Waste of time?

I hate wasting my time. I don't have a lot of it, so when I do waste it, I'm not too happy. Today I unfortunately wasted my time and almost wasted the time of my students in CS40S.

We're studying two-dimensional arrays in computer science right now and what better way to study them but to make game. Gameboards are super easy to manipulate thanks to these structures. I have already made them create a tic-tac-toe game and then I wanted to get them to make Battleship. Making Battleship myself, I realized that it was a pretty tough game. Alright, how about Checkers. It was an easier concept. Still, though, it was getting "tough". By "tough", I mean challenging and fun for me but I could see it being very long and drawn out with them.  If I had time, though, I think it would have been an excellent chance to look at the benefits of Object Orientation afterwards, and seeing how data could be encapsulated. Looking at my time table, though, I realize that it's really not worth our time. If we're supposed to do all of this stuff and try and learn iPhone/iPad apps, then really, all of these fun, cool projects are just not doable.

I hate the semester system. Hate hate hate. I never have enough time for anything, it seems. In every single class, there is no time.  For example, in math, I find that I never have enough time for the students to just DO math. Take time to practice, practice, and practice.  Same thing with computer science. The project that I had planned for them isn't technically a waste of time - it would be an excellent example. But instead, I have to nix it.

Please, someone realize that the semester system is not helping anyone.