School closure extended the rest of the school year
Classes are moving online! Check Schoology for the weekly learning checklist (posted Mondays by 9am) and all lesson materials. |
School closure extended to April 9th
The end of marking period 3 has been extended to March 27th with grades due April 3rd. Schoology assignments will remain open until 11pm on March 27th. |
School closed until March 30th
Unfortunately, the administration denied my request to allow students to take the Raspberry Pi's or project materials home while school is closed. If we are closed more than two weeks, they will reconsider the request. For now, however, you can try to work on as much of the coding as possible using a Python IDE or Scratch IDE online. I'll keep you posted as more information becomes available. |
Monday, March 2- Friday, March 13
Students are working on their independent projects and preparing to present their projects at the HU Pi-Jam Fair May 1st. Students are required to post a daily progress summary to OneNote every day they work on their project, and to document obstacles and research in their coding and/or physical computing journals to document their learning. |
Monday, February 24 - Friday, February 28
Students who still haven't submitted the AIY Voice Project MUST complete it before beginning their independent projects. Students who began work on their independent project this week were reminded to set aside time EVERY DAY to document their progress and their learning in the online Project Journal on OneNote! Any students unable to begin their project until materials arrive worked through Unit 7 in the Beginners Guide to learn the basics of physical computing with the Sense-HAT. |
Friday, February 21
Shark-tank Project Presentations continued today! Four students each had ten minutes to present their business case and respond to questions posed by the panel of judges from Harrisburg University. Students were asked to complete a peer-critique form for each project proposal they watched today as well. |
Thursday, February 20
Shark-tank Project Presentations started today! Four students each had ten minutes to present their business case and respond to questions posed by the panel of judges from Harrisburg University. Students were asked to complete a peer-critique form for each project proposal they watched today as well. The panel voted to approve the funding for all four projects proposed today! |
Tuesday, February 18 - Wednesday, February 21
Dress rehearsals for project presentations are Tuesday/Wednesday. You'll get peer feedback following your presentation and teacher feedback will be posted to the comments on your Schoology assignment. Be sure to update your PowerPoint file by 8am Thursday. "Shark-tank" presentations with the HU-panel are Thursday/Friday! The presentation schedule is posted in the classroom. |
Thursday, February 13 - Monday, February 17
No school |
Monday, February 10 - Wednesday, February 12
Final drafts of your Power Point presentation and Excel order forms are due by 3pm Wednesday! Dress rehearsals for presentations will be Tuesday/Wednesday after the break and your Shark-tank presentations are Thursday, Feb. 20th and Friday, Feb. 21st! |
Monday, February 3 - Friday, February 7
Once your project proposal is approved by the teacher, download the Power Point template for your Business Case presentation and the Excel template for your supply order. Upload a rough draft by Friday to get feedback for revisions for next week. Final drafts are due by 3pm Feb. 12th!
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Friday, January 31
Today you finished writing the proposals for the THREE Raspberry Pi project options aligned to your personal interests, ability level (see Wednesday's post for details and links) that you would be excited to pursue. Be sure to use the template provided on Schoology to write up the proposal for the project you MOST want to pursue. Upload that completed template along with another Word Document that describes you two alternate projects to the Schoology assignment dropbox before midnight tonight! |
Thursday, January 30
Today you continued researching Raspberry Pi project options aligned to your personal interests, ability level (see yesterday's post for details and links) and started writing up your proposals for at least THREE project ideas you would be excited to pursue. |
Wednesday, January 29
Today you started researching Raspberry Pi project options aligned to your personal interests, ability level, and budget constraints ($200). Select three independent project options and upload a detailed description of each to the Schoology assignment dropbox by 3pm Friday.
Browse through the following books for ideas:
--> The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book Volume 1 (82 projects & guides)
--> The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book Volume 2 (67 projects & guides)
--> The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book Volume 3 (72 projects & guides)
--> The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book Volume 4 (55 projects & guides)
--> The MagPi (Issue 75): 75 Greatest Raspberry Pi Projects
--> The MagPi (Issue 84): Raspberry Pi 4 Starter Guide (16 projects & guides)
Extend your search with these online resources:
--> RaspberryPi.org Projects Page (88 projects with step-by-step instructions)
--> Top 20 Best Raspberry Pi Projects That You Can Start Right Now
--> PiMyLifeUp.com Raspberry Pi Index (101 project guides organized into categories: Beginner Projects, Advanced Projects, Gaming Projects, Media Projects, Server Projects, IoT Projects, and Electronics Projects.)
--> Google (search online for Pi-projects aligned to your specific interests and ideas)
*** Requirements for self-designed projects ***
You CAN design a completely original project without referencing guides or tutorials, however...
--> It MUST be within your current skill set or achievable within the time frame. <--
For example, do not design a project that requires complicated coding if you have no coding experience. Instead select a project that either provides ready-to-run code files for download that you can customize or extend to fit your needs, or that provides a tutorial that guides you through writing the code you need step by step. Another example: Do not design a project that requires you to build a birdhouse out of wood if you don't have access to woodworking tools and experience using them. Instead select a project that allows you to either adapt a pre-made birdhouse to fit your needs, or one that has a DYI kit available for purchase that doesn't require carpentry skills to assemble. |
Tuesday, January 28
Today Professor Richard Kordel from Harrisburg University visited the classroom to explain how to build a Business Case for you independent project. We will be shelving Project 9: AIY Voice Controlled Robot Buggy temporarily while you spend time the rest of this week researching project ideas within the parameters shared by Professor Kordel today. Once you have settled on your project, begin writing the Business Case for the project and designing the presentation file you will show during the Shark-Tank Presentations (date TBD). You can download his PowerPoint file from today's visit for reference. Additional planning tools such as the budgeting template and planning calendar he discussed today will be made available as soon as he sends them to me. You will resume work on Project 9: AIY Voice Controlled Robot Buggy following the proposal submission deadline and finish it before starting on your independent project. |
Monday, January 27
Today you continued working on Project 9: AIY Voice Controlled Robot Buggy. You were required to work with the same partner you worked with to build your robot buggy in Unit 5. You will use that buggy and Pi along with one of the AIY Voice Kits you OR your partner assembled in Project 8 and its Pi. Note that you will need TWO R-Pi's to complete this project: one to run the robot buggy and another to run the AIY Voice Kit! |
Tuesday, January 21 - Friday, January 24
This week you worked on Project 9: AIY Voice Controlled Robot Buggy. You were required to work with the same partner you worked with to build your robot buggy in Unit 5. You will use that buggy and Pi along with one of the AIY Voice Kits you OR your partner assembled in Project 8 and its Pi. Note that you will need TWO R-Pi's to complete this project: one to run the robot buggy and another to run the AIY Voice Kit! Don't forget to complete the AIY Voice Controlled Robot Progress Check on Schoology by the end of the period on Friday!
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Monday, January 13 - Friday, January 17
This week you continued working on Project 8: AIY Voice Kit with Google Assistant (due Monday). Students who finished could begin working on Project 9: AIY Voice Controlled Robot Buggy. |
Monday, January 6 - Friday, January 10
You continued working in pairs on Project #7: Time-Lapse Animation (due Wednesday). After uploading your project documentation to Schoology, you started working on the AIY Voice Kit build following these online instructions:
Don't forget to complete the AIY Voice Progress Check on Schoology by the end of the period on Friday! |
Thursday, January 2 - Friday, January 3
You continued working in pairs on Project #7: Time-Lapse Animation (due Wednesday). |
December 23 - January 1
Winter Break/ No School |
Monday, December 16 - Friday, December 20
You continued working in pairs on Project #6: Push Button Stop Motion (due Friday). When your group finishes, upload the project video along with other required files to the project page on Schoology. On Friday, don't forget to set up your camera to record the time-lapse images over winter break for Project #7: Time-Lapse Animation! |
Monday, December 9 - Friday, December 13
All groups need to complete chapters 1-7 in The Magpi Essentials: Camera Module by the end of the week; then start on Project #6: Push Button Stop Motion or Project #7: Time-Lapse Animation. Don't forget to complete the Camera Module Progress Check on Schoology by the end of the period on Friday! |
Tuesday, December 3 - Friday, December 6
You continued working in pairs on the second project in our robotics unit using the Build a Line Following Robot guide. Students who finish that task early should extend their project to handle robot decisions such as a fork in the road. When your group finishes, upload the video of your working project along with the other required files to the project page on Schoology (try to do this by the end of the period on Friday.)
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Monday, November 25 - Monday, December 2
No school |
Monday, November 18 - Friday, November 22
You continued working in pairs on the second project in our robotics unit using the Build a Line Following Robot guide. Students who finish that task early should extend their project to handle robot decisions such as a fork in the road. When your group finishes, upload the video of your working project along with the other required files to the project page on Schoology (try to do this by the end of the period on Friday, December 6!) |
Monday, November 11 - Friday, November 15
You continued working in pairs on the second project in our robotics unit using the Build a Line Following Robot guide. Don't forget to complete the Line Following Robot Buggy Progress Check on Schoology by the end of the period on Friday! |
Monday, November 4 - Friday, November 8
You continued working in pairs on the first project in our robotics unit using the Build a Robot Buggy guide. Groups who got their robot working uploaded their project video to the project page on Schoology (try to do this by the end of the period on Friday!) and began working on the next robotics module to transform their original buggy into a line following robot: https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/rpi-python-line-following. |
Monday, October 28 - Friday, November 1
You continued working in pairs on the first project in our robotics unit using the Build a Robot Buggy guide; following these instructions to set up a remote connection between the Raspberry Pi and an iPad. Don't forget to complete the Robot Buggy Progress Check on Schoology by the end of the period on Friday! |
Monday, October 21 - Friday, October 25
You worked in pairs on the first project in our robotics unit using the Build a Robot Buggy guide; following these instructions when soldering wires to the motors controlling the wheels. |
Tuesday, October 15 - Friday, October 18
Continue working on your physical computing project. When finished, you will upload to Schoology your code file, a photo of your breadboard with wiring and components assembled, and a video demonstrating your project. |
Monday, October 14
No school. |
Monday, October 7 - Friday, October 11
Select one of the physical computing projects using at least two new components from the Freenove Lab Manual and extend it beyond its basic functionality in your Scratch or Python coding, or incorporate physical computing into either your Scratch game or Python game from prior units. Don't forget to complete the GPIO Progress Check 2 on Schoology by the end of the period on Friday!
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Friday, September 27 - Friday, October 4
Continue working through Chapter 6 of the Beginners Guide to learn the basics of physical computing with the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins coding in both Scratch and Python. Don't forget to complete the GPIO Progress Check 1 on Schoology by the end of the period on Friday! |
Thursday, September 26
Today we started Unit 3: Physical Computing by identifying and organizing the components in our Freenove Ultimate Starter Kits for Raspberry Pi. Then you started reading through Chapter 6 of the Beginners Guide to learn the basics of physical computing with the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins. |
Wednesday, September 25
Today you uploaded your Python game and started working on peer reviews and developer feedback (due Friday). |
Monday, September 16 - Friday, September 25
Today you continued working on your Python game design project (due Wednesday). Upload your game file to the dropbox on Schoology when finished so we can start peer reviews. |
Friday, September 13
Today you responded to the Compare/Contrast Python & Scratch prompt on the discussion board on Schoology and then posted comments to two classmates' posts explaining another similarity or difference not already mentioned in their post. Then you started programming your Python game. Students who are new to Python can expand the text-based maze-style role playing game from the last lesson in Unit 5 of the Beginners Guide. More experienced students can pick a game that does not require GPIO pin use from the MagPi Essentials: Make Games with Python project guide and expand it to do something new. Expert users should design their own game that pushes them beyond their current experience level. |
Thursday, September 12
Today you finished working in Unit 5 of the Beginners Guide to learn the basics of text-based coding with Python on the Raspberry Pi using the Thonny IDE. Always comment your code so you can recall what's going on in your program when you come back to it later. Save your programs as you complete each section to use as reference later because we will be going back and forth between Scratch and Python frequently throughout the semester. Take notes on coding in Python in your coding journal for the same reason. |
Wednesday, September 11
Today you started working in Unit 5 of the Beginners Guide to learn the basics of text-based coding with Python on the Raspberry Pi using the Thonny IDE. Always comment your code so you can recall what's going on in your program when you come back to it later. Save your programs as you complete each section to use as reference later because we will be going back and forth between Scratch and Python frequently throughout the semester. Take notes on coding in Python in your coding journal for the same reason. |
Tuesday, September 10
Today you continued working through the remaining lessons in our book Magpi Essentials: Conquer the Command Line. When finished, you completed the Command Line COUNTDOWN! on Schoology (due tomorrow.) Students who finished early began working through Unit 5 in the Beginners Guide to learn the basics of text-based coding with Python on the Raspberry Pi using the Thonny IDE. |
Monday, September 9
Today you continued working through the lessons in our book Magpi Essentials: Conquer the Command Line and completed the 1.2 Pi Terminal (aka Command-line) assignment on Schoology after finishing Chapter 4: Manipulating Text. |
Friday, September 6
Today you continued working through the lessons in our book Magpi Essentials: Conquer the Command Line. Summarize what you learn in your coding journal as you work through the lessons; you will need to report that information in a progress check on Schoology when you finish! After you finish Chapter 4: Manipulating Text, complete the 1.2 Pi Terminal (aka Command-line) assignment on Schoology (due by Wednesday). |
Thursday, September 5
Today you finished trying the commands on the Top 50 Raspberry Pi commands List cheat sheet. You can write the commands you want to remember in your coding journal, or web-print a list of commands to our classroom printer (M16) and glue them in your journal instead. Then you started working through the lessons in our book Magpi Essentials: Conquer the Command Line. Paper copies are coming soon, but for now you will need to use the link to download the .pdf version. Summarize what you learn in your coding journal as you work through the lessons; you will need to report that information in a progress check on Schoology when you finish! |
Wednesday, September 4
Today you finished leaving your game developer feedback in response to peer reviews on Schoology; finish for homework if not done in class (due by midnight). The rest of the period was yours to being trying the commands on the Top 50 Raspberry Pi commands List cheat sheet. You can write the commands you want to remember in your coding journal, or web-print a list of commands to our classroom printer (M16) and glue them in your journal instead. |
Tuesday, September 3
Today you finished your peer reviews of the Scratch games your classmates developed and posted your feedback on Schoology. To leave feedback as the game developer, you must open the discussion board for the game you designed and post a comment to each review that explains [1] What piece of feedback in the post was most helpful and why? [2] What piece of feedback surprised you the most and why? and [3] Based on the feedback in the post, what changes will you consider making in your game? All peer reviews due by the end of class today and developer comments due by the end of class tomorrow. |
Monday, September 2
No school; Labor Day |
Friday, August 30
All Scratch game projects needed to be uploaded to Schoology today! Projects will be scored using this rubric! The peer review process has begun! In Schoology, each student must complete the peer review assignment for every game except their own. Detailed instructions for peer feedback, including how to download and run the games, are on Schoology. All reviews due by the end of class Tuesday. |
Thursday, August 29
Students who still need to finish their Scratch gaming project worked on that using the Scratch 2 IDE on the Raspberry Pi. The final draft of the project file must be uploaded to Schoology by tomorrow so we can do peer reviews and self reflections of the game projects! |
Wednesday, August 28
Students who still need to finish their Scratch gaming project worked on that using the Scratch 2 IDE on the Raspberry Pi. The final draft of the project file must be uploaded to Schoology by Friday! Those who already finished their game started working through Unit 5 in the Beginners Guide to learn the basics of text-based coding with Python on the Raspberry Pi using the Thonny IDE. |
Tuesday, August 27
Today you used the Scratch 2 IDE on the Raspberry Pi to start coding your final Scratch game project (due Friday). |
Monday, August 26
Today we got the Pi's connected to the monitors and installed the Noobs operating system! Complete the 1.1 Pi-4 Components assignment on Schoology by labeling the photo of the Pi-4 with the name and function of each component; finish for homework if not done in class (due by Friday). |
Friday, August 23
Today Dr. Richard Kordel from Harrisburg University spoke with us about the history and development of Raspberry Pi and the grant program he developed allowing us to partner with HU for this course. Then you took turns demonstrating your Scratch game projects for Dr. Kordel. Don't forget to complete the Scratch Progress Check on Schoology and upload your game or program-lesson file to the Scratch Program Check assignment on Schoology by tonight at midnight!
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Thursday, August 22
Today you started your coding journals by gluing a labeled diagram of the Raspberry Pi-4 and a GPIO port reference into a composition book which you can use to record programming/project notes while working as well as attach any resources I provide. You can use your coding journal as a reference throughout the year, so don't lose it!
The rest of the period was yours to continue working on your Scratch programming. Remember to save your program files to submit on Friday for a programs check! By this point, everyone has finished the lessons in the Beginners Guide and is now designing a game from the MagPi Essentials: Learn to Code with Scratch book or is designing their own game. Complete the Scratch Progress Check on Schoology by tomorrow at midnight. The scoring rubric for progress checks is a 4 point scale for each of the five questions for a total of 20 points:
| Each Question Prompt
Answer is complete, on topic, specific, detailed, uses content vocabulary in context, and demonstrates learning and growth as compared to prior checks.
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Wednesday, August 21
Today our Raspberry Pi cases and memory cards arrived, so you installed your Pi in its case and connected the fan wires to the GPIO pins. Then you inserted your microSD card into the port on your school laptop and downloaded the Noobs operating system from https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/ as a zip file, then extracted the files onto your microSD card. If the bell rang before your zip download completed, finish the download at home so that Noobs is ready to go once the monitor cables arrive.
The rest of the period was yours to continue working on your Scratch programming. Remember to save your program files to submit on Friday for a programs check! New users can work on the basic programs in Unit 4 of the Beginners Guide and experienced users should pick a game from the MagPi Essentials: Learn to Code with Scratch book and design their own game this week. |
Tuesday, August 20
Since we are still waiting for all of the equipment we need to arrive, we jumped ahead to Unit 4 in the Beginners Guide today and started programming with Scratch 2 using this online IDE. New users started with the "Hello World" program and continued working through the unit at their own pace making sure to save their program files at the end of each section to submit at the end of the week. Experienced users looked through game design examples in the MagPi Essentials: Learn to Code with Scratch book and will design their own game this week and submit the file at the end of the week. |
Monday, August 19
Welcome to H.U. Raspberry Pi! Today we unpacked your Raspberry Pi and looked at the different components that make up the single board computer. We compared the design of the new Pi-4 to its predecessor, the Pi-3, and discussed the project-based structure of the course and the types of projects and programming languages we will be working on this year. You read through the Quick Starter Guide for the Pi-4. Then you completed a student information form which you can finish tomorrow if you needed more time. |