Final Project Reflection

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23716740/


To begin creating this game, I had to think of a concept. I wanted it to be easy to explain and fun to play. I immediately had the idea of creating a game that had to do with sports because I enjoy sports and I know that many other people do too. As I worked to make this game, I ran into a few problems. To work through these, I ran through my game to see what the issue was. I then checked that part of the script and tried removing and adding things until the problem was fixed. As I made each block of script, I tested it individually. I also played it myself a few times as I went along to make sure everything was going together like it should.

Final Project: Purpose of My Game

When playing my game, the goal is to touch the tennis ball while avoiding the soccer ball. If you are hit by the soccer ball, you will lose one point . If you touch the tennis ball, you will gain two points. Once you reach 300 points, you advance to the second level. To advance to the third you must earn 800 points. To win, you must earn 1300 points. To play this game, you must jump over the ball or, in the more difficult levels, move away from the ball when it comes from all directions. The levels get increasingly difficult because of the speed and location of the soccer ball and tennis ball.

Levels Reflection

What are different ways of increasing difficulty in a game?

You can increase the speed of something or the amount of obstacles.

What blocks are used to implement levels?

"Switch Backdrop To ______", "Next Backdrop", "If ____ Then", "Broadcast Next Level".

Variable Reflection

What is a variable?

A variable is something that can be changed while playing the game.

How would you explain variables to young learners?

I would describe it as something like the score or speed that can be changed.

Week 2: Debug It Reflection

What is one debugging strategy that you used? 
I thought of things that we've learned like "Broadcast" and "Make A Block" that could apply to the problem at hand.
 

How would you help someone else learn how to debug a project?
I would tell them to think of everything they know how to do and all of the blocks and out of these, try to figure out which one could solve the problem. I'd tell them to try multiple things because not everything you try will work the first time.

Week 2: Debug It #5

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23508523/

Week 2: Debug It #4

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23507935/

Week 2: Debug It #3

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23505040/

Week 2: Debug It #2

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23504516/

Week 2: Debug It #1

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23504073/

Stage Reflection

What does the Stage have in common with sprites?
Both the Stage and sprites come in many variations. Plus, they can both be changed and maneuvered using blocks.

How do you initialize sprites in a scene?
You initialize them by using the "When Green Flag is Pressed" event. It will send them back to their starting positions if you code for them to do so in the script.

What other types of projects (beyond animations) would use scene changes?
Scene changes could be used in games, slide shows, and simulations.

Review 5 classmates’ posts for this project. How did they use backdrops in their projects?
They made it so that their backgrounds changed before a second joke started.

Week 3 Try-Its Reflection

Which puzzles did you work on?
Number 1, 2, and 5.

What was your strategy for solving the puzzles?
My strategy was to look through every block available and choose which ones I thought would work for that particular puzzle. I then tried to put these blocks together to make them do what I wanted.

Which puzzles, if any, helped you think about your game project?
I think each of these puzzles could help with my game project depending on what type of game I end up creating.

Week 3 Try-Its

Try-It #1:

Press the "B" key to make the sprite become larger. Press the "S" key to make the sprite smaller.
Try-It #2:

Make a loud sound to cause the sprite to change color.

Try-It #5:

Press the green flag.

Stage Project

To start, press the green flag. Once the first joke is over, press the space bar to continue.

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/23402237/

My Own Broadcast Project

Broadcasting Reflection

How would you describe Broadcast to someone else?
Broadcast is used to create a cue that tells a sprite to say or do something.
When would you use timing in a project?
I would use timing between two actions. 
When would you use broadcasting?
I would use broadcasting in a conversation to have it flow more like an actual conversation would.

Broadcasting Project Remix

Make-A-Block Project

Make-A-Block Reflection

How would you explain "Make a Block" to someone else?

I would explain it as a shortcut that you can use to have your sprite do a lot of things using only one word.

 When might you use "Make a Block"?

You might use it if you want your sprite to do something that includes a lot of commands often. This way, you can include the one word shortcut rather than all of the commands.

 

Debug It Reflection

What is one debugging strategy that you used?

One strategy that I used was to first try to move commands around that were already there. Then, if moving them wasn't enough, to try to add new commands.

How would you help someone else learn how to debug a project?
I would help them by telling them to first think if they know of any commands that could help solve the issue and then try them out until they find the right one(s).

Debug It #5

Debug It #4

Debug It #3

Debug It #2

Debug It #1

Scratch 10 Block Challenge Reflection

My 10 Block Challenge Project: http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/22933511/

How does this activity help you learn Scratch?
This activity helped me learn how many different things you can make your sprite do just by ordering the blocks in different ways.

How does the 10 block restraint impact your ideas?
It limited what I could do and how original I could make my project. It forced me to be even less creative by not allowing a background or another sprite to be added.

Scratch Reflection

What was surprising about the activity?
It surprised me how easy it was to use this website when you were being told what to do. Looking at the website at first, there was a lot going on and I assumed that things would be hard to find, but this was not the case. Also, I was surprised by how quickly I could make a project using this website.
How did it feel to be led step-by-step through the activity?
I liked being led step-by-step because it cut out the time we would have wasted trying to find where certain things are in the menu. I felt like I learned more than I would've finding everything myself because I had more time to try things out.
As a learner (with Scratch and beyond), when do you like having more structure?
I like having more structure at the beginning of a unit, but I prefer some structure throughout the entire unit.
When do you like having more freedom?
I like having a little more freedom at the end of a unit, once I've had practice with it.
When do you feel most creative?
I feel most creative when I have many options to choose from, like on Scratch. I'm not very good at coming up with creative ideas on my own. I'm not a very creative person in general.

My Project:  http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/22878382/

Webpage: My Experience

Three problems that I had while creating my webpage were images not showing up, a scroll bar section not working, and a highlight not showing up.

Two successes that I had were getting the images to show up after trying many different things and getting the entire webpage to look like I want it to.

My favorite aspect of this process was probably inserting special effects because it makes the webpage look better and be more efficient.

My Webpage

About Softball

Softball is a sport very similar to baseball. However, in softball, pitches are thrown underhand, the ball is larger and the field is smaller than in baseball. Softball can be slow-pitch or fast-pitch. In slow-pitch, bunting and stealing are not allowed. In fast-pitch, however, they are allowed. There are three strikes and four balls in an at bat. Three outs are required to end an inning and there are seven innings in a game. In fast-pitch softball, 10 players are on the field at once. The positions are as follows:

• pitcher
• catcher
• first base
• second base
• third base
• shortstop
• left field
• center field
• right field

Slow-pitch softball has the same positions besides center field is replaced by left-center field and right-center field.

About My Experience

I have been playing softball since I was in third grade. Previously, I had played third base as my main position. Starting this year, I have begun to play outfield all of the time. I have played on a few teams throughout my softball experience.

About My Teams

Besides the Reading Recreation teams that I've played on, I have been apart of the Reading Rebels, Reading Krush, and the RMHS Freshman team. The Reading Rebels have been playing together since we were in third grade. We have won the "Girls of Summer" tournament for the past two years and we have also placed first in our division for the state three years in a row.

http://web.mst.edu/~ima/rules/Softballrules.html

http://www.ncaa.com/stats/softball/d1

This season, the RMHS Freshman team has a record of 5-5. We've improved a lot since the beginning of the season. On this team, I usually play Right or Left Field. I can also play First Base if necessary. On the Reading Rebels, I have always played Third Base, but this year I will hopefully be transitioning into playing First Base or Outfield.

HTML Assignment #5

Volleyball

Volleyball is a very fun sport. My favorite parts are hitting and blocking. To hit and block, you have to jump above the net, so being tall is a huge advantage. The positions in volleyball are as follows:

• middle
• outside
• opposite
• libero
• setter

My Experience

I've been playing volleyball for about 5 years. I participated in clinics about the basics of how to play. More recently, I've become involved in teams that actually play volleyball games against other teams, rather than working on just skills, such as:

1. Team Evolution
2. North Shore Thunder
3. RMHS Freshman team
   
   www.volleyball.org/rules/
   
   volleyball.about.com/od/volleyball101/p/PositionHub.htm
   
   www.universalathletic.com/volleyball-serving-tips
   http://abcnewspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Volleyball.jpg http://abcnewspapers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Volleyball.jpg

HTML Assignment #4

Volleyball

Volleyball is a very fun sport. My favorite parts are hitting and blocking. To hit and block, you have to jump above the net, so being tall is a huge advantage. The positions in volleyball are as follows:

• middle
• outside
• opposite
• libero
• setter

My Experience

I've been playing volleyball for about 5 years. I participated in clinics about the basics of how to play. More recently, I've become involved in teams that actually play volleyball games against other teams, rather than working on just skills, such as:

1. Team Evolution
2. North Shore Thunder
3. RMHS Freshman team

   
   My Future in Volleyball
   

   This summer, I will be attending multiple volleyball camps. One of them is at the University of Rhode Island. The entire Reading volleyball program attends. Plus, I will be playing volleyball every Monday night this summer with another team. I hope to make the JV volleyball team next year.

   
   www.volleyball.org/rules/
   
   volleyball.about.com/od/volleyball101/p/PositionHub.htm
   
   www.universalathletic.com/volleyball-serving-tips
   

HTML Assignment #3

School

Hi! I'm Lily! I attend Reading Memorial High School.

My Background

I previously attended Birch Meadow Elementary School and Coolidge Middle School. I am now a freshman.

My Courses

I take Spanish 2, Algebra 1, Biology, Computer Applications, History 9, English 9, Advisory, Decisions, and Wellness.

Computer Applications

One of my favorite things about Computer Apps is that the things you learn can be used outside of the classroom. Many of our units can be helpful for other classes. For example, our "Powersearching with Google" unit can make research for my other classes faster and more effective. Plus, some skills, such as how to use Microsoft Excel, could be useful for a job or project.

HTML Assignment #2

About Me

My name is Lily Dunn.

My Background

I am 15 years old and a freshman at Reading Memorial High School. I live in Reading, Massachusetts with my parents and my sister, Erin.

Courses I Take

I take SCP Spanish 2, SCP Algebra 1, Honors Biology, Computer Applications, Honors History 9, Advisory, Wellness, Decisions, and Honors English 9.

Lily Dunn
Freshman, Class of 2017
Reading Memorial High School

HTML Assignment #1

About Me

My name is Lily Dunn. I live in Reading, Massachusetts and attend RMHS.

I played volleyball on the Freshman team and I am currently playing softball on the Freshman team. My favorite subjects are Spanish and History. I enjoy learning about a new culture and language in Spanish class. Plus, it comes pretty easily to me. In History, I find it interesting to study the important time periods and events that led us to where we are today.

Remixing Webpages Using X-Ray Goggles

I made five changes to each webpage.

1) I changed "HELP" in the bar at the top of the page to "SEARCH...".

2) I changed "My Classes & Shortcuts" to "My Courses" on the lefthand side.

3) I changed "Email Access- Staff Only" to "Email Access- Students Only" under "Links" on the left side.

4) I changed "May 2014" to "May 2020" on the calendar.

5) I changed all of the days of the week to the days of the week in Spanish on the calendar.

1) I changed "Gmail" to "Email" in the top right.

2) I changed "Images" to "Photos" in the top right.

3) I changed "About" to "All About Us" in the bottom left.

4) I changed "Share" to "Post" in the top right.

5) I changed "Google Search" to "Search Anything" under the search bar.

1) I changed "Log In" to "Sign In" in the upper right corner.

2) I changed "Log In To Nike" to "Sign In To Nike" on the right side.

3) I changed "Customize" to "Make It Your Own" on the top of the page.

4) I changed "Shoes" to "Footwear" on the left side of the page.

5) I changed "Gear" to "Sports Gear" on the left side.

Mozilla Webmaker

https://lilydunn.makes.org/thimble/LTgwOTEwNzQ1Ng==/gig-poster

I didn't really like making this gig poster.  The directions weren't difficult, but I found it tedious.  Plus, the website wasn't allowing me to do some of the tasks such as float and changing the color of the text.

https://lilydunn.makes.org/thimble/MTQyMjQ1ODg4MA==/postcard

Next, I made a postcard.  I liked that this was simple to make and it came out like I wanted it to.

Overall, I enjoyed using Mozilla Webmaker.  I think that it will be useful to use for a project in the future.  The activities were very creative and allowed you to think outside of the box.  Although, since creativity isn't my strongpoint, I struggled a little bit with that.

Webpages

I enjoy reading webpages about baking.  This is because I like to bake new and creative things.  I'm thinking of making my webpage about volleyball or softball, which are the two sports that I play.

Microsoft Excel

I thought that the Excel unit was helpful.  I can picture it being something that is required and useful for certain jobs.  It was challenging though because there were so many different things to memorize.

Is Eliza Human?

Trying to program Eliza was rather difficult.  It was challenging to remember each code that you had to use to get Eliza to say certain things.  I would often type in a code but nothing would appear in the 'Your Results' box.  I was unclear as to why the codes that I typed in didn't work.  I looked back at previous levels to make sure I was doing it right, and it seemed that I was doing it correctly.  I didn't find this enjoyable or interesting.  It took way too long for me to learn and do each level of programming.  Eliza doesn't have the communication skills or vocabulary of a human, so it was hard to try to teach her those things.

Programming Games

The first game I played was Lightbot.  At first it was very simple, but it became slightly challenging by the end.  However, I never got to the point where I considered giving up.  Its instructions were easy to follow and the way it was set up was very simple.  Overall, I enjoyed this game.

Next, I played Angry Birds.  This game was similar to Lightbot in that it started off very easy and became increasingly challenging.  However, this game was more challenging and wasn't as enjoyable.  It didn't take that long for me to want to give up on it.  I didn't really like this game.

Lastly, I tried the Create A Holiday Card game.  It was extremely difficult to make the card.  The directions were hard to follow and there was way too many things on the screen at once.  I didn't like this game at all.  It was my least favorite out of the three games.  

Creating My Own Design

Using the Virtual Beadloom, I created my name.

Computer Buying Project

My final choice in the Computer Buying Project was a Mac.  The most important reason I chose the Mac was because of the Retina display.  I think display, especially on a laptop, is extremely important because basically everything you do on your laptop involves your screen.  The Retina display reduces glare, while maintaining its amazing color and quality, blacker blacks, and whiter whites.  A second important reason is the battery life.  A 13 inch Macbook Pro with Retina display can go up to 9 hours between charges.  The 15 inch Macbook Pro with Retina display can last up to 8 hours without being charged.  Lastly, the speed of the Macs were a large factor in my decision.  From my experience, Macbooks seem to be much faster than PCs.

Power Searching with Google: How it's Useful to Me

Throughout the Power Searching with Google unit, I learned many new tips and techniques for effective Google searching.  One of the most useful is the operator that filters the results by its source: "site:".  This will be extremely useful when I'm doing research because I'll be able to make sure the source is credible by using "site:.gov" or "site:.edu".  Another useful thing I learned is how to exclude a certain term from your results using the "-" operator.  I will be using this operator often because I tend to get results that aren't what I'm looking for.  This will allow me to exclude those from my results and focus on what I am looking for.  These two tips stick out to me as things that I will be getting a lot of use out of.  However, the entire unit was very helpful.

Powersearching With Google

     The Power Searching with Google classes have been very helpful so far.  From the first class, two helpful things I learned were filtering images by color and finding text on a webpage.  To filter images by color, you click one of the colors in the bottom left hand corner of the image results page.  This is helpful because I can use it to eliminate pictures that I don’t want because of their color.  Finding text on a webpage is also extremely helpful because if I don’t want to look through an entire long page to find one piece of information, I can easily search for what I’m looking for.  You can search a webpage for specific text by using the command-F or control-F keys. 
     From the second class, some helpful things that I learned were how to find the definition of a word on Google and how to refine results by using different types of media.  The “define” feature is very helpful because it makes it very easy to find the definition to a word that I don’t know.  You can do this by typing “define” and then the word you’re looking for into a Google search.  Being able to refine results by using different types of media is also extremely helpful because if I’m only looking for images, videos, or news articles, I can see more of those as opposed to webpages that I don’t want to use.  You can find the options for types of media at the top of the results page or the top left of the Google homepage.  Overall, classes one and two of the Power Searching with Google course have been very useful.  

First Post!

One of my favorite things to do is to travel.  My family and I travel pretty often.  We've traveled to many places so far.  My favorite place that I've traveled to has been California.  I've been there on two separate trips: One to Northern California and one to Southern California.  When I traveled to Northern California, my family and I visited San Francisco, Monterey, Big Sur, and Mill Valley.  In San Francisco, we went to Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Painted Ladies, Alcatraz Island, AT&T Park for a Giants' game, and the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory.  In Monterey, my family and I visited the beach, the aquarium, Cannery Row, and we took the Seven Mile Drive.  In Big Sur, we spent time at the beach.  In Mill Valley, we went to Muir Woods, where we saw lots of Sequoia trees and wildlife.  On my second trip to California, my family and I traveled to Southern California.  We visited San Diego, Santa Monica, Coronado, Malibu, Simi Valley, Calabasas, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Anaheim, and Burbank.  We spent our time in San Diego at Sea World and the San Diego Zoo.  In Santa Monica, my family and I visited the Santa Monica Pier, which was a lot of fun.  We went to to beaches in Coronado, Malibu, and Calabasas.  In Simi Valley, we visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where we saw the Air Force One, and a piece of the Berlin Wall.  Our trip to Beverly Hills consisted of the Beverly Hills sign and Rodeo Drive.  In Hollywood, we walked on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and saw the Hollywood sign.  We watched an Angels' game in the Angel Stadium of Anaheim.  We took a tour of Warner Brothers' Studios in Burbank.  They showed us the Pretty Little Liars set, a few other sets, and the Warner Brothers' Water Tower.  Overall, I love to travel and two of my favorite vacations have both been to California.