AP Computer Science 2016-2017: Objects & Types (October)

AP Computer Science 2016-2017:

Objects & Types

(October)

Our Java Boot Camp has slowed down a bit. This month, we finished Chapter 3: Writing Simple Classes and Chapter 4: Primitive Data Types. We now just started Chapter 5: Conditional Statements!

We're also upgrading the PC classroom to Ubuntu 16.10 64bit Desktop. We hit a little snag, however. The current version of Teamviewer uses multiarch, but 16.10 won't install it....

MCQ Mondays will have to wait until November. The students need to get a few more chapters under their belts before practicing for the AP Exam with real MCQs! 

TakeHome Tuesday is also all about review for the AP Exam. However, these take home exams only cover 1 or 2 chapters at a time. These exams are good practice as they are like mini AP Exams: 10 MCQs + 2 FRQs.

Chapter 3 ScreenCasts

We started OOP in Chapter 3. Now we are writing and testing our own classes. We talked about writing our own Constructor, Accessor and Mutator methods. We also talked alot about Abstraction and Encapsulation. We even used javadoc to document our code!

Chapter 4 ScreenCasts

We talked about int vs float vs double in Chapter 4. Our discussions revolved around the differences between 2 Byte, 4 Byte and 8 Byte data types. Bits, Bytes and Words were mentioned as well as Kilo vs Kibi, Mega vs Mebi, Giga vs Gibi, etc.

Grace Hopper YouTube Wednesday 10/12/16

Grace Hopper YouTube Wednesday 10/26/16

Teaching With Technology,

AJG

http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com

Well, that's all folks,

A. Jorge Garcia

Applied Math, Physics and CS
2017 NYS Secondary Math PAEMST Nominee

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AP Calculus BC 2016-2017: Derivative Applications (October)

AP Calculus BC 2016-2017:

Derivative Applications

(October)

MCQ Mondays didn't start in October. We spent too much time on Socrative Mondays preparing for MCQ Mondays. Our first MCQ Monday will have to be in November.

FRQ Fridays and TakeHome Tuesdays have been working out fine at the end of each unit. On Friday I give a preTEST review sheet. We go over it using ThinkPairShare again. The real TEST, similar to the preTEST, is then given at the end of the period as a TakeHome Exam due the following Tuesday.

UNIT03 

We're finishing up some loose ends in UNIT03. We developed the Algebraic Laws of Differentiation. We played with the Power Rule, Trig Rules, Product Rule, Quotient Rule and Chain Rule. We even talked about the derivatives of e^x and ln(x). Finally we worked with Implicit Differentiation and Related Rates!

UNIT04 

This unit was all about Applications of Differentiation. We talked about the 1st and 2nd Derivative Tests, the Candidates Theorem and the Mean Value Theorem. We also programmed our Ti nSpire CX CAS Graphing Calculators when we covered Newton's Method. 

Grace Hopper YouTube Wednesday 10/12/16

Grace Hopper YouTube Wednesday 10/26/16

Teaching With Technology,

AJG

http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com

Well, that's all folks,

A. Jorge Garcia

Applied Math, Physics and CS
2017 NYS Secondary Math PAEMST Nominee

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preCalculus 2016-2017: More Trigonometry (October)

preCalculus 2016-2017:

More Trigonometry

(October)

Chapter 7 ScreenCasts

We were still finishing up some loose ends in chapter 7 talking about Proving Identities vs. Solving Equations. We graphed y=sec(x), y=csc(x), y=cot(x) and their transformations. We learned about the inverse trig functions arcsin(x), arccos(x) and arctan(x) and how to use inverse functions to solve equations.

Chapter 8 ScreenCasts

We also covered Chapter 8 about Law of Sines and Cosines. We talked about completing triangles, navigation, triangle areas, Heron's Formula and even Simple Harmonic Motion!

Grace Hopper YouTube Wednesday 10/12/16

Grace Hopper YouTube Wednesday 10/26/16

Teaching With Technology,

AJG

http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com

Well, that's all folks,

A. Jorge Garcia

Applied Math, Physics and CS
2017 NYS Secondary Math PAEMST Nominee

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CIS(theta), 2016-2017 October Meeting: Ubuntu Install Fest!

CIS(theta), 2016-2017 

October Meeting: Ubuntu Install Fest!

We reinstalled the back row of our PC Classroom/Lab with the newest version of Ubuntu Desktop 16.10 Yakkety Yak 64bit!

Wine did not open windows executables from permissions anymore so we needed executable scripts for our TI Graphing Calculator emulators, Wabbit and kArmTI. We may even add Wabbit to the startup apps menu.

Apt-get couldn't find kate or wine-stable on some PCs after a fresh install. That's odd, since all the PCs were installed exactly the same way. Anyway, we'll have to change the software sources in the Ubuntu Software Center (USC) in some cases before we using apt-get or dpkg.

We hit only one major snag. Teamveiwer would not install as Yakkety Yak sees it as a 32bit application. The Teamviewer website says we should download the multiarch version for Ubuntu 16.10 but we still had no joy! We tried using USC to install the *.deb file, maybe we should try:

sudo dpkg -i teamviewerxxx.deb

We may try the instructions here.

STUDENT PC INSTALL STEPS

(01)Download the latest Ubuntu.

(02)Burn the ISO file to DVD with Brasero.

(03)Reboot PC with DVD.

(04)Install to Linux Partition by script.

(05)Reboot Linux Partition.

(06)Tweak Appearance

(07)Tweak Brightness

(08)Configure Network

Method: Manual

Address: 10.5.129.xxx

NetMask: 255.255.0.0

Gateway: 10.5.0.254

DNS: 10.1.1.19

Proxy: Manual/10.0.0.125 (optional)

(09)Configure Printers

10.5.129.31 + jetdirect (laser printer)

10.5.129.27 + jetdirect (color laser printer)

(10)sudo chmod 700 /usr/games/*

(11)sudo apt-get update

(12)sudo apt-get upgrade

(13a)install WINE for the emulators 

sudo apt-get install wine-stable

(13b)install Kate for color laser printer 

sudo apt-get install kate

(14a)copy WABBIT directory to Home

(14b)copy TI84C.rom to WABBIT directory

(14c)write executable shell script to run

(14d)copy KARMTI directory to Home

(14e)copy boot string into KARMTI

(14f)write executable shell script to run

(15a)add firefox tab for SAGE 

(15b)add firefox tab for HOC 

(15c)add firefox tab for SOCRATIVE

(16)install TeamViewer (d/l from website)

====================

Membership (alphabetic by first name):

CIS(theta) 2016-2017: 

DanielD(12), JevanyI(12), JuliaL(12), MichaelC(12) , MichaelS(12), YaminiN(12)

CIS(theta) 2015-2016: 

BenR(11), BrandonL(12), DavidZ(12), GabeT(12), HarrisonD(11), HunterS(12), JacksonC(11), SafirT(12), TimL(12)

CIS(theta) 2014-2015: 

BryceB(12), CheyenneC(12), CliffordD(12), DanielP(12), DavidZ(12), GabeT(11), KeyhanV(11), NoelS(12), SafirT(11)

CIS(theta) 2013-2014: 

BryanS(12), CheyenneC(11), DanielG(12), HarineeN(12), RichardH(12), RyanW(12), TatianaR(12), TylerK(12)

CIS(theta) 2012-2013: 

Kyle Seipp(12)

CIS(theta) 2011-2012: 

Graham Smith(12), George Abreu(12), Kenny Krug(12), LucasEager-Leavitt(12)

CIS(theta) 2010-2011: 

David Gonzalez(12), Herbert Kwok(12), Jay Wong(12), Josh Granoff(12), Ryan Hothan(12)

CIS(theta) 2009-2010: 

Arthur Dysart(12), Devin Bramble(12), Jeremy Agostino(12), Steve Beller(12)

CIS(theta) 2008-2009: 

Marc Aldorasi(12), Mitchel Wong(12)

CIS(theta) 2007-2008: 

Chris Rai(12), Frank Kotarski(12), Nathaniel Roman(12)

CIS(theta) 1988-2007: 

A. Jorge Garcia, Gabriel Garcia, James McLurkin, Joe Bernstein, ... too many to mention here!

====================

Happy Clustering,

AJG

http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com

Well, that's all folks,

A. Jorge Garcia

Applied Math, Physics and CS
2015 NYS Secondary Math PAEMST Nominee

Happy Linux Clustering, 

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How Do I Reach These Kids?

How Do I Reach These Kids?

Over the past 33 years that I've been teaching, I've tried everything I could think of to make learning fun in my classroom and encourage my students to succeed. I don't know if I want to get into every little gimmick, which ones worked and which ones didn't. 

However, we as teachers all try to cultivate a culture of learning in our classrooms and I think I will list a few that have become traditions in my room for future reference. Warning, some of these gimmicks tend to be on the geeky side 'cause, let's face it, I'm a bit of a geek! What follows is a list of the top 10 traditions, in no particular order, that seem to have a life of their own in my classroom in that they resurrect themselves year after year!

1) Ceremony Of The Seats

The first day of every quarter, even the very first day of school, in fact, starts with the Ceremony Of The Seats! Every single class that day starts with the students walking into a dark classroom. The only light source is the SmartBoard playing the original sound track from the film "A Beautiful Mind" that you hear playing above. Then I lead each student to their seat, one at a time, with my cellphone flashlight like a bouncer at a movie theater! OK, I'll admit to a little flair toward the dramatic. Instilling a little mystery and wonder in class never hurt anyone, say I!

2) YouTube Wednesdays
Every Wednesday I show a short clip from YouTube that has at least something remotely to do with STEM in general or a recent lesson in particular. This started a few years ago when I played some FILKs related to Calculus. What's a FILK? It's a recognizable tune where the words have been changed to make fun of something. As you can see above, I start the year with several FILKs by Tom Lehrer. Then I ease my way into documentaries about Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, then I get into NOVA episodes and the like! I start the year more or less the same way in every class. Then my Math and CompSci classes start watching different documentaries! This works great especially if you keep it short and have a brief class discussion after. Of course, Gracie is one of my greatest idols because she would always encourage everyone to do things their own way. What we would call "thinking outside the box" today was an everyday event for her. She even had an analog clock on her desk that ran counterclockwise just to show that you don't always have to do everything the same way everyone else does it. I suppose that she was akin to a modern day Henry David Thoreau following the beat of her own drum! For example, she would always say, and I'm paraphrasing, that "it's a lot easier to act first and ask for forgiveness later." In other words, asking for permission before you do something is just putting responsibility on someone else's shoulders. Be a leader! If you think there's a better way to do something, go ahead and do it! Stand up for what you believe! Have the courage of your convictions! That's how I got Linux into my classroom back in the 1990s when Linux first came out. I couldn't stand how programmer unfriendly our Windows OS and Novell Network was. So, one day, I just decided to download and install Slackware Linux. The rest is, as they say, history! We've also used KNOPPIX, ClusterKNOPPIX, QUANTIAN, Scientific Linux and RedHat over the years. Here's my conversation with my boss the day after installation,
Boss: "Wait, that's not Windows, what is it?"
Me: "Right you are, it's Linux!"
Boss: "Oh my, how much does it cost?"
Me: "It's FLOSS, Free Linux Open Source Software."
Boss: "Aren't you breaking CopyRight law?"
Me: "Nope, it's CopyLefted!"
Boss: "We can't run that here, who will maintain it?"
Me: "Well, I will, of course!"
And it's been that way ever since.... 

3) Game Day
Game day started as a tradition in AP Computer Science class as something to do during the week or so after the AP Exam. Now it's grown to a tradition in all classes the day before Thanksgiving and the day before April Break. Since I teach in a PC Lab Classroom, we have to have a LAN Party sometime, right? We usually start with a BZFlag LAN Party as demonstrated above. I push my students pretty hard, so it's ok to let off some steam now and again!

4) Hour Of Code
My 1999-2000 AP Computer Science class was cancelled due to low enrollment. Ever since then I take a day near Admiral Grace Murray Hopper's birthday (12/9/1906) to conduct an in-school field trip. This Field Trip is not for my own students. I try to get all the other Honors Math teachers on board and have them bring their classes to my room. If I have a lot of Juniors, I will also take a day to do this with my own students. Over the past few years my Field Trip has dove tailed with the Hour Of Code and CS ED Week. Here's a whole other blog post about what we do during the Hour Of Code. This year I'll be using some of the inspirational videos from code.org, but I will be doing my own presentations. My Math classes will be learning about SAGE. Each presentation will include something related to a current lesson as well as an introduction to python. I'll do a bit of Arithmetic, Algebra and Algorithms in each class. Then in Calculus we'll do some Riemann Sum Programs. In preCalculus we'll do some Scalar Dot Products and Resultant Vectors with graphs in 2D and Vector Cross Products with graphs in 3D. In AP Computer Science, I'll introduce Processing. With the Field Trip students we'll solve Quadratic Equations by coding.

5) preCalculus and Calculus Carols
Every class in December starts with a little caroling practice! These classes are our rehearsal for the day before XMas Break when we tour the school Caroling for whomever will listen. In Math class, we Carol before XMas Break instead of having a Game Day! BTW, we have a preCalculus song book and a Calculus song book each with 12 songs we've collected over the years. Some are original compositions by my students. Some are stolen from the web. So, sue me! 

6) Continental Mathematics League (CML)
CML is a competition a lot like Mathletes but is done in-house and there are several levels. My AP Calculus BC class competes in the Calculus League. There used to be a Computer Science League with AP Review styled questions, but that's over. There's basic Math and CS competitions for Elementary school students. We've participated in this competition for over 10 years. It's great practice for AB Calculus Exam level questions. There's 4 competitions: December, February, March and April. Each one can be done in a class period. The competitions have 6 short answer and 2 longer questions. The long questions are a lot like AP FRQs. The short qustions can be MCQs, T/F or Fill-in. Each year we compete against about 100 schools. Most of these schools are in the USA, but some are International American High Schools. We usually place in the top 3-5 schools in our region that includes NY and NJ. We have our first meet on 12/1/2016 this year. Wish us luck!

7) CIS(theta) & NCSHS
I've been running a Computing Independent Study (CIS) course every year since 1995! Recent years have been focused on Parallel Computing setting up a cluster we like to call Shadowfax using MPI. First thing we do each year is reinstall our whole PC Lab Classroom with the latest version of Ubuntu Linux Desktop 64bit OS. Then we install the MPI compiler software stack. Then we figure out a project that needs all that computing power. Last year we had 100 cores running at 50 GFLOP/s and we tried to make a Fractal Zoom Movie, but ran out of time. Let's see if we can do it this year. Next week we're gonna fire up the cluster for the first time with the Pelican HPC DVD! These students also usually join our chapter of the National Computer Science Honor Society (NCSHS) Zeta Omicron. We call our chapter Hopper-NY. BTW, the main reason for the existence of this blog is to keep a record of what my students do with Shadowfax in CIS.

8) Screencasting
Whenever I teach a new concept I record a ScreenCast on YouTube and link it to Edmodo for my students' reference while doing homework. These ScreenCasts are also great for reviewing old topics as needed. Students find these videos useful when they miss class too! I've been ScreenCasting a new PlayList for one class every year since 2009! This blog came about in part to showcase my ScreenCasts. The sample ScreenCast above is a summary of what we did in AP Calculus BC class after AP Exam week last year as a final project. In my ScreenCasts, you see everything I write on my SmartBoard and you hear everything I say as I teach.

UNIT05.bcs from A Jorge Garcia

9) MCQ Mondays and FRQ Fridays
I've been doing MCQ Mondays and FRQ Fridays with my AP classes for some time now. This is the first year I'm doing so in all my classes! On Mondays, I take an old MCQ Exam (Alg2Trig Regents for preCalc, AB Calculus for BC Calc) and practice a few questions using Socrative. In preCalc this review is a great skill builder. Also, some of my preCalc students need to retake the NYS Regents Exam in January. In AP Calc, this review is great preparation for the AP Exam in May. I cover each MCQ Exam in about 3 weeks. That's 3 Mondays in a row that count as Formative Assessments. I give 16 minutes to try 8 questions, then we go over those 8 questions. On week 4, I give an actual MCQ Exam in class for a Quiz grade aka a Summative Assessment. On week 5 I return the Scantrons and review the last exam. I've completed one such 5-week cycle in all my Math classes already this year. Next week is the Hour Of Code, so I can't start another 5 week cycle for 2 weeks. I haven't started this process with the AP Computer Science students as yet since they need to get more content under their belts first! FRQ Fridays occur at the end of a unit. That Friday I give a preTest to review for the actual test. Then I give a Take Home Exam that's due on Take Home Tuesday the following week.

10) AP Week Movie Marathon
I do Game Day in my AP Computer Science class instead of Caroling before XMas Break. We also have a Game Week after the AP Exam. However, in AP Calculus BC, we do a Movie Marathon. On even years we do Math Movies. We watch a couple of movies during the 2 weeks of AP Exams since ours are usually early. After the AP Exam Weeks are over, we alternate watching movies every other day. In between, we complete a final project. For example, last year was 2016 and we watched Proof, A Beautiful Mind, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game and The Man Who Knew Infinity. During odd years, we watch Science Fiction and Fantasy. In 2015 we watched the Hobbit trilogy and the Lord of The Rings trilogy! This year, 2017, maybe I'll break down and watch the Star Trek reboot trilogy in honor of their 50th Anniversary. I could show some of the original Star Trek series movies for comparison too. BTW, I saw the first Star Trek episode on NBC at 8:30pm 9/8/1966 live! I haven't been able to show Stand and Deliver since Jaime A. Escalante died. Maybe I'll sneak it back in this year?

Oh, one more thing: I name my Graphing Calculators after Science Fiction and Fantasy characters. See if you can name each TV show or movie:
TI81 O B Wan
TI82 Klaatu
TI83 Ziggie
TI84 Frodo
TI85 Johnnie 5
TI86 Spock
TI89 Hal 9000
TI92 Colossus
TI200 Voyager
TI nSpire CX CAS Castiel

Well, I hope I've inspired you to "think outside the box" yourself. Maybe I gave a few ideas you can use in your classroom? Time to get creative with your kids. Go find the beat of your drum!

Generally Speaking,

AJG

http://shadowfaxrant.blogspot.com

Well, that's all folks,

A. Jorge Garcia

Applied Math, Physics and CS


2017 NYS Secondary Math PAEMST Nominee

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