Spring Freeze

Anybody around? Only person I have seen put anything up on the blog in awhile is Henry. The Phoenix seems to have frozen up and nobody else has joined Henry's new forums or anything. If we want to keep these things up we've got to participate! Also, spring is finally here! The snow is melting everywhere. It's not even as cold now. Enjoy!

Wait, what?

May this post serve as an expression of the collective exasperation of all those perplexed by the lack of sense in their daily happenings- an ode to the bemused. A hail to those of us who don't do things that just "might" actually need to be done...

Remember the yearbook? No? Neither did I, until an email dropped in to remind me of the deadline for submissions and suggest that we, the yearbook students charged with collecting the content, get a move on.

All I can say is Aarrrggghhh. After the initial introduction, we've heard absolutely *nothing* about this, and yet it's suddenly obvious that it hasn't been dropped, and we're expected to get everything done in a timely fashion.

Maybe I'm just an exception, but who else tends to forget to do things when no one reminds them for several months? I had begun to have serious doubts about the yearbook plan still existing, so my frustration from this unexpected reminder is substantial. Guess I'd better go start interviews with all the social studies teachers...

...It's always like this, isn't it?

-H²

Presenting the iQSF

With great pleasure, I would like to officially announce the iQ Student Forums. The initial setup is completed and ready for your enjoyment. Stop on by, register, and don't forget to bookmark it! A quick note: If you don't register with your iqwisconsin address, please send an email to iqa.students@gmail.com from iqwi to validate your account.


Here are a couple of selling points for the doubters out there:


Personalization.

The appearance is customizable and flexible. You can upload your own avatar, create a signature and even request a custom member title. By default, you're placed in an appropriate iQ Student user group, but if you think of a group you'd like to establish, we'll make it happen.

Ease of use.

The Student forums are powered by the popular IPB forum system, making it easy for users to navigate, subscribe to topics, and participate efficiently. Even bookmark threads and send them via-the built in Personal Message system to your friends.

Security Without Hassle.

Instead of waiting for an admin to validate your registration, you can get a feel for the forums right off the bat as a member without unnecessary hurdles. All the same, no one will have access to the whole thing (including member lists and the calendar,) until they've been validated by an administrator. What does that mean? No worries for you.

A Blank Slate.

As difficult as it is to sustain a new forum, this experience is yours to define. Let your friends know, and dive in. Start something new.


Above all, what have you got to lose? (A whole lot of fun, that's what.)

-H²

iQ Student Forums Continuation

Since the Student Forums idea has a bit of support, I registered for the boards. The bare bones of what could one day be a bustling community of virtual students can be found here: http://z15.invisionfree.com/iQa_Students/index.php

Feel free to register/bookmark it- the address won't change, but as you will see there is much work to be done...

If anyone would like to help out in the development process, hop on over and have your say.

I'll have a post there with things to be done; in the meantime, check here for major(ish) updates.

-H2

Unified forums concept

Hi Folks,

Been a while, hasn't it? As much as I doubt many are still around to read this, I simply must get this idea out in the open... Read away, thou much-beloved visitor:

Throughout the history of the school, forums have played a significant role in the inter-socialization of iQ's students. Forums are fun, and a good one can consistently provide enjoyment to all involved. Nonetheless, efforts to establish a successful alternative forum have always been mediocre. The original Commons forums had huge participation, but the format was terrible (Every section took forever to load unless you hid half the topics.) The Phoenix's Roost, a forum I started somewhere during iQ's 3rd year, was fairly active for a while, but tapered off, in part due to a lack of extensive participation. Currently, the Place of the Phoenix has some active members, but is bound by low membership, the lameness of Phpbb, and lack of a proper skin.

I don't mean to rule out the current commons forums or PotP, but I think we can do better. I don't want to create yet another forum for the sake of having control over it, nor because I think the current ones are inadequate, but simply for the sake of getting it right. A last hurrah, so to speak. What I believe we could have is an interconnected system of iQ-related sites that, with a lot of luck and ultimately even more effort, could actually grow to a sustainable size.

What we have now, that we didn't have in the past two years of trying to get students together online, is more than 1 iQ Acadamy. The forum I propose would attempt to replicate this Blog's theme and integrate with it, but it would go a step further, by being a forum for all iQ Students. Not just WI, our small group of ambitious iQers, but students from around the country. I can get the Staff involved (I've talked with Lisa McClure about getting some communication going between the various iQ's, and she's definitely interested...) and with enough of you on board, we could make this happen.

If this gets off the ground, I would propose we use Invisionfree (which I find the most efficient and customizable forum system,) and name it simply the 'iQ Student Forum.' I can help with administration and the skinning of the forum, but something like this would require a number of dedicated students to succeed. Anyone have real interest in making this work? Would you even care to join if such a thing were created?

I mentioned an interconnected network- with this, it would be the blog and forums, but are there other methods of communication you think would be fun? What about iQ Radio, video, or a secure chat room?

Forever attempting the impossible,

-H²

Saving Our Unique Style of Learning

Dear Parents and Students,

As you know, last month, the courts announced a decision against Wisconsin Virtual School that may impact their ability to operate.  In order to ensure the continued operation of all Wisconsin virtual schools, our state legislature is going to be writing and enacting legislation that clearly defines virtual schooling in Wisconsin.

As I indicated earlier, iQ Academy Wisconsin and the District of Waukesha are continuing to work with our legislators and the DPI around these issues. 

What can you do to help? 

This Wednesday afternoon, January 16, there will be a large Capitol rally of virtual learning parents and students on Wednesday afternoon.  The rally is in conjunction with a hearing on a bill written by Representative Brett Davis (Wednesday, January 16, 1:00 pm). 

The rally and transportation is being organized by the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families. For information about the  rally, busses to get there, and more, see http://www.wivirtualschoolfamilies.org/news/newsletter.cfm?ID=722

There will also be a hearing for another bill written by Senator John Lehman on Thursday, January 17, at 10 am.

If you value the education your student is receiving, if you believe families deserve the choice of public virtual schooling, then find a way to attend the rally in Madison and contact your legislators to support legislation that defines and supports virtual public education.

Hope to see you in Madison! 
Kristine Diener
Principal
iQ Academies at Wisconsin
1-866-468-6472

Okay, I think this is totally important and my family and I are actually going down to Madison, even though it's 3+ hours away to give our support to iQ, WIVA, Monroe and other virtual schools around the state. Is anyone else going? If so, we should make plans to meet up and get some school spirit going. (My mom wants my little brother to wear a sign saying "I want to get my diploma at 15" and she's usually not like that.)

I actually contacted Ms. Diener and was able to get an extension (*shock*) for saying I would be going down there, and I'll get it while I'm there. If you're not going because of school, contact Ms. Diener, because you might get a couple more days... (I just have until Monday 8 a.m.)

If anything, just pray that this will work out, because I hate to see a ton of kids left without this alternative form of education.

A call to the Readership

What is the essence of iQ? How would you define the community, the system and/or the principles? How could the problems students and staff deal with be solved? (Falling behind, lack of communication/interest in events, connectivity between students, etc.) Most important, what should we as students focus on to make our unique school as good as it can be, for us and those to follow down the long and winding road of virtual education?

We at the Student Blog would like to hear from you! Post your comments (or email them if you'd rather,) and make yourself heard.

~ The Blog

A Helpful Hack

Many of us may find ourselves using the Dashboard built in to our Macs. It's really handy; with all this Widgets that can do some many different tasks. In fact, you may find yourself using them a lot sometimes, and its an annoyance to constantly press F8 or click the Dashboard icon in your Dock.

Wouldn't it be better to move the Widget to your desktop sometimes? Its very possible.

Now, don't be weary because its called a hack. In fact, its perfectly safe. Apple, which you should all know is the company behind our magnificent laptops, designed this handy trick for testing Widgets.

Simply type the following line exactly as it appears in the the Terminal, which you can find by using Spotlight, that blue magnifying glass in top right corner.

defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES

Then hit enter. Next the Dashboard needs to be reset, and the easiest way to do that is to log out and then back in again.

To get a Widget off the Dashboard and on to your desktop, open up Dashboard, click and hold on the Widget you want, and then get away from Dashboard. Since you're already using your mouse, you're going to have to use the keyboard shortcut, which as I said before, is F8 by default. When it disappears, the selected Widget stays with you, and you can put it back by clicking and holding it, opening Dashboard, and releasing it.

Hope his helps!