Josh Kings Formative Project / Blog Post

I was introduced to the Lab & help desk by my counselor when I had to move around my schedule and I’m enjoying it thus far. I have not taken a class like the Lab & help desk before, so most of the things that I’m being introduced with, are new to me. The Lab & help desk allows you to be imaginative with your project and be allowed to work with something that you enjoy doing or have an interest in. In my Sophomore year at the high school, I had to take a lot of classes that were *required* to take instead of being able to choose and pick what I would have an interest in. I think that the Lab & help desk is a great class for anyone who has an interest in computers, web design or even playing video games because it allows you to think of your own project and bring your own ideas and thoughts into the project that you’ll be working on during the duration of the semester.

My project that I’m currently working is game design. I’m working with the Construct 2 program to make my own 2D game. I download the Construct 2 program and began to toy around with the program and began to like it a lot. Construct 2 began to come easier to me once I got the hang of it and it became very fun to work with. I wish to make a game that has easy functions and a simple design but is really rich with it’s gameplay and design. Looking forward to the future, I’m excited to begin my actual project and moving forward with it and exploring more of what I can do with the Construct 2 program.

Ben's Formative Project / Blog Post

The AHS Help Desk has been a great opportunity for me to explore interests which otherwise wouldn’t be offered in regular classes. The range of possibilities when exploring technology is widely diverse, and with this the Help Desk, I am given the opportunity to learn from fields of technology which I am curious about. Students in the AHS Help Desk are very collaborative. We help each other when we can, and we are constantly giving each other helpful criticism, or ideas to develop their projects. Everyone in the Help Desk finds great pleasure in seeing other students have success. At the same time, we are always available to help any students who might need any help involving technical issues (even though it doesn’t occur often). AHS Help Desk has given us the options to engage in new, modern materials, while involving ourselves with the students in our school community.

Personally, I have spend the first couple of weeks purely on researching everything I could to expand my knowledge of programming; more specifically, on html codes, and web design. I am fortunate enough, that Mr. Downs has a background in this area, so he has been very helpful in my process so far. I have focused mainly on the code which formats the components on my webpage. The purpose of my webpage is most likely going to be for retro-styled gaming. If I am lucky enough to finish all components early enough, I would love to add a game which I created myself. I do not find that a likely situation, but if the chance presents itself, I will most certainly take advantage of it. There is a slight that I will create a website for another student in the Help Desk. He is created a new product, which he plans to sell publicly. Depending on the progression of each of our projects, I may work with him, and create a website to publicize his business and products. I still have a lot of time remaining, and where formatting is going to be a major piece of my dedicated time toward the project, I still have time to decide the topic of my webpage.