This week is Computer Science Education Week, and there’s a huge worldwide activity going on this week called The Hour of Code, where millions of people will learn how fun and easy it can be to learn to write computer code. Whether you’re trying to build or fix your own website, animate your designs, write an app for your phone or tablet, or just see what you can teach computers to do, learning code is really important and fun. You have no idea how much you’re capable of doing right now, until you try.

These skills will help make you part of a growing workforce of people who require computer science skills. These skills are becoming more important in almost every area of society, and sadly, there aren’t nearly enough people with those skills to fill important positions. By increasing your skills, you give yourself a far greater chance of landing a good job in the future, and unlock worlds of new possibilities now.

MORNING CLASS:
Please Join our class: http://studio.code.org/join/SYJYQX
If you go to code.org, you could just use our class code: SYJYQX

OR you can try it out at CodeHS (a bit more challenging):
codehs.com/hourofcode (class code B5B3)

AFTERNOON CLASS:
Please Join our class: http://studio.code.org/join/HFTQGG
If you go to code.org, you could just use our class code: HFTQGG

OR you can try it out at CodeHS (a bit more challenging):
codehs.com/hourofcode (class code 2BD2)

You might have thought that Inside Out was just a fun movie for kids, which it is, but it’s also full of some really interesting insights into our emotions.

Here are some important ideas that are contained in the movie: 24_insideout

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The Jimmie News is here!

Imagine this: St. James starts up a student newspaper and decides to put YOU (or a version of you…) on the cover with a feature-length profile! You’d be famous!

Well, dreams do come true! Sort of…

To wrap up the work that we’ve been doing so far, your task is to come up with a full-length profile of a St. James student, but one with a twist!

Looking back at the exercises we’ve done so far (classroom seating, colour psychology, personality tests, and goal setting), I want you to write a profile of who you’d be if all of those things were actually true.

For example, consider where you’re sitting in class. What does the research say about you? What’s your favourite colour? What does the research say about you? What did some of those personality tests say about you, and what are some of your actual goals? Incorporate all of that information into the profile of this student. Of course, lots of the things that you’ve heard and read, based on the research and testing, makes no sense! One place will tell you one thing, a personality test will tell you another, and so on! But if all of these things were accurate, who would you be? Write about it!

Your student profile will include information from each of the 4 major exercises that we’ve done, so you’ll have to refer back to the research or testing behind each activity. So the person that you’re writing about, where does he/she sit in class and what does it mean? What’s his/her favourite colour and what does it mean?

You can do this according to the wacky results that you’d get if you follow the information presented OR you can do a more accurate one that explains who you really are and how you either reflect or contradict the research!

Since you might be doing something kind of odd, it doesn’t have to be the real you that’s being profiled, you could make up a student with a fake name and photo. If you want to go the more authentic route, you can include a picture of you, which you can bring in or take with one of the school cameras. You don’t have to spend too much time making it look like a real newspaper if you don’t want to, but there are some nice and easy templates available in Pages (on the Mac) and Microsoft Word (PC and Mac.) You could just write it up as a plain Google or Word document and then put it into one of the templates later, or just add a headline, byline (who wrote the article), and picture (with caption.)

A. Write a letter to yourself setting goals for the semester – personal, social and educational. It will be placed in a sealed envelope and be securely stored until the end of the semester. Before the course is complete, you will re-read your letter and complete a reflection. Your letter should be at least 150 words long.

B. Pretend you are at your high school reunion, 10 years from now. What is your life like? What is your career? Are you married? Children? Where are you living? What car are you driving? Who are your friends? What activities do you enjoy? Be honest and realistic when describing your dreams and aspirations. Please type at least a page (200 – 250 words).

C. Thinking about the future you have imagined for yourself in Part B, brainstorm what needs to be done over the next 10 years to achieve the life you see for yourself. Choose at least 5 components of your future, and make a list of steps to make/goals that need to be reached to create this life. What are some possible roadblocks or problems you might encounter along the way and what will you do to get around them? This section should be at least 150 words.

Goal Setting Rubric