Konbanwa, minna-san!
It's over. It's finally over. Semester One has finally ended!
We made it through the semester, with a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Congratulations, everyone!
Since today was the last day of classes, we had a party in ICS. The funny thing was, no one brought any plates, so we had to substitute napkins for them! It's okay, though.
Mr. Arkin brought in a big, rectangular chocolate cake. It was delicious! There were also chips and chocolate, which I happily snacked on. And, of course, Zarin-dono brought in her yummy cream puffs! (What's a party in ICS without her cream puffs? *smile*)
While we socialized, everyone's Culminating Activities were up so we could walk around and take a look at them. I was acting a bit drunk, yelling out "67 pages in three weeks! We did it!" to anyone who happened to take an interest in my group's manual. Ha... That's okay, ne?
It is also Zarin-dono's birthday today! She got embarassed whenever someone wished her happy birthday - how cute~! Teehee~
I spent the period drawing something for her. I hope she likes it!
In my English and Science classes, we prepared for the exams.
After writing two practice exams in English, I think I'm well-prepared for the actual one on Monday
afternoon. I have no idea how one can study for the English exam - which is basically writing an essay. So, I plan on going over the handout Ms. Fisher gave us regarding compare/contrast essays and review what happened in each of the literary texts we read before the exam.
In Science, we did a quick review of all four units - Chemistry, Ecology, Electricity and Astronomy. Mr. Pourkhatai gave us an idea of what would be the major focus on the exam. I plan on going over all my Science notes vigourously before thursday.
On the other hand, we wrote our listening exam in French. I found it pretty easy, and I'm confident I will get over 95%. Next year, I plan on taking Latin. It'll help me a lot with my writing, plus I've been planning on learning Latin since Grade 5. (I just never got around to doing it. Ha...)
After exams are over, I plan on creating a LJ account to put my fanfics up. I already have one on FF, but the quality or those on LJ are much better; and I hope to join their ranks. I also plan on drawing a lot more! I have art next semester, so that'll be sure to happen.
I want to become a PP editor - preferably for the Literature section. I'm going to dedicate more time to my writing as well.
Anyways!
My exam schedule is as follows:
Monday
- English @ 1 PM in the Caf.
Wednesday
- French @ 9 AM in S2
- ICS @ 1 PM in 105
Thursday
- Science @ 1 PM in the Caf.
I'll be sure to study this weekend, but right now...I'm just going to take a well-earned nap!
Thanks for the great semester, everyone! Now...we just have to tackle the exams!
---
Current Music: Anti-Paradichlorobenzene - Len and Rin Kagamine
(I actually like Len's version better, but this is amazing as well.)
Showing posts with label Turing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turing. Show all posts
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
In which we all breathe a sigh of relief...oh, wait, not yet.
Konbanwa, minna-san!
In case you were wondering, I just spent the last three hours writing an exam review for Science. Why? Well, Mr. Pourkhatai asked us to. Or, well, no, he assigned it for homework. I feel sorry for whoever gets mine. Ha! They'd better appreciate it, because right now, I'm exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open!
Tonight everyone is scrambling to finish their Culminating, including my group. We are basically done; all we have to do is add in the exercises and finalize everything. So far, there have been ten versions of the manual, all of them with major differences.
A few problems we had were the screenshots and the answer keys. It took forever to write the answer keys; probably because no one wanted to take the time to do work that seemed like homework. Well, I ended up writing the answer keys for the quizzes and part of the exercises. As for the screenshots, we had to remake them because the file name was "Unnamed #1". According to Mr. Arkin, it wasn't professional. There was some confusion about that, but I ended up making all of those as well. Hmm.
I think we should modify our page on the VPCA Wiki so that it's more specific as to who did what. Honestly, I can't remember every exact detail, but I'd like to give a guideline so Mr. Arkin will have a clearer idea of how to dole out the marks. Right now, it just says "collaboration" if more than one person worked on it.
Tomorrow is the last day of Semester One. Can you believe it? It all passed so quickly. Exams are next week, and after that, Semester Two will begin. I won't see Mr. Pourkhatai, Ms. Fisher, Mr. Arkin or Mr. Vretranos anymore; and that saddens me. To tell you the truth, I really disliked Mr. Pourkhatai at first, but now, I'm actually okay with him. He's pretty funny! I will miss Mr. Vretranos a lot - he's my favourite teacher at VP (Sorry, Mr. Arkin!). Next year, I plan on taking Latin, so if that works out, I'll get him as a teacher again. Hooray! *smile*
It was a great year--er, semester--with Mr. Arkin. Although Mr. Vretranos is my favourite teacher, ICS is my favourite class because I have so much fun in it! It's where I met Zarin-dono, and we're really good friends now. (By the way, her birthday's tomorrow. I'm going (attempt) to draw a bishie for her. Shhh! It's a surprise!) Mr. Arkin is also pretty funny, and he can teach much better than most of my other teachers. I'll miss him, too.
As I sit here writing this blog entry (and arguing with Andy about whether tea or coffee is better), I'm also reflecting on the past five months. This start to high school has been amazing, and I'll never forget it.
---
Current Music: Nishiki no Mai - Gakupo Kamui and Gakuko
In case you were wondering, I just spent the last three hours writing an exam review for Science. Why? Well, Mr. Pourkhatai asked us to. Or, well, no, he assigned it for homework. I feel sorry for whoever gets mine. Ha! They'd better appreciate it, because right now, I'm exhausted and can barely keep my eyes open!
Tonight everyone is scrambling to finish their Culminating, including my group. We are basically done; all we have to do is add in the exercises and finalize everything. So far, there have been ten versions of the manual, all of them with major differences.
A few problems we had were the screenshots and the answer keys. It took forever to write the answer keys; probably because no one wanted to take the time to do work that seemed like homework. Well, I ended up writing the answer keys for the quizzes and part of the exercises. As for the screenshots, we had to remake them because the file name was "Unnamed #1". According to Mr. Arkin, it wasn't professional. There was some confusion about that, but I ended up making all of those as well. Hmm.
I think we should modify our page on the VPCA Wiki so that it's more specific as to who did what. Honestly, I can't remember every exact detail, but I'd like to give a guideline so Mr. Arkin will have a clearer idea of how to dole out the marks. Right now, it just says "collaboration" if more than one person worked on it.
Tomorrow is the last day of Semester One. Can you believe it? It all passed so quickly. Exams are next week, and after that, Semester Two will begin. I won't see Mr. Pourkhatai, Ms. Fisher, Mr. Arkin or Mr. Vretranos anymore; and that saddens me. To tell you the truth, I really disliked Mr. Pourkhatai at first, but now, I'm actually okay with him. He's pretty funny! I will miss Mr. Vretranos a lot - he's my favourite teacher at VP (Sorry, Mr. Arkin!). Next year, I plan on taking Latin, so if that works out, I'll get him as a teacher again. Hooray! *smile*
It was a great year--er, semester--with Mr. Arkin. Although Mr. Vretranos is my favourite teacher, ICS is my favourite class because I have so much fun in it! It's where I met Zarin-dono, and we're really good friends now. (By the way, her birthday's tomorrow. I'm going (attempt) to draw a bishie for her. Shhh! It's a surprise!) Mr. Arkin is also pretty funny, and he can teach much better than most of my other teachers. I'll miss him, too.
As I sit here writing this blog entry (and arguing with Andy about whether tea or coffee is better), I'm also reflecting on the past five months. This start to high school has been amazing, and I'll never forget it.
---
Current Music: Nishiki no Mai - Gakupo Kamui and Gakuko
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
In which Mr. Arkin gives us advice for the exam
Konbanwa, minna-san.
Oh my. Jenny really got me obsessed with Vocaloid. (Zarin-dono, soon you'll be glomping KAITO and Len too! Yes, I know they don't exist in real life, but has that ever stopped me from loving someone? *cough cough Shizu-chan and Firo cough cough*) I can't stop listening to their songs! And somehow... I think I'm starting to love Len more than KAITO... No!!! Don't worry, KAITO, I'll always love you...
Ahem! Ah, well, sorry about that. I get emotional when it comes to...er...yeah. Anyways! Today Mr. Arkin prepped us for the exam next week. I can't believe three weeks passed so quickly! But it's the harsh reality. Culminating Activities are coming to an end, while teachers are reviewing the semester's curriculum with their classes. In English, Ms. Fisher gave us a practice exam (shortened, of course) in hopes of getting us used to writing essays on the spot. See, the English exam is, in essence, writing an essay. It's sort of hard to study for that - all one can really do is practice! I've also gotten the test format from Mr. Vretranos, my French teacher, and of course, Mr. Arkin. Mr. Pourkhatai, my Science teacher, will give us the exam format around Thursday.
Besides giving us the exam format, Mr. Arkin gave us some exam writing strategies. Like how we should bring a timepiece (I have to get that watch this weekend!) so we don't spend too much time on one question; and how if we can't finish any one question in the allotted time, we should just move on (of course, we should write something down!). Moreover, we should always do the easy questions first.
I'm very grateful to you for doing that, Mr. Arkin! Arigato gozaimasu~!
The people who didn't get their Mosaic Projects yesterday got to see theirs today. I wish my background showed up - I don't know why it didn't! And poor Zarin, too... I'll leave it to her to explain what happened.
Ne, I worry about her. She stresses much more than I do! It's not good to work one's self up like that; especially when exams are coming round next week.
Well, talking and prepping for the exam took up most of the period, so we only got about ten minutes to work on Culminating. It's due on Thursday, so we must wrap everything up tomorrow! I'm working on the Answer Keys to the exercise Shreya made right now, and I plan on finishing everything up tonight. I need to talk to Lisa about proofreading the manual, because I don't want to edit something she already did - it'd be a waste of precious time.
I'm off now!
Oyasumi, minna-san. Mata ashita!
---
Current Music: Child's Garden - Len Kagamine, KAITO Shion, Gakupo Kamui
Oh my. Jenny really got me obsessed with Vocaloid. (Zarin-dono, soon you'll be glomping KAITO and Len too! Yes, I know they don't exist in real life, but has that ever stopped me from loving someone? *cough cough Shizu-chan and Firo cough cough*) I can't stop listening to their songs! And somehow... I think I'm starting to love Len more than KAITO... No!!! Don't worry, KAITO, I'll always love you...
Ahem! Ah, well, sorry about that. I get emotional when it comes to...er...yeah. Anyways! Today Mr. Arkin prepped us for the exam next week. I can't believe three weeks passed so quickly! But it's the harsh reality. Culminating Activities are coming to an end, while teachers are reviewing the semester's curriculum with their classes. In English, Ms. Fisher gave us a practice exam (shortened, of course) in hopes of getting us used to writing essays on the spot. See, the English exam is, in essence, writing an essay. It's sort of hard to study for that - all one can really do is practice! I've also gotten the test format from Mr. Vretranos, my French teacher, and of course, Mr. Arkin. Mr. Pourkhatai, my Science teacher, will give us the exam format around Thursday.
Besides giving us the exam format, Mr. Arkin gave us some exam writing strategies. Like how we should bring a timepiece (I have to get that watch this weekend!) so we don't spend too much time on one question; and how if we can't finish any one question in the allotted time, we should just move on (of course, we should write something down!). Moreover, we should always do the easy questions first.
I'm very grateful to you for doing that, Mr. Arkin! Arigato gozaimasu~!
The people who didn't get their Mosaic Projects yesterday got to see theirs today. I wish my background showed up - I don't know why it didn't! And poor Zarin, too... I'll leave it to her to explain what happened.
Ne, I worry about her. She stresses much more than I do! It's not good to work one's self up like that; especially when exams are coming round next week.
Well, talking and prepping for the exam took up most of the period, so we only got about ten minutes to work on Culminating. It's due on Thursday, so we must wrap everything up tomorrow! I'm working on the Answer Keys to the exercise Shreya made right now, and I plan on finishing everything up tonight. I need to talk to Lisa about proofreading the manual, because I don't want to edit something she already did - it'd be a waste of precious time.
I'm off now!
Oyasumi, minna-san. Mata ashita!
---
Current Music: Child's Garden - Len Kagamine, KAITO Shion, Gakupo Kamui
Monday, January 17, 2011
In which Pearl looks through her (almost empty) wallet
Konbanwa, minna-san!
I've wasted an hour watching Vocaloid MVs. (Ha! Zarin-dono, you'd better listen to that song I sent you the link for. You'll get enchanted by Nodoame's awesome voice! *fangirls*) There's not enough songs where KAITO and Len duet. *pouts* They're my two favourite Vocaloids, though. I realize now that I should've chosen Vocaloid as my topic for the Mosaic Project. I would've had so much more fun (and an excuse to listen to KAITO's voice for hours on end). Hee.
Anyways, today we had ICS first period. Luckily, Mr. Arkin was back (you see, on Friday he was out sick), so we were able to ask him any questions.
We also got our Mosaic Projects today (the laminated version, I mean). Well, no, that's not completely true. Everyone who made theirs letter or ledger size got theirs; while the legal people had to wait. Apparently, Staples hadn't done those yet. We hoped that they'd get to the school before Silent Reading ended, but they didn't. Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow.
Nevertheless, I still had to pay - everyone did. That's another $3.40 out of my pocket. Sigh.
As for Culminating, my group has narrowed it down to about four or five things left to do. Lisa and I will proofread the entire manual over the next two days. Shreya has been assigned the exercises for both the CD and the manual. I'm glad - she didn't have much else to do, especially because she joined the group later.
I feel like I'm not doing enough. Then again, I always feel like this and then I end up doing more than half of the work. And I'm still not satisfied...until I realize how much I've taken over. Grah. Then I feel guilty. *cries* I hope I'm not doing that now.
There's literally only a week before exams start. I'm starting to stress out, because I haven't started to really focus on studying yet. Culminating has been taking up all my time. I've talked to some of my classmates, and they're just like me. Grahh... Next year, I'm going to start studying over Winter Break!
I have to leave soon, so I'm going to leave the Vocaloid songs playing in the background while I proofread. I already started to do so during class, but I only got to...about page four.
---
Current Music: Romeo and Cinderella (ロミオとシンデレラ) - Len Kagamine & KAITO Shion
^Nodoame and Usa's version is better, but hey, KaiLen is my favourite pairing so...
I've wasted an hour watching Vocaloid MVs. (Ha! Zarin-dono, you'd better listen to that song I sent you the link for. You'll get enchanted by Nodoame's awesome voice! *fangirls*) There's not enough songs where KAITO and Len duet. *pouts* They're my two favourite Vocaloids, though. I realize now that I should've chosen Vocaloid as my topic for the Mosaic Project. I would've had so much more fun (and an excuse to listen to KAITO's voice for hours on end). Hee.
Anyways, today we had ICS first period. Luckily, Mr. Arkin was back (you see, on Friday he was out sick), so we were able to ask him any questions.
We also got our Mosaic Projects today (the laminated version, I mean). Well, no, that's not completely true. Everyone who made theirs letter or ledger size got theirs; while the legal people had to wait. Apparently, Staples hadn't done those yet. We hoped that they'd get to the school before Silent Reading ended, but they didn't. Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow.
Nevertheless, I still had to pay - everyone did. That's another $3.40 out of my pocket. Sigh.
As for Culminating, my group has narrowed it down to about four or five things left to do. Lisa and I will proofread the entire manual over the next two days. Shreya has been assigned the exercises for both the CD and the manual. I'm glad - she didn't have much else to do, especially because she joined the group later.
I feel like I'm not doing enough. Then again, I always feel like this and then I end up doing more than half of the work. And I'm still not satisfied...until I realize how much I've taken over. Grah. Then I feel guilty. *cries* I hope I'm not doing that now.
There's literally only a week before exams start. I'm starting to stress out, because I haven't started to really focus on studying yet. Culminating has been taking up all my time. I've talked to some of my classmates, and they're just like me. Grahh... Next year, I'm going to start studying over Winter Break!
I have to leave soon, so I'm going to leave the Vocaloid songs playing in the background while I proofread. I already started to do so during class, but I only got to...about page four.
---
Current Music: Romeo and Cinderella (ロミオとシンデレラ) - Len Kagamine & KAITO Shion
^Nodoame and Usa's version is better, but hey, KaiLen is my favourite pairing so...
Friday, January 14, 2011
In which Pearl works hard to finish the CA!
Konbanwa, minna-san!
I'm pretty tired today, but that's alright. It's Friday, so I'll have time to catch up on my sleep over the weekend. Hopefully.
Today Mr. Arkin was away because he wasn't feeling well. Zarin-dono and I were chosen to be the Student Hosts - what fun! Actually, I was pretty nervous at first because I wasn't exactly sure how I should take on the task. Nevertheless, Zarin-dono was very brave and took the lead. Ha.
I feel like class is getting shorter and shorter. I was working on the Glossary today, and soon enough, it was time to back up and get ready for the next class. I'm almost done - I just have a few more definitions to write out. I need to finish by tonight, so Tasfia can put everything together over the weekend. Then, Lisa and I will proofread and edit the entire manual by Wednesday. That's the plan.
Things are coming together quite nicely. There's only a few more sections that need to be finished.
As for other CAs, I've gotten my English one over with. The only thing that's left to do is write an in-class reflection, and that will be done on Monday. In French, we're making presentations about environmental issues. My group is talking about deforestation in British Columbia. There's no Science culminating, but Mr. Pourkhatai is giving us a big project related to Astronomy. Sigh.
I feel like there's no time to study. If I have spare time, I plan on finally getting to typing up my French and English notes and hopefully start on either Science or ICS.
Below is a video (courtesy of YouTube) of a new song from JASMINE. She's a Japanese singer. I really like her style. Ever since I heard the radio rip a couple of weeks ago on the rotation site I use, I've been wanting to get the song. The official release date is February 2nd. I can't wait!
ONE - JASMINE
Thursday, January 13, 2011
In which Pearl feels as slow as a turtle
Kon'ichiwa, minna-san!
Metaphors are awesome. Let's just make that clear.
Anyways! Today I got to wear my grade eight graduation dress and my new blouse as a costume for English. I played Yulia, the Ninny. And today, I realized that my dress could be considered goth-loli. Ha! So that website was right - H&M does sell clothes that can pass as goth-loli! I should shop there more often. *grin*
Although... I kept getting asked "Why are you wearing that?" Sigh.
ICS was second period, so I didn't forget about it and go to my locker. Ha! Take that, stupid short-term memory! But really... I keep forgetting whether or not I wrote my blog post the day before and start panicking. Then I see "Last post on [date here]" and I scramble to remember the current date.
Many people will and have already said "You're hopeless". That's okay, right?
For some reason, I feel like I didn't get a lot of work done. I started writing the Test, and Zarin pretty much finished it off. I will revise it and add some more questions as soon as I finish writing this blog post, then post it up on our Wiki so that everyone can access it. The good copy will be done tonight. Now all we have to do, concerning tests, is finalize them and create corresponding answer keys.
Lisa finished merging the two parts of the introduction, so I will also go over that for any errors or inconsistencies. Then I'll post the final Dropbox link up on our Wiki.
In class, I started to revise the glossary. I need to finish that as well.
Phew! There's a lot to do tonight. So, I'm off to work now.
Mata ashita, minna-san!
---
Current Music: Meltdown - Len Kagamine & Kaito Shion (Duet)
^I'm obsessed with this song. If you have time, you should listen to it!
Metaphors are awesome. Let's just make that clear.
Anyways! Today I got to wear my grade eight graduation dress and my new blouse as a costume for English. I played Yulia, the Ninny. And today, I realized that my dress could be considered goth-loli. Ha! So that website was right - H&M does sell clothes that can pass as goth-loli! I should shop there more often. *grin*
Although... I kept getting asked "Why are you wearing that?" Sigh.
ICS was second period, so I didn't forget about it and go to my locker. Ha! Take that, stupid short-term memory! But really... I keep forgetting whether or not I wrote my blog post the day before and start panicking. Then I see "Last post on [date here]" and I scramble to remember the current date.
Many people will and have already said "You're hopeless". That's okay, right?
For some reason, I feel like I didn't get a lot of work done. I started writing the Test, and Zarin pretty much finished it off. I will revise it and add some more questions as soon as I finish writing this blog post, then post it up on our Wiki so that everyone can access it. The good copy will be done tonight. Now all we have to do, concerning tests, is finalize them and create corresponding answer keys.
Lisa finished merging the two parts of the introduction, so I will also go over that for any errors or inconsistencies. Then I'll post the final Dropbox link up on our Wiki.
In class, I started to revise the glossary. I need to finish that as well.
Phew! There's a lot to do tonight. So, I'm off to work now.
Mata ashita, minna-san!
---
Current Music: Meltdown - Len Kagamine & Kaito Shion (Duet)
^I'm obsessed with this song. If you have time, you should listen to it!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
In which Pearl starts to feel the pressure
Kon'ichiwa, minna-san.
I came home this afternoon to find my mom lying on the couch, reading newspapers. What a scare. I had completely forgotten that she said she might take a day off because of the excessive amount of snow.
Which reminds me. This morning I was fifteen minutes late because of the traffic jam on Victoria Park caused by the snowstorm last night/this morning. It took...forty-five minutes to get to school by car; whereas on a normal day, if I left at the same time, it would only take twenty to twenty-five minutes. The funny thing is, I got there a few minutes after my teacher, Ms. Fisher. And I wasn't even the last one to get to school in my class.
I didn't really have a great day. I only got six hours of sleep (which, strangely enough, is actually more than I usually get these days) and spent three quarters of an hour in the morning in traffic, so...please excuse my irritability. I almost forgot that I hadn't already attended ICS earlier, and mistook my Period D class (French) as the last class of the day. Imagine my surprise when I didn't see anyone else at their lockers.
ICS seems to get shorter and shorter. I don't feel like I'm getting a sufficient amount of work done. Nevertheless, last night I typed up the good copy of the About the Authors page and helped Lisa finish part of Test One. I have also been asked to edit half of the Glossary terms (the definitions) and edit the If Statements Lesson. I still have to complete a few more flow charts.
Suddenly, I feel like a world of work has been piled on me.
I want to do as much ICS as I can tonight, but I have to allow time to practice for my English CA. My group is presenting tomorrow; and I don't want to be the one to bring our marks down. So I have decided to finish my Science first (as it's due tomorrow), then work on ICS until eight- or nine-ish, and finally, spend a few hours practicing my lines for English.
Hopefully I stick to this schedule.
Wish me luck, minna-san!
---
Current Music: Meltdown - Len Kagamine & Kaito Shion
I came home this afternoon to find my mom lying on the couch, reading newspapers. What a scare. I had completely forgotten that she said she might take a day off because of the excessive amount of snow.
Which reminds me. This morning I was fifteen minutes late because of the traffic jam on Victoria Park caused by the snowstorm last night/this morning. It took...forty-five minutes to get to school by car; whereas on a normal day, if I left at the same time, it would only take twenty to twenty-five minutes. The funny thing is, I got there a few minutes after my teacher, Ms. Fisher. And I wasn't even the last one to get to school in my class.
I didn't really have a great day. I only got six hours of sleep (which, strangely enough, is actually more than I usually get these days) and spent three quarters of an hour in the morning in traffic, so...please excuse my irritability. I almost forgot that I hadn't already attended ICS earlier, and mistook my Period D class (French) as the last class of the day. Imagine my surprise when I didn't see anyone else at their lockers.
ICS seems to get shorter and shorter. I don't feel like I'm getting a sufficient amount of work done. Nevertheless, last night I typed up the good copy of the About the Authors page and helped Lisa finish part of Test One. I have also been asked to edit half of the Glossary terms (the definitions) and edit the If Statements Lesson. I still have to complete a few more flow charts.
Suddenly, I feel like a world of work has been piled on me.
I want to do as much ICS as I can tonight, but I have to allow time to practice for my English CA. My group is presenting tomorrow; and I don't want to be the one to bring our marks down. So I have decided to finish my Science first (as it's due tomorrow), then work on ICS until eight- or nine-ish, and finally, spend a few hours practicing my lines for English.
Hopefully I stick to this schedule.
Wish me luck, minna-san!
---
Current Music: Meltdown - Len Kagamine & Kaito Shion
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
In which Pearl questions her sanity
(Or, in which Pearl's brain becomes so fried that she can't act sane.)
Konbanwa, minna-san!
Well, I'm certainly quite a bit more upbeat than I was the week before Winter Break. I feel like I shouldn't be, considering Culminating Activity deadlines and the ever-terrifying exams are quickly approaching. Then again, this might just be my way of keeping myself sane. Yes...acting crazy to keep myself sane...what a reasonable explanation.
I wonder why people stare at me strangely when I say "This is so interesting!" about a crime fiction/mystery novel. Or a show where something - doesn't matter what: vehicles, trains, airplanes, houses, barren fields, etc. - blows up. Or a chase scene. Or a gunfight scene. Is it strange to like that?
Meh. Castle always says (and yes, this is part of the introduction to each episode) "There are two kinds of people who spend their lives thinking of ways to murder people. Psychopaths...and mystery writers."
I relish in that kind of stuff.
Anyways, before I completely forget what we did in ICS this morning, let me write it down here.
Today was basically another work period for the Culminating Activity. (Why do I capitalize that? Is it simply an example of how much it towers over me; an example of how much of our mark this is weighted on?) Yes, er, well. I made some necessary edits to the About the Authors page, since Shreya joined our group. Lisa had asked for it to flow better (see, before I had tried to follow the model of a short About the Author[s] blurb in the back of a fiction book), so I had to change a few things.
Last night, Shreya sent me the glossary terms she wrote. I put those up on the Wiki. Looking over them, I feel like we'll have to do some editing. The language is not exactly professional, but that's okay. At least she has the basic idea. Don't get me wrong - I'm very glad she's so eager to contribute to our project. But...the grammar Nazi I am, I just...I'm picky about these things.
Which reminds me, as soon as exams are over, I need to reply to my pen pal (sort of) on FF. I still remember the days when we sent several messages back and forth on the same day.
So, for tonight I have to finish the flow chart about Tutoring Turing and the edits to the AtA page. Lisa will (hopefully) send me the rest of the introduction so I can put the two parts together.
I can't feel the pressure. Is that a bad thing?
Nevertheless, we're making good progress. Hm. That's probably why.
I'm feeling wistful now. Mm.
I think I'll go talk to my friend on MSN for a bit. He's always fun to talk to.
Mata ashita!
---
Current Music: Victory Korea - Super Junior
[Zarin-dono, you'll be happy to know I've gotten somewhat addicted to their songs. And Amy, too, if you're still reading my blog.]
Konbanwa, minna-san!
Well, I'm certainly quite a bit more upbeat than I was the week before Winter Break. I feel like I shouldn't be, considering Culminating Activity deadlines and the ever-terrifying exams are quickly approaching. Then again, this might just be my way of keeping myself sane. Yes...acting crazy to keep myself sane...what a reasonable explanation.
I wonder why people stare at me strangely when I say "This is so interesting!" about a crime fiction/mystery novel. Or a show where something - doesn't matter what: vehicles, trains, airplanes, houses, barren fields, etc. - blows up. Or a chase scene. Or a gunfight scene. Is it strange to like that?
Meh. Castle always says (and yes, this is part of the introduction to each episode) "There are two kinds of people who spend their lives thinking of ways to murder people. Psychopaths...and mystery writers."
I relish in that kind of stuff.
Anyways, before I completely forget what we did in ICS this morning, let me write it down here.
Today was basically another work period for the Culminating Activity. (Why do I capitalize that? Is it simply an example of how much it towers over me; an example of how much of our mark this is weighted on?) Yes, er, well. I made some necessary edits to the About the Authors page, since Shreya joined our group. Lisa had asked for it to flow better (see, before I had tried to follow the model of a short About the Author[s] blurb in the back of a fiction book), so I had to change a few things.
Last night, Shreya sent me the glossary terms she wrote. I put those up on the Wiki. Looking over them, I feel like we'll have to do some editing. The language is not exactly professional, but that's okay. At least she has the basic idea. Don't get me wrong - I'm very glad she's so eager to contribute to our project. But...the grammar Nazi I am, I just...I'm picky about these things.
Which reminds me, as soon as exams are over, I need to reply to my pen pal (sort of) on FF. I still remember the days when we sent several messages back and forth on the same day.
So, for tonight I have to finish the flow chart about Tutoring Turing and the edits to the AtA page. Lisa will (hopefully) send me the rest of the introduction so I can put the two parts together.
I can't feel the pressure. Is that a bad thing?
Nevertheless, we're making good progress. Hm. That's probably why.
I'm feeling wistful now. Mm.
I think I'll go talk to my friend on MSN for a bit. He's always fun to talk to.
Mata ashita!
---
Current Music: Victory Korea - Super Junior
[Zarin-dono, you'll be happy to know I've gotten somewhat addicted to their songs. And Amy, too, if you're still reading my blog.]
Monday, January 10, 2011
In which our CA group gets a new member!
Konichiwa, minna-san!
Even as I type this, I'm creating flow charts for our ICS Culminating. Oh, the month of January is so busy! With exams coming up in two weeks, and Culminating Activities to finish, I'm as busy as a bee. Some people are stressing out, but not me! No, my mind has already blown up! I just get really hyper and then sporadically change energy levels and get depressed. Then I get hyper again. Yes...if you see me acting drunk, you know what happened.
"Mi-mi-mikuru, mi-mikurun-run!"
You might hear me singing that. Three cheers for Mikuru and all the people who act like her in real life (a.k.a. me)!
Yup. That's how far I've gone.
Well, today we got a new addition to our ICS Culminating group! I'd like to extend a welcome to Shreya, from Class A. She will be taking care of the glossary - not exactly an easy feat.
As for my tasks, all I have to do is edit the About the Authors page and the first part of the Introduction. Then I'm going to help Zarin-dono with the Case Statements lesson, and I have offered to help Shreya with the Glossary. Then, I will get to work thinking up test questions.
Ah, but before that, I have to finish creating the flow charts that were requested. It's pretty easy, and everyone else is doing so much; so I want to contribute as much as I can in any way possible.
Then I must memorize my lines for English CA; and do research for French CA, which is more about science (environmental problems). If I may, I'd like to voice my anger at Naeem for basically forcing our group to do Climate Change - something he's been obsessed with for the past two years (at least).
It's shameful.
Ah, well, there's no time to blow up at anyone. Besides, my brain is already fried.
"Koi no magiku, mi-mi-ku-run-run!"
Mata ashita, minna-san!
---
Current Music: Koi no Mikuru Densetsu - Yuko Gotou (Mikuru Asahina from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
Even as I type this, I'm creating flow charts for our ICS Culminating. Oh, the month of January is so busy! With exams coming up in two weeks, and Culminating Activities to finish, I'm as busy as a bee. Some people are stressing out, but not me! No, my mind has already blown up! I just get really hyper and then sporadically change energy levels and get depressed. Then I get hyper again. Yes...if you see me acting drunk, you know what happened.
"Mi-mi-mikuru, mi-mikurun-run!"
You might hear me singing that. Three cheers for Mikuru and all the people who act like her in real life (a.k.a. me)!
Yup. That's how far I've gone.
Well, today we got a new addition to our ICS Culminating group! I'd like to extend a welcome to Shreya, from Class A. She will be taking care of the glossary - not exactly an easy feat.
As for my tasks, all I have to do is edit the About the Authors page and the first part of the Introduction. Then I'm going to help Zarin-dono with the Case Statements lesson, and I have offered to help Shreya with the Glossary. Then, I will get to work thinking up test questions.
Ah, but before that, I have to finish creating the flow charts that were requested. It's pretty easy, and everyone else is doing so much; so I want to contribute as much as I can in any way possible.
Then I must memorize my lines for English CA; and do research for French CA, which is more about science (environmental problems). If I may, I'd like to voice my anger at Naeem for basically forcing our group to do Climate Change - something he's been obsessed with for the past two years (at least).
It's shameful.
Ah, well, there's no time to blow up at anyone. Besides, my brain is already fried.
"Koi no magiku, mi-mi-ku-run-run!"
Mata ashita, minna-san!
---
Current Music: Koi no Mikuru Densetsu - Yuko Gotou (Mikuru Asahina from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
Friday, January 7, 2011
In which the first signs of exhaustion appear
Konbanwa, minna-san.
I'm scared. Very scared. The lack of sleep resulting in drifting off at certain times in class is getting out of control again. Today, when walking home, I only had to climb two very short hills and it got me wheezing. Moreover, those incessant, painful headaches I get are annoying me. These are the same things that happened last year, before I went into my period of exhaustion. Now, this wouldn't terrify me as much if it wasn't January; that is, exam month. I absolutely cannot afford to get sick now. Besides, exhaustion is frightening in itself.
Today Mr. Arkin asked us to send him the link to our PDF files (for the Mosaic Project). There were a few problems with most of them, so we were asked to resend them. Ah. I should go do that now, before I forget.
Done! *smiles wryly*
That project has caused me a lot of pain.
Now, my main focus will be on Culminating. Luckily (in a way), there is no CA for Science, so I won't have to worry about that. And the French CA appears to be much simpler than the ones for English and this class, ICS.
Zarin-dono and I edited and improved our group's proposal in class today. Strangely enough, that took the entire period. Huh.
As I have mentioned before, we are writing a manual (similar to the Topic for Dummies series) teaching the reader about Selection.
I have been assigned the Introduction to the book, the About the Authors blurbs and the Glossary definitions. Writing out a lesson for one of the components of Selection would've been fun to do, but oh well. I'll take what I get.
I plan on finishing the Introduction tonight so I can send it Tasfia. She'll edit it into the manual.
Over the next two days, I plan to do as much as I can between the About the Authors blurbs and the Glossary. I want to finish at least one blurb, but am aiming for all of them to be done.
I'd also like to edit the book. I love editing others' work. But after my meeting with Mr. Arkin a few days ago, I wonder if my corrections are, well, correct. I hope so. It would make me feel really guilty if they weren't.
On another note, we got our exam schedules today. My ICS exam is on the same day as my French one. Luckily, I have my Science exam last - more time to study!
I'm off to work now.
It's back to class on Monday!
---
Current Music: Motteke! Sailor Fuku (Lucky Star OP) - Aya Hirano, Emiri Kato, Kaori Fukuhara and Aya Endo
^I can do the dance, too. Except for the high kick. I'm not flexible.
I'm scared. Very scared. The lack of sleep resulting in drifting off at certain times in class is getting out of control again. Today, when walking home, I only had to climb two very short hills and it got me wheezing. Moreover, those incessant, painful headaches I get are annoying me. These are the same things that happened last year, before I went into my period of exhaustion. Now, this wouldn't terrify me as much if it wasn't January; that is, exam month. I absolutely cannot afford to get sick now. Besides, exhaustion is frightening in itself.
Today Mr. Arkin asked us to send him the link to our PDF files (for the Mosaic Project). There were a few problems with most of them, so we were asked to resend them. Ah. I should go do that now, before I forget.
Done! *smiles wryly*
That project has caused me a lot of pain.
Now, my main focus will be on Culminating. Luckily (in a way), there is no CA for Science, so I won't have to worry about that. And the French CA appears to be much simpler than the ones for English and this class, ICS.
Zarin-dono and I edited and improved our group's proposal in class today. Strangely enough, that took the entire period. Huh.
As I have mentioned before, we are writing a manual (similar to the Topic for Dummies series) teaching the reader about Selection.
I have been assigned the Introduction to the book, the About the Authors blurbs and the Glossary definitions. Writing out a lesson for one of the components of Selection would've been fun to do, but oh well. I'll take what I get.
I plan on finishing the Introduction tonight so I can send it Tasfia. She'll edit it into the manual.
Over the next two days, I plan to do as much as I can between the About the Authors blurbs and the Glossary. I want to finish at least one blurb, but am aiming for all of them to be done.
I'd also like to edit the book. I love editing others' work. But after my meeting with Mr. Arkin a few days ago, I wonder if my corrections are, well, correct. I hope so. It would make me feel really guilty if they weren't.
On another note, we got our exam schedules today. My ICS exam is on the same day as my French one. Luckily, I have my Science exam last - more time to study!
I'm off to work now.
It's back to class on Monday!
---
Current Music: Motteke! Sailor Fuku (Lucky Star OP) - Aya Hirano, Emiri Kato, Kaori Fukuhara and Aya Endo
^I can do the dance, too. Except for the high kick. I'm not flexible.
Monday, December 20, 2010
In which Pearl forgets...again.
Ah!! Gomen nasai, minna-sama! *bows down repeatedly*
I totally forgot about this blog entry... Please forgive me...
My excuse? Er, well, you see... After school I went to Fairview for a reunion with my classmates (it was a failure, though, because barely anyone showed up). Then I had a headache so I went home. I got home at around four-ish and went straight to bed. Now, uh, I...didn't wake up until...11:30 PM, when my mom was getting ready for bed. She told me to go to sleep, so I did. I woke up at...2 PM the next day. So you see...I didn't even go on the computer for the past three days. I guess I was suffering from sleep deprivation. The past week...I barely got a day of sleep.
So, Friday was the last day of school before Winter Break. It was a half day, so classes were only 45 minutes long. Because of this drastically shortened day (and most likely the fact that it's the last day of school), teachers decided to put away the old teaching handbook (I'm guessing here) and have a relaxed class. In my English and Science classes, we had a small party and conversed with each other. In my French class, Mr. Vretranos gave us a little talk (nothing serious) and we got the rest of the period to chat with our friends.
In ICS, Mr. Arkin gave us another work period. Zarin-dono and I worked on the "Window Edge-Tracer" program. I figured out why the rectangle wasn't going to the last row - it was because I hadn't used the dot-dot option after my put CHARACTER statement. And lo and behold! It was fixed and working perfectly!Until...
Mr. Arkin told Zarin that our if statements should be separate. However, when I did that, the rectangle did not go to the corners of the run window. I need to fix that glitch, and I'm planning to do so over the break.
I admit it. The pain of staying away from anime, manga and video games has finally caught up to me, and I'm facing withdrawal symptoms. The past week, because I've been working so hard on editing people's essays and doing my own; as well as the homework from other subjects, I didn't get to read one fanfic, one manga, one doujinshi... I didn't get to watch one crime show (other than Hawaii Five-O, and that was on Monday), one anime... I didn't even get to draw, for goodness' sakes! And my DS had been broken since August...August!!! So...I admit to "binging" on these things, as well as sleep for the past three days. *smile*
I believe that the aforementioned factors have also made me quite irritable and grumpy, too.
Nevertheless, I have recovered! Now I'm off to look for an old video game that will work on a PC, so I can cure that video game withdrawal! Oh, and I need to write a Christmas-themed fic as well~ I have a pretty good idea. It's fluff. Fluff for the holidays~
(And Zarin-dono, don't worry, I have a good idea for your Sebby/Ciel fic too~)
Anyways, have a great Winter Break, minna-san~!
I totally forgot about this blog entry... Please forgive me...
My excuse? Er, well, you see... After school I went to Fairview for a reunion with my classmates (it was a failure, though, because barely anyone showed up). Then I had a headache so I went home. I got home at around four-ish and went straight to bed. Now, uh, I...didn't wake up until...11:30 PM, when my mom was getting ready for bed. She told me to go to sleep, so I did. I woke up at...2 PM the next day. So you see...I didn't even go on the computer for the past three days. I guess I was suffering from sleep deprivation. The past week...I barely got a day of sleep.
So, Friday was the last day of school before Winter Break. It was a half day, so classes were only 45 minutes long. Because of this drastically shortened day (and most likely the fact that it's the last day of school), teachers decided to put away the old teaching handbook (I'm guessing here) and have a relaxed class. In my English and Science classes, we had a small party and conversed with each other. In my French class, Mr. Vretranos gave us a little talk (nothing serious) and we got the rest of the period to chat with our friends.
In ICS, Mr. Arkin gave us another work period. Zarin-dono and I worked on the "Window Edge-Tracer" program. I figured out why the rectangle wasn't going to the last row - it was because I hadn't used the dot-dot option after my put CHARACTER statement. And lo and behold! It was fixed and working perfectly!Until...
Mr. Arkin told Zarin that our if statements should be separate. However, when I did that, the rectangle did not go to the corners of the run window. I need to fix that glitch, and I'm planning to do so over the break.
---This next part does not pertain to computer science at all, so you don't have to read it---
I admit it. The pain of staying away from anime, manga and video games has finally caught up to me, and I'm facing withdrawal symptoms. The past week, because I've been working so hard on editing people's essays and doing my own; as well as the homework from other subjects, I didn't get to read one fanfic, one manga, one doujinshi... I didn't get to watch one crime show (other than Hawaii Five-O, and that was on Monday), one anime... I didn't even get to draw, for goodness' sakes! And my DS had been broken since August...August!!! So...I admit to "binging" on these things, as well as sleep for the past three days. *smile*
I believe that the aforementioned factors have also made me quite irritable and grumpy, too.
Nevertheless, I have recovered! Now I'm off to look for an old video game that will work on a PC, so I can cure that video game withdrawal! Oh, and I need to write a Christmas-themed fic as well~ I have a pretty good idea. It's fluff. Fluff for the holidays~
(And Zarin-dono, don't worry, I have a good idea for your Sebby/Ciel fic too~)
Anyways, have a great Winter Break, minna-san~!
Merri Kurisumasu! (Merry Christmas!) Happy Hannukah (though I believe that it has passed)! Happy Diwali! And Happy Holidays!
 |
| Image belongs to Owaranai Kiss. Saber and Fate/Stay Night (c) Type-Moon |
Thursday, December 16, 2010
In which Pearl regains her pep
Konbanwa, minna-sama!
Hm. "Pep" is a bit outdated, isn't it? Oh well. Anyways, as the titles suggests, I was actually alive today! It's strange, though, because I only got four hours of sleep last night/this morning. (But hey! I got the last hour of sleep after I finished my French test second period!)
Today I got my "Follow the Bounce" code fixed (thanks to Nicole), and completed my "Window Edge-Tracer" code. I need to fix a small glitch on the latter, but otherwise I'm done!
That....is all I have to say. I'm in the middle of editing a friend's essay right now, so I'm keeping this short.
Tomorrow is the last day of school before winter break! Ha...I can finally catch up on my sleep...
Hm. "Pep" is a bit outdated, isn't it? Oh well. Anyways, as the titles suggests, I was actually alive today! It's strange, though, because I only got four hours of sleep last night/this morning. (But hey! I got the last hour of sleep after I finished my French test second period!)
Today I got my "Follow the Bounce" code fixed (thanks to Nicole), and completed my "Window Edge-Tracer" code. I need to fix a small glitch on the latter, but otherwise I'm done!
That....is all I have to say. I'm in the middle of editing a friend's essay right now, so I'm keeping this short.
Tomorrow is the last day of school before winter break! Ha...I can finally catch up on my sleep...
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
In which Pearl struggles to write a code
Konbanwa, minna-sama.
As usual, I'm feeling very tired and lethargic. Add in some stress because the majority of my classes are "behind" the other Grade 9 Pre-IB classes of said subject, and you have the perfect formula for exhaustion. If it's possible to get more than 7 hours of sleep a night in the next few days, I'd like to take advantage of that. Otherwise I might really fall asleep in Science. (And no, I absolutely cannot afford that!)
I think my overall average went down a lot, and it's got me worried. I already knew that my Science mark would drop, I just didn't expect it to drop so much. I'm even dropping in ICS, and I feel horrible, especially after Mr. Arkin gave his speech about expecting us to get over 80% on the recent programming test. I made stupid mistakes...very stupid mistakes...
Anyways, today we continued working on the "Follow the Bounce" program. Last night (this morning?), I had gotten a large part of it done. The only problem was that there were (I'm exaggerating here) a million loops, so that even I got confused - and I was the one who wrote the thing! So, yes, when Randi came over and told Zarin and I that the program only needed to consist of one loop...I...cried. All my hard work, gone! Well, it's nothing to lose sleep over.
By the end of the period, I had gotten a pretty good idea of how to do it. Of course, that included a ton of desk checking (in my head, because it would take too long to do it on paper) and tracing the execution (with the computer). Now, I only need to fix a little glitch and it'll be perfect! Of course, I could never have gotten this far without help! Thank you to everyone who helped me, you know who you are!
I really like this program (staring at it is fun!), so I'm going to create an executable for it. I want to send it to my mom so she can see it (and maybe even show it off to her colleagues at work). Teehee.
For homework, I need to start on the "Window-edge Tracker" program. I have a pretty good idea about how to do it, but I don't want to spend an excessive period of time on it, since I have a big essay for English that I need to finish. I also agreed to editing Zarin-dono's essay (and I'm perfectly happy doing so - I don't mind at all)!
So, I'm off to work now.
Mata ashita, minna-sama!
As usual, I'm feeling very tired and lethargic. Add in some stress because the majority of my classes are "behind" the other Grade 9 Pre-IB classes of said subject, and you have the perfect formula for exhaustion. If it's possible to get more than 7 hours of sleep a night in the next few days, I'd like to take advantage of that. Otherwise I might really fall asleep in Science. (And no, I absolutely cannot afford that!)
I think my overall average went down a lot, and it's got me worried. I already knew that my Science mark would drop, I just didn't expect it to drop so much. I'm even dropping in ICS, and I feel horrible, especially after Mr. Arkin gave his speech about expecting us to get over 80% on the recent programming test. I made stupid mistakes...very stupid mistakes...
Anyways, today we continued working on the "Follow the Bounce" program. Last night (this morning?), I had gotten a large part of it done. The only problem was that there were (I'm exaggerating here) a million loops, so that even I got confused - and I was the one who wrote the thing! So, yes, when Randi came over and told Zarin and I that the program only needed to consist of one loop...I...cried. All my hard work, gone! Well, it's nothing to lose sleep over.
By the end of the period, I had gotten a pretty good idea of how to do it. Of course, that included a ton of desk checking (in my head, because it would take too long to do it on paper) and tracing the execution (with the computer). Now, I only need to fix a little glitch and it'll be perfect! Of course, I could never have gotten this far without help! Thank you to everyone who helped me, you know who you are!
I really like this program (staring at it is fun!), so I'm going to create an executable for it. I want to send it to my mom so she can see it (and maybe even show it off to her colleagues at work). Teehee.
For homework, I need to start on the "Window-edge Tracker" program. I have a pretty good idea about how to do it, but I don't want to spend an excessive period of time on it, since I have a big essay for English that I need to finish. I also agreed to editing Zarin-dono's essay (and I'm perfectly happy doing so - I don't mind at all)!
So, I'm off to work now.
Mata ashita, minna-sama!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
In which Pearl is in a bad mood
Konbanwa, minna-sama.
I'm really not in a good mood today. I think...school has made me very irritable, impatient and short-tempered. I mean, today I blew up at Zarin-dono for no good reason (and I felt really bad after, even if I didn't show it). Mr. Arkin even thought I said the F-word, when I was just saying "function", and I'm not afraid to admit that I felt annoyed at that (which put a damper in my mood, and that was just second period!). For Goodness' sakes, if it wasn't clear before, I will never swear at anyone - especially my good friends! But I must also admit that I felt bad after raising my voice, specifically because I didn't even argue something correct.
Anyways, we did our Test Review today, and we got back our tests. I am extremely disappointed with my mark - it dropped dramatically from what I got on the last test. I think the problem was that I only covered very basic, simple ideas (even though I made sure I knew and understood everything on the Skills Inventory), and the questions on the test went a bit further than what I bothered to study. However, I will not say that it was unfair, because I believe that Mr. Arkin actually gave me more marks than I deserve (and I won't argue with him on that)! And so... Thank you very much, Mr. Arkin!
After he handed us our tests back (and yes, we had to get them signed), he showed us some simple animations. The program we have to write tonight is actually really fun to watch. I'm not sure how to describe it, but when I manage to figure out how to write the code, I will create an executable for it so I can show my friends on their computers. (Ha, yes, it would be something I'm proud of; and yes, I love watching those kinds of animations.) Oh, yes! Mr. Arkin taught us how to create executeables today as well. It's actually very simple: all you have to do is click on "Generate Stand-Alone Program" under "Run" on the menu.
I started on said program in class, but it's not done yet and I still need to fix a certain glitch. I actually got home at around 5:30 PM, and have been editing a friend's essay since then. Yes, I take editing very seriously and I make special care not to explicitly say "You must do this!" Hopefully he takes the time to read the comments I made - I explained all of my edits - and took them into consideration.
Right. Until tomorrow, everyone~
I'm really not in a good mood today. I think...school has made me very irritable, impatient and short-tempered. I mean, today I blew up at Zarin-dono for no good reason (and I felt really bad after, even if I didn't show it). Mr. Arkin even thought I said the F-word, when I was just saying "function", and I'm not afraid to admit that I felt annoyed at that (which put a damper in my mood, and that was just second period!). For Goodness' sakes, if it wasn't clear before, I will never swear at anyone - especially my good friends! But I must also admit that I felt bad after raising my voice, specifically because I didn't even argue something correct.
Anyways, we did our Test Review today, and we got back our tests. I am extremely disappointed with my mark - it dropped dramatically from what I got on the last test. I think the problem was that I only covered very basic, simple ideas (even though I made sure I knew and understood everything on the Skills Inventory), and the questions on the test went a bit further than what I bothered to study. However, I will not say that it was unfair, because I believe that Mr. Arkin actually gave me more marks than I deserve (and I won't argue with him on that)! And so... Thank you very much, Mr. Arkin!
After he handed us our tests back (and yes, we had to get them signed), he showed us some simple animations. The program we have to write tonight is actually really fun to watch. I'm not sure how to describe it, but when I manage to figure out how to write the code, I will create an executable for it so I can show my friends on their computers. (Ha, yes, it would be something I'm proud of; and yes, I love watching those kinds of animations.) Oh, yes! Mr. Arkin taught us how to create executeables today as well. It's actually very simple: all you have to do is click on "Generate Stand-Alone Program" under "Run" on the menu.
I started on said program in class, but it's not done yet and I still need to fix a certain glitch. I actually got home at around 5:30 PM, and have been editing a friend's essay since then. Yes, I take editing very seriously and I make special care not to explicitly say "You must do this!" Hopefully he takes the time to read the comments I made - I explained all of my edits - and took them into consideration.
Right. Until tomorrow, everyone~
Monday, December 13, 2010
In which Pearl suffers from embarrasment
Konbanwa, minna-sama.
I'm feeling tired and lethargic, as usual. I think I'm getting more and more irritable as the months progress; and by doing so, I'm annoying my friends, family and acquaintances/colleagues. Hopefully the Winter Break will allow me to recover. Only one more week! And the countdown to Winter Break begins...
Today we had our second programming test. There were a few people who were spazzing out because Mr. Arkin never told us when the exact date of said test was, only that it was (and I quote from the Daily Log) "On the week of 13 December". I actually found out second period, because my class (homeroom) was right next to the Lab in which I have ICS. Personally, I was more worried about other subjects like Science and English. (See, I have a lot of trouble with the former, and a huge essay is due this week for the latter.)
I thought that test itself was pretty easy. There were only two questions that I had difficulty with, and I had figured out one of them in due time. That one was the first question on the back, where you had to write what would be displayed on the run window. At one point, the code said something like this:
p := anchor
s := website
p (index (s, "s"))
I was incredibly confused, because I had focused directly on the second part of this...um...statement. I actually thought the correct output for this part of the statement was "4" (because 's' was the fourth letter of "s" [the string]). Then, when I went over it again, I realized that I had to put the fourth letter of "p" [the string], which was h. I'm glad I figured that out!
The other problem I had was with Question 3, which I'm positive I got wrong. I know a function is a subprogram that returns a value; and a procedure is a subprogram that performs a defined task. However... I'm not sure about when it is legal to call them.
Now... Mr. Arkin had told us that we cannot hand in our test in the last five minutes, so when he called out "five minutes left", I started to panic. But... no one else handed it in yet, so I assumed that I should get up and give it to Mr. Arkin. His response to my getting of the chair: "Sit". *cries tears of embarrassment*
*ahem* Yes, well, anyways! After the test, he gave us an introduction to graphics. I think it's in preparation for culminating... *spazzes out* I...really need that break.
That's all for today! Until tomorrow~!
I'm feeling tired and lethargic, as usual. I think I'm getting more and more irritable as the months progress; and by doing so, I'm annoying my friends, family and acquaintances/colleagues. Hopefully the Winter Break will allow me to recover. Only one more week! And the countdown to Winter Break begins...
Today we had our second programming test. There were a few people who were spazzing out because Mr. Arkin never told us when the exact date of said test was, only that it was (and I quote from the Daily Log) "On the week of 13 December". I actually found out second period, because my class (homeroom) was right next to the Lab in which I have ICS. Personally, I was more worried about other subjects like Science and English. (See, I have a lot of trouble with the former, and a huge essay is due this week for the latter.)
I thought that test itself was pretty easy. There were only two questions that I had difficulty with, and I had figured out one of them in due time. That one was the first question on the back, where you had to write what would be displayed on the run window. At one point, the code said something like this:
p := anchor
s := website
p (index (s, "s"))
I was incredibly confused, because I had focused directly on the second part of this...um...statement. I actually thought the correct output for this part of the statement was "4" (because 's' was the fourth letter of "s" [the string]). Then, when I went over it again, I realized that I had to put the fourth letter of "p" [the string], which was h. I'm glad I figured that out!
The other problem I had was with Question 3, which I'm positive I got wrong. I know a function is a subprogram that returns a value; and a procedure is a subprogram that performs a defined task. However... I'm not sure about when it is legal to call them.
Now... Mr. Arkin had told us that we cannot hand in our test in the last five minutes, so when he called out "five minutes left", I started to panic. But... no one else handed it in yet, so I assumed that I should get up and give it to Mr. Arkin. His response to my getting of the chair: "Sit". *cries tears of embarrassment*
*ahem* Yes, well, anyways! After the test, he gave us an introduction to graphics. I think it's in preparation for culminating... *spazzes out* I...really need that break.
That's all for today! Until tomorrow~!
Friday, December 10, 2010
In which we achieve our goal!
Konbanwa, minna-san~
I think I was still "drunk" from International Night this morning. Heh, not even. I was "drunk" the entire day. I'm going to sneak in a fangirl moment here and say "Oh my God, the Korean groups were so awesome!!!" (Y'know, I'd replace "awesome" with another word [that starts with "h" *wink*] but it's probably not a good idea to say that here.) Ha, now I have renewed respect for Asian boy bands. *cue fangirl squeal* The song's still stuck in my head: Again and again and again and again...
On the other hand, I'm exhausted. After I got home and ate dinner (yes, I get home almost right before dinnertime) I went to sleep. I woke up at 9:30 PM, mentally kicking myself for not writing my blog first. Then again, the minute I go on the computer I won't be able to get off of it for a while. So, yep, that's why I'm doing it now.
*cough cough* Anyways!
Today was the last day we had to review programming in our groups. As I mentioned in the blog title, I think we achieved our goal. My group went over all the Programming Concepts noted on the handout Mr. Arkin gave us quite a while ago. I made sure I understood everything there, and if there was anyone who needed something to be explained to them, I tried to help. (Hopefully they understood after my efforts!)
I love helping others. *smile* I want to be an elementary school teacher, so it's actually helping me prepare for the "challenge" as well.
On another note, I need to start preparing for exams and culminating. Over the break, I plan on taking all my binders home and creating study guides for each one of my subjects, especially Science. Hah... That's what made me "sober". Mr. Pourkhatai returned out Ecology tests today after school, and I got a...horrible mark that will undoubtedly bring down my average.
Dakedo...oyasumi, minna-san!
---
Translation: So...good night, everyone!
P.S. For anyone that's interested, there's a Japanese boy band called NewS (also, NEWS, News) that's actually good. Sorry, I used to hate boy bands in general because they sang about...fickle concepts. Like love. (Dear God, I must sound morbid now.) But yeah, they sang for the seventh One Piece movie. It's called "Sayaendo". The translation's cute.
I think I was still "drunk" from International Night this morning. Heh, not even. I was "drunk" the entire day. I'm going to sneak in a fangirl moment here and say "Oh my God, the Korean groups were so awesome!!!" (Y'know, I'd replace "awesome" with another word [that starts with "h" *wink*] but it's probably not a good idea to say that here.) Ha, now I have renewed respect for Asian boy bands. *cue fangirl squeal* The song's still stuck in my head: Again and again and again and again...
On the other hand, I'm exhausted. After I got home and ate dinner (yes, I get home almost right before dinnertime) I went to sleep. I woke up at 9:30 PM, mentally kicking myself for not writing my blog first. Then again, the minute I go on the computer I won't be able to get off of it for a while. So, yep, that's why I'm doing it now.
*cough cough* Anyways!
Today was the last day we had to review programming in our groups. As I mentioned in the blog title, I think we achieved our goal. My group went over all the Programming Concepts noted on the handout Mr. Arkin gave us quite a while ago. I made sure I understood everything there, and if there was anyone who needed something to be explained to them, I tried to help. (Hopefully they understood after my efforts!)
I love helping others. *smile* I want to be an elementary school teacher, so it's actually helping me prepare for the "challenge" as well.
On another note, I need to start preparing for exams and culminating. Over the break, I plan on taking all my binders home and creating study guides for each one of my subjects, especially Science. Hah... That's what made me "sober". Mr. Pourkhatai returned out Ecology tests today after school, and I got a...horrible mark that will undoubtedly bring down my average.
Dakedo...oyasumi, minna-san!
---
Translation: So...good night, everyone!
P.S. For anyone that's interested, there's a Japanese boy band called NewS (also, NEWS, News) that's actually good. Sorry, I used to hate boy bands in general because they sang about...fickle concepts. Like love. (Dear God, I must sound morbid now.) But yeah, they sang for the seventh One Piece movie. It's called "Sayaendo". The translation's cute.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
In which we review programming in groups
Kon'ichiwa, minna-san~!
Tonight was International Night, so Zarin-dono and I stayed at Maryvale library (at Parkway Mall) until around 5:30, when we walked back [to school]. (God, it was cold!)
Anyways, the entire show (concert?) was amazing! I'm so glad I decided to go. *smile*
Last night, Zarin-dono and I went through the Skills Inventory, briefly going over certain aspects of it and taking note of the concepts we didn't understand.
Anyways, yesterday I mentioned that we got into groups to help each other catch up/fully understand programming, right? We continued doing that today!
It was sort of funny, because I had no idea that there were two kinds of loops. When Mr. Arkin and Zelin tried to explain it to me, I got even more confused, and was like "ne?" *cue cute head tilt*
But eventually I understood! And when I did, I felt extremely stupid.
I think that my group made good progress today! We're going to continue doing that tomorrow. By Monday, I'm sure my group and I will be "Level 4" Computer Science students!
Tonight was International Night, so Zarin-dono and I stayed at Maryvale library (at Parkway Mall) until around 5:30, when we walked back [to school]. (God, it was cold!)
Anyways, the entire show (concert?) was amazing! I'm so glad I decided to go. *smile*
Last night, Zarin-dono and I went through the Skills Inventory, briefly going over certain aspects of it and taking note of the concepts we didn't understand.
Anyways, yesterday I mentioned that we got into groups to help each other catch up/fully understand programming, right? We continued doing that today!
It was sort of funny, because I had no idea that there were two kinds of loops. When Mr. Arkin and Zelin tried to explain it to me, I got even more confused, and was like "ne?" *cue cute head tilt*
But eventually I understood! And when I did, I felt extremely stupid.
I think that my group made good progress today! We're going to continue doing that tomorrow. By Monday, I'm sure my group and I will be "Level 4" Computer Science students!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
In which we learn about procedures
Konbanwa, minna-san!
I...get obsessed with different series very easily. Sometimes my love for a certain series dies out. (For example, I used to adore Hot Gimmick, but now it's...meh. It's not like I don't love it anymore (I mean - who can resist Ryoki-sama? *wink/fangirl squeal*), but it's just not as important to me.) But at other times, I will continue to love that series forever and ever... Like Inuyasha. I started watching it, what, six...years ago? I still adore it. And FullMetal Alchemist, which I started watching at around the same time. Of course, I absolutely cannot forget Detective Conan/Case Closed~! I'm a huge mystery/detective fan, so I love this one. Right now, I love Durarara!! It has a really unique/amazing/epic/addictive storyline and even more unique/amazing/epic/addictive characters. I don't want to stop loving it...
Ah, but these are simply the ramblings of a crazy fangirl/writer. To get back on topic...
According to my Programming Glossary, a procedure is a subprogram that performs a defined task. It is very similar to a function. However, a procedure does not have a result (because it's not returning a value) and it can have zero or more arguments. An example of a procedure with zero arguments looks like this:
procedure sayHello
put "Hello!"
end sayHello
sayHello
This code outputs "Hello!"
However, you can "upgrade" it, using an argument. This code will output "Hello, Shizu-chan!"
procedure greetUser (greeting : string, userName : string)
put greeting + ", " + userName + "!"
end greetUser
greetUser ("Hello", "Shizu-chan")
Simple, ne? *smile*
Of course, if this was Izaya-kun speaking, Shizu-chan would say: "Get out of Ikebukuro!!!"
D'awws, we love you, Shizu-chan~
You can also ask the user to give you the greeting and name. However, then you must make greeting and userName variables (within the procedure, if that makes sense).
procedure greetUser (var greeting : string, var userName : string)
put greeting + ", " + userName + "!"
end greetUser
var greeting : string
var userName : string
put "Greeting? " ..
get greeting : *
put "Name? " ..
get userName
greetUser (greeting, userName)
Got it? *smiles again*
Well, I hope that explanation was plausible. I'm generally horrible at explanations (and you wonder how I'll ever become a teacher).
Anyways, after we were taught how to create a procedure, we evaluated ourselves on our understanding of programming. Then we got into groups based on our evaluation. By Friday, Mr. Arkin wants us to fully understand all the concepts of programming! With a bit of work, I'm sure we can do it~!
Ganbatte, minna-san~!
I...get obsessed with different series very easily. Sometimes my love for a certain series dies out. (For example, I used to adore Hot Gimmick, but now it's...meh. It's not like I don't love it anymore (I mean - who can resist Ryoki-sama? *wink/fangirl squeal*), but it's just not as important to me.) But at other times, I will continue to love that series forever and ever... Like Inuyasha. I started watching it, what, six...years ago? I still adore it. And FullMetal Alchemist, which I started watching at around the same time. Of course, I absolutely cannot forget Detective Conan/Case Closed~! I'm a huge mystery/detective fan, so I love this one. Right now, I love Durarara!! It has a really unique/amazing/epic/addictive storyline and even more unique/amazing/epic/addictive characters. I don't want to stop loving it...
 |
| From left: Izaya Orihara, Anri Sonohara, Mikado Ryuugamine, Masomi Kida, Shinra Kishitani, Shizuo Heiwajima. The figure in the moon is Celty Sturlson, a dullhan. Durarara!! (c) Ryohgo Narita |
According to my Programming Glossary, a procedure is a subprogram that performs a defined task. It is very similar to a function. However, a procedure does not have a result (because it's not returning a value) and it can have zero or more arguments. An example of a procedure with zero arguments looks like this:
procedure sayHello
put "Hello!"
end sayHello
sayHello
This code outputs "Hello!"
However, you can "upgrade" it, using an argument. This code will output "Hello, Shizu-chan!"
procedure greetUser (greeting : string, userName : string)
put greeting + ", " + userName + "!"
end greetUser
greetUser ("Hello", "Shizu-chan")
Simple, ne? *smile*
Of course, if this was Izaya-kun speaking, Shizu-chan would say: "Get out of Ikebukuro!!!"
D'awws, we love you, Shizu-chan~
You can also ask the user to give you the greeting and name. However, then you must make greeting and userName variables (within the procedure, if that makes sense).
procedure greetUser (var greeting : string, var userName : string)
put greeting + ", " + userName + "!"
end greetUser
var greeting : string
var userName : string
put "Greeting? " ..
get greeting : *
put "Name? " ..
get userName
greetUser (greeting, userName)
Got it? *smiles again*
Well, I hope that explanation was plausible. I'm generally horrible at explanations (and you wonder how I'll ever become a teacher).
Anyways, after we were taught how to create a procedure, we evaluated ourselves on our understanding of programming. Then we got into groups based on our evaluation. By Friday, Mr. Arkin wants us to fully understand all the concepts of programming! With a bit of work, I'm sure we can do it~!
Ganbatte, minna-san~!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
In which we learn about functions
Konbanwa, minna-san~!
I'm so tired... Luckily, I don't have a lot of homework tonight. I'm going to draw: something I haven't done in a long time. I need to improve my skills. See, one day, I want to draw a manga. Nothing too long - it'll be a oneshot. I already have a few ideas floating around in my head, but I don't want to get into them here...
So, as the title of this blog post mentions, we learnt about functions today. If you take a look at my Programming Glossary, you'll see that the definition of a function is "a subprogram which returns a value". The actual structure of a function is actually quite simple. Take this for example:
function sum (integer1 : int, integer2 : int) : int
result integer1 + integer2
end sum
put sum (1, 2)
The program above will output the sum of 1 and 2, which is 3.
It is basically saying that sum will return the sum of two integers. integer1 and integer2 are parameters, and the : ints mean that those two parameters will hold integers. Parameters only exist locally, which means that they only exist inside the function body.
The last : int means that the datatype that sum returns must be an integer.
All function bodies must have at least one statement: the result statement.
Personally, I'm still a little confused about all this, but I'm sure I'll understand with time. I'm not a very fast learner, but with trials and tribulations (ha, did anyone catch the Phoenix Wright reference I made there? *wink*) I manage to "get" the concept with time.
For homework, I have to figure out how the nextConsonant function should look like, and modify some substring assignments so they have functions in them. Derr.
On an ending note (and no, this has absolutely nothing to do with computer science, but I really want to say this)...
If you haven't heard "Every Time You Kissed Me" by Emily Bindiger, go listen to it now!!! It's from an anime called Pandora Hearts, and it's a very pretty song. I happened to stumble on it by accident, when I found a piano instrumental cover for another song on YouTube. I went to the uploader's channel, and he decided to take a look at this song.
One day, I'd like to do a cover for this song...
Anyways!
Oyasumi, to mata ashita, minna-sama!
---
Translation:
Good night, and see you tomorrow, everyone!
I'm so tired... Luckily, I don't have a lot of homework tonight. I'm going to draw: something I haven't done in a long time. I need to improve my skills. See, one day, I want to draw a manga. Nothing too long - it'll be a oneshot. I already have a few ideas floating around in my head, but I don't want to get into them here...
So, as the title of this blog post mentions, we learnt about functions today. If you take a look at my Programming Glossary, you'll see that the definition of a function is "a subprogram which returns a value". The actual structure of a function is actually quite simple. Take this for example:
function sum (integer1 : int, integer2 : int) : int
result integer1 + integer2
end sum
put sum (1, 2)
The program above will output the sum of 1 and 2, which is 3.
It is basically saying that sum will return the sum of two integers. integer1 and integer2 are parameters, and the : ints mean that those two parameters will hold integers. Parameters only exist locally, which means that they only exist inside the function body.
The last : int means that the datatype that sum returns must be an integer.
All function bodies must have at least one statement: the result statement.
Personally, I'm still a little confused about all this, but I'm sure I'll understand with time. I'm not a very fast learner, but with trials and tribulations (ha, did anyone catch the Phoenix Wright reference I made there? *wink*) I manage to "get" the concept with time.
For homework, I have to figure out how the nextConsonant function should look like, and modify some substring assignments so they have functions in them. Derr.
On an ending note (and no, this has absolutely nothing to do with computer science, but I really want to say this)...
If you haven't heard "Every Time You Kissed Me" by Emily Bindiger, go listen to it now!!! It's from an anime called Pandora Hearts, and it's a very pretty song. I happened to stumble on it by accident, when I found a piano instrumental cover for another song on YouTube. I went to the uploader's channel, and he decided to take a look at this song.
One day, I'd like to do a cover for this song...
Anyways!
Oyasumi, to mata ashita, minna-sama!
---
Translation:
Good night, and see you tomorrow, everyone!
Monday, December 6, 2010
In which Mr. Arkin returns!
Welcome back, Mr. Arkin!
You see, our (very much missed) teacher had been absent the previous week (Yes, all five days of school!) However, we have been working hard on our Substring Assignments. With Zarin-dono's (much-appreciated) help, I had completed all of them by Friday! (Thank goodness, because I slept in on Saturday and I went to a Christmas party on Sunday.)
So, today was an extremely shortened day. There was an early dismissal: school ended at noon! Because Mr. Arkin was away last week, he wanted to show us model answers for the Substring Assignments. Besides, we were expected to complete all of them and have all the codes printed out by today. It was sort of funny, because he showed us a model answer for Assignment #1, then realized that he hadn't taught us the for keyword yet.
And so, the lesson was postponed for another lesson: the for loop. There are times in which a programmer wants to repeat a loop a certain amount of time. In the event that he or she needs to do this, the for loop is used. (I was frustrated, because I could have used this when I was writing the Substring Assignments, and it would've saved me a lot of time.)
Here is the basic structure of a for loop
for control_variable : startValue .. endValue
put value
end for
The control_variable will increment itself by one starting from the startValue, and it will stop when the control_variable is greater than the endValue.
The control variable is not declared - the computer declares and initializes it for you.
Simple, ne? *smile*
And that was pretty much all we got to do today!
Oh, and now it's "shameless self-promotion time"!
I wrote a poem!
It's up on my Fanfiction account because it can be linked to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. (Actually, it is based on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.)
And while you're there, please check out my other stuff, too~! (I got flamed twice in two weeks, so I've been feeling pretty down. Now, if those people had told me what I could improve on, it might not have hit me so hard. See, I'm very serious when it comes to my writing: I want to become an author when I grow up. So if there's anything you guys see that I could improve on...please tell me!)
Arigatou gozaimasu, minna-san~
Mata ashita!
---
Translation:
Thank you very much, everyone~
See you tomorrow!
You see, our (very much missed) teacher had been absent the previous week (Yes, all five days of school!) However, we have been working hard on our Substring Assignments. With Zarin-dono's (much-appreciated) help, I had completed all of them by Friday! (Thank goodness, because I slept in on Saturday and I went to a Christmas party on Sunday.)
So, today was an extremely shortened day. There was an early dismissal: school ended at noon! Because Mr. Arkin was away last week, he wanted to show us model answers for the Substring Assignments. Besides, we were expected to complete all of them and have all the codes printed out by today. It was sort of funny, because he showed us a model answer for Assignment #1, then realized that he hadn't taught us the for keyword yet.
And so, the lesson was postponed for another lesson: the for loop. There are times in which a programmer wants to repeat a loop a certain amount of time. In the event that he or she needs to do this, the for loop is used. (I was frustrated, because I could have used this when I was writing the Substring Assignments, and it would've saved me a lot of time.)
Here is the basic structure of a for loop
for control_variable : startValue .. endValue
put value
end for
The control_variable will increment itself by one starting from the startValue, and it will stop when the control_variable is greater than the endValue.
The control variable is not declared - the computer declares and initializes it for you.
Simple, ne? *smile*
And that was pretty much all we got to do today!
Oh, and now it's "shameless self-promotion time"!
I wrote a poem!
It's up on my Fanfiction account because it can be linked to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. (Actually, it is based on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.)
And while you're there, please check out my other stuff, too~! (I got flamed twice in two weeks, so I've been feeling pretty down. Now, if those people had told me what I could improve on, it might not have hit me so hard. See, I'm very serious when it comes to my writing: I want to become an author when I grow up. So if there's anything you guys see that I could improve on...please tell me!)
Arigatou gozaimasu, minna-san~
Mata ashita!
---
Translation:
Thank you very much, everyone~
See you tomorrow!
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