answer some of the questions I listed above. After explore several colleges and options for majors with him over the summer, I have discovered that I'm most interested in either a major in psychology or journalism. I'm interested in smaller, community based colleges that offer opportunities outside the classroom and off campus. However, there are so many more things to think about. A major factor when it comes to picking colleges is money. College in ridiculously expensive. The good new is, you can get a great education just about anywhere. You might not have a big college name backing your degree, but what matters is that it is hard for anyone to get a job no matter where you went to school. If you get your degree and work hard enough, opportunities will present themselves.