The Arts for Academic Achievement Program (AAA) has been bringing artists into Minneapolis Schools since 1997. While its outward focus is on teaching students to paint, dance, and express themselves artistically, its real mission is to make students love learning and use the arts to apply themselves to their academic subjects. Supported initially by an Annenberg Foundation educational reform grant and in partnership with the Perpich Center for Arts Education, AAA has expanded throughout Minnesota. Currently the Minneapolis School District has pledged to continue the program after the end of the initial grant, bringing the program to 120 classrooms in 40 schools in the Minneapolis School District.

How It Helps Students Learn

Students in the AAA Program develop a positive attitude toward school and learn the value of determination in finishing a project that has meaning for them. National research indicates that instruction through the arts is very effective in raising the achievement scores of at risk groups. The AAA Program has documented the substantial increase in student assessment scores when arts are integrated into the Minneapolis Public Schools. The ties between third grade reading scores and the level of arts instruction show a clear link between the two. The more arts education provided, the higher the scores, especially within groups that have shown greater barriers in learning.

AAA makes students work hard and feel pride in demonstrating their skills to the community. Students perform or present their projects to real audiences and strive to make those audiences proud of them. As a result, students put real effort into what they do and develop a strong positive attitude toward learning. At the high school level, attendance has jumped for students involved in the AAA program, as students desire to come to school and learn more.

How It Helps Teachers Teach

AAA brings teachers into the planning and implementation process. This builds a community of learning that cares most about helping students achieve through an atmosphere of cooperation and understanding. Minneapolis School District teacher teams develop curriculum and work together with local artists to present and enhance new learning experiences. This leads to changes in the way that individual teachers as well as whole schools view education.

AAA research shows that teachers involved in the AAA program change the way they teach. Minneapolis School District teachers see how students can learn, redirecting their efforts toward students that had otherwise been regarded as weaker. AAA gave teachers to understanding and experience to help develop more children in areas such as intelligence, leadership, and motivation. In addition, instruction by Minneapolis School District teachers participating in the AAA program created more child centered classrooms in which children can develop and explore at their own pace. Minneapolis School District teachers learned that the creation of independent student learning activities allowed students to develop their own skills in a different way from teacher led classroom instruction. Minneapolis School District teachers participating in AAA learned how to encourage students to take risks in order to increase their understanding.

Arts for Academic Achievement Help Students in Minneapolis Schools is a post from: Cross Campus Ministry Education Site

As seen in all Christian homeschools, parents teach the word of the Lord, to prepare their children for appropriate Christian wisdom, direction and values essential in their everyday life as well as when they reach adulthood. This aspect of teaching is not found in curriculums of the public schools.

Christian homeschools are distinct for each family. Some accurately design their home to look like a school, complete with textbooks, desks, flag salute, and yes, recess.

Others make homeschooling a way of life, choosing not so much in utilizing workbooks, required texts and schedules. Here, both children and parents learn through life experiences; teaching, learning and studying is part of their everyday routine instead of a closely controlled classroom setting.

Whatever is each familys homeschool setup, their objective is all alike, that of giving their children important information while at the same time imparting in them how to become critical thinkers and independent individuals that are aware and conscious of the choices they make.

Families that homeschool adjust its setting to fit both their philosophies and lifestyle; there is no wrong or right way to shape and construct an environment for their home Christian school.

Christian families make the most of all the limitless resources accessible, using the Bible, literature, home economics, nature and every living thing as their principal basis of education, constantly integrating teachings from the Bible in each subject matter.

Christian homeschools allow the parents to impart Gods Word to their child. It is an environment of spiritual and moral reinforcement through which kids are being trained seriously in the Word of God, mainly to act and think as Christians.

Typically, the curriculum in a Christian homeschool spends a meaningful and substantial time in the study of the Bible, wherein the focus is Gods scripture.

Christians choose to home educate their children primarily because of their faith that God’s plan is revealed through parents raising and educating their own children. In fact, Christians firmly acknowledge that it is the way of the Bible; there is no other educational system than this.

Christians actually accept that God did not even suggeste schools to be attended by His people; that schools were a product of man. The Bible pages support by instruction, example and principle, a course that resembles closely home education.

Christian Home Schooling Information is a post from: Cross Campus Ministry Education Site

So who are making these claims? Well there are many scientists that have been looking at the earths climates and weather systems for a long time and trying to make sense of them. The earliest reason for doing this was not to measure the affect of the greenhouse gases that are magnifying the suns intensity and causing the heat to stay within it. They originally wanted to learn about the earth so that they could by recognizing signs be could warn of natural disasters like earth quakes and hurricanes and tsunamis. Since they have kept data to look for these signs they have noticed disturbing trends in things like the average temperature and the increasing sea level and other things like the sized of the ice cap over Antarctica and they seem to only be going in one direction which spells trouble.

Then they start looking for why this is happening, and the buzzword is generally global warming. They cite the increase in certain gases like CO2 which are purportedly on the rise do to the millions of different engines that burn fossil fuels across the world. Supposedly this changes the qualities of the atmosphere that hold in the energy from the sun much like a green house does. What people dont realize is that these are all theories to explain trends in the environment that no one has any clue about. We know that Antarctica melts in places and at certain times and since we have been measuring these things it appears that the land mass has gotten smallerbut this is very flawed thinking.

You see we have only been able to make specialized measurements like this for several decades which may seem like a long enough time to make good guesses about the earth which is thousands of years old (some even say billions). You just cant make definitive statements about trends that may just be natural cycles that are 500 years in length. Even 100 year or 50 year cycles would not have been fully measured yet. So we must cool our jets and take ourselves so seriously. We know a lot less about the melting Antarctica and many other things that seem to be slowly headed toward disaster than we think.

Antarctica, Is It Really In Danger? is a post from: Cross Campus Ministry Education Site

The university is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), which count prestigious Jesuit schools such as Georgetown, Boston College, Fordham University, and the University of San Francisco, as members.

Online Regis University is the largest multimedia-based MBA program in the country today. All of this is due to the universitys ability to utilize the most modern technologies and software, to bring its excellent teaching methods, materials, and faculty expertise to the net.

The online Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program seeks to educate students about the domestic and international business environments, identify the elements that influence the dynamics, as it provides students the strategies, skills, and tools; they will need to make intelligent decisions.

The Regis MBA curriculum, with its 11 courses is certainly reflective of the program objectives. Each of these courses is structured to complement the knowledge gained from the preceding courses.

The Regis University online MBA degree curriculum, accomplishes this aim, with the use of four course levels.

The first course is appropriately called the FOUNDATION COURSE, and is a required course for all MBA students.

Essentials of Business Development I & II

At the end of these two foundation courses, the student will have an enhanced grasp of basic business concepts & principles, statistical modeling macro and microeconomics, business financials, cash flow and management, through lectures and case studies.

The second level is composed of CORE COURSES. These are required courses for all MBA students and the course emphasizes the use of critical business skills.

The Economics of Management

At the end of this course, the student will have the improved ability to utilize methods, concepts and models both quantitatively and qualitatively, from a managerial perspective.

Ethical and Legal Environment of Business

This course focuses on the ethical strategies the MBA student can utilize when confronted by issues for the publics good. Such issues as labor laws, product liability, public issues management and administrative procedures, are covered.

The EMPHASIS COURSE is the third level course. There are seven courses for each MBA program and they are more generally known as degree -specific courses.

These course titles are revealing of subjects focus.

Issues in International Business

Financial Decision Making

Marketing Management

Electronic Business Systems

Managing Change

Managerial Leadership

Innovations in Operations

Strategies in a Global Environment

This is the last level, called the CAPSTONE COURSE, and is required of all MBA students. By the end of this course the MBA student will have superior management skills to identify and critically examine how international economic, political, business and financial factors, affect the long-range plans of the company.

In short, a Regis University online MBA degree, will improve the graduates ability to become an outstanding leader, enjoy career advancement, income and personal satisfaction.

A review of the Regis University Online MBA Degree is a post from: Cross Campus Ministry Education Site

Either way, try these amazing tips. Soon youll stop snoring and everyone can sleep peacefully all through the night.

Pick a Pillow or Two

The more air that gets through, the less likely the person is to snore. Some try it by lying on their side and putting some pillows under the head. This will not only make sleeping more comfortable, but also make it snore-free. Simply experiment with a number of pillows and adjust until the snore lessens or even stops.

There are also special pillows you can purchase. They create a contour under the neck of the person who snores. This contour works by opening up the throat. In general, they are designed to aid the snoring problem regardless of which position the snorer sleeps in. Yet, these pillows These can be quite costly so youd better do a full research before deciding to buy one.

Get Some Nose Strips

Not only these strips are effective for many people, they are also inexpensive. No need to apply the strips during the day. You simply wear them when you go to sleep.
When applied, the strips help opening the nostrils. The idea is that when the nose is held open the person it is applied to will not snore because they are able to breathe without obstruction.

Sing Your Favorite Songs

Yes, apparently singing can help you stop snoring.
When you sing you are exercising the muscles of your throats. You use those muscles each day while talking but they get a more extensive work out when you sing. These are the same muscles used when a person snores.
If those muscles weaken a bit you might be more prone to snoring.

Isnt it nice to stop snoring with something you might enjoy?

Acupressure

Acupressure is known as an alternative way to healing. And, it also can help you who have snoring problem.

The key is in the pressure on your little finger. By applying pressure to your little finger, the mechanisms that cause snoring arent triggered.

Or, you can visit some experts of the art of acupressure. They might likely apply pressure to certain parts of your body to help you stop snoring.

Another choice is to wear a device that produces pressure on your little finger throughout the night.

No Sleeping Pills

No matter how bad your snoring problem is, make sure you dont use any pills at all. The aim of the pills is not to help you stop snoring. They only help you to get relaxed.

The best way is to find the cause of your snoring problem and try one of the above tips.

5 Amazing Tips To Help You Stop Snoring is a post from: Cross Campus Ministry Education Site

The uses of solar energy on earth include solar heating for buildings, solar heat for manufacturing or industry and electricity production. So what is solar energy? How does it affect us?

Solar energy is responsible for weather systems and ocean currents. It provides light, heat, and energy to all living things on Earth. It has many uses. It supplies electricity; it can be used to power cars.

Solar energy is also used as a power for satellites in space and in space shuttles. It could also power boats, generators during emergencies, toys, and even security systems.

The amount of solar energy that the earth receives is about 770 trillion kilowatts (kW), an amount 5,000 times bigger than the sum of all other energy, may it be terrestrial nuclear energy, geothermal energy or gravitational energy.

There are two types of solar energy. These are:

1. Thermal Energy
2. Electric Energy

What is the difference between the two types energy?

Thermal energy is kinetic energy. It is everywhere. It makes the earth hot and even heats up our homes. It helps us to dry our clothes. It is used as well to heat up water for household use or even pools. That is why thermal energy is called the heat energy because it is stored in the center of the earth as well.

Electric energy is widely known to us as the electricity. It is an essential part of nature and it is one of our most widely used forms of energy. This uses sunlight to power ordinary electrical equipment, such as household appliances, computers, and lighting.

Most applications of solar energy depend on systems including collectors, storage and controls. Storage is needed for a reason that solar energy is only available at daylight hours, but the demand for energy is needed both day and night. Controls are used to guarantee that the storage system works safely and efficiently.

The accessibility of solar energy is determined by three factors:

The location is usually measured by latitude, longitude and altitude.
The time.
The weather.

Aside from knowing that solar energy is a free energy still, you have to realize that it also has advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages are:

Solar energy is almost limitless; it will be available for as long as there are still humans in the earth.
It is abundant. You will not worry of running out of it.
It could provide more power than all known fossil fuel reserves.
Solar energy is available during the day when electricity usage is really important.
It is the most inexhaustible, renewable source of energy known to man.
Solar energy can be absorbed, reflected, transmitted, and insulated.
It can be collected and stored in batteries.

The disadvantages are:

It is not suitable in cloudy areas.
It is not available at night time.
And it may require large land areas.

As a reminder, solar energy levels are lesser the farther north the site. Considering geography, season is an important determinant of solar energy levels because the Suns position and the weather vary greatly from summer to winter.

An Untapped Source Of Eternal Energy: What Is Solar Energy? is a post from: Cross Campus Ministry Education Site

(Sigmund Freud, letter to Fleiss, 1900)

“If you bring forth that which is in you, that which you bring forth will be your salvation”.

(The Gospel of Thomas)

“No, our science is no illusion. But an illusion it would be to suppose that what science cannot give us we cannot get elsewhere.”

(Sigmund Freud, “The Future of an Illusion”)

Harold Bloom called Freud “The central imagination of our age”. That psychoanalysis is not a scientific theory in the strict, rigorous sense of the word has long been established. Yet, most criticisms of Freud’s work (by the likes of Karl Popper, Adolf Grunbaum, Havelock Ellis, Malcolm Macmillan, and Frederick Crews) pertain to his – long-debunked – scientific pretensions.

Today it is widely accepted that psychoanalysis – though some of its tenets are testable and, indeed, have been experimentally tested and invariably found to be false or uncorroborated – is a system of ideas. It is a cultural construct, and a (suggested) deconstruction of the human mind. Despite aspirations to the contrary, psychoanalysis is not – and never has been – a value-neutral physics or dynamics of the psyche.

Freud also stands accused of generalizing his own perversions and of reinterpreting his patients’ accounts of their memories to fit his preconceived notions of the unconscious . The practice of psychoanalysis as a therapy has been castigated as a crude form of brainwashing within cult-like settings.

Feminists criticize Freud for casting women in the role of “defective” (naturally castrated and inferior) men. Scholars of culture expose the Victorian and middle-class roots of his theories about suppressed sexuality. Historians deride and decry his stifling authoritarianism and frequent and expedient conceptual reversals.

Freud himself would have attributed many of these diatribes to the defense mechanisms of his critics. Projection, resistance, and displacement do seem to be playing a prominent role. Psychologists are taunted by the lack of rigor of their profession, by its literary and artistic qualities, by the dearth of empirical support for its assertions and fundaments, by the ambiguity of its terminology and ontology, by the derision of “proper” scientists in the “hard” disciplines, and by the limitations imposed by their experimental subjects (humans). These are precisely the shortcomings that they attribute to psychoanalysis.

Indeed, psychological narratives – psychoanalysis first and foremost – are not “scientific theories” by any stretch of this much-bandied label. They are also unlikely to ever become ones. Instead – like myths, religions, and ideologies – they are organizing principles.

Psychological “theories” do not explain the world. At best, they describe reality and give it “true”, emotionally-resonant, heuristic and hermeneutic meaning. They are less concerned with predictive feats than with “healing” – the restoration of harmony among people and inside them.

Therapies – the practical applications of psychological “theories” – are more concerned with function, order, form, and ritual than with essence and replicable performance. The interaction between patient and therapist is a microcosm of society, an encapsulation and reification of all other forms of social intercourse. Granted, it is more structured and relies on a body of knowledge gleaned from millions of similar encounters. Still, the therapeutic process is nothing more than an insightful and informed dialog whose usefulness is well-attested to.

Both psychological and scientific theories are creatures of their times, children of the civilizations and societies in which they were conceived, context-dependent and culture-bound. As such, their validity and longevity are always suspect. Both hard-edged scientists and thinkers in the “softer” disciplines are influenced by contemporary values, mores, events, and interpellations.

The difference between “proper” theories of dynamics and psychodynamic theories is that the former asymptotically aspire to an objective “truth” “out there” – while the latter emerge and emanate from a kernel of inner, introspective, truth that is immediately familiar and is the bedrock of their speculations. Scientific theories – as opposed to psychological “theories” – need, therefore, to be tested, falsified, and modified because their truth is not self-contained.

Still, psychoanalysis was, when elaborated, a Kuhnian paradigm shift. It broke with the past completely and dramatically. It generated an inordinate amount of new, unsolved, problems. It suggested new methodological procedures for gathering empirical evidence (research strategies). It was based on observations (however scant and biased). In other words, it was experimental in nature, not merely theoretical. It provided a framework of reference, a conceptual sphere within which new ideas developed.

That it failed to generate a wealth of testable hypotheses and to account for discoveries in neurology does not detract from its importance. Both relativity theories were and, today, string theories are, in exactly the same position in relation to their subject matter, physics.

In 1963, Karl Jaspers made an important distinction between the scientific activities of Erklaren and Verstehen. Erklaren is about finding pairs of causes and effects. Verstehen is about grasping connections between events, sometimes intuitively and non-causally. Psychoanalysis is about Verstehen, not about Erklaren. It is a hypothetico-deductive method for gleaning events in a person’s life and generating insights regarding their connection to his current state of mind and functioning.

So, is psychoanalysis a science, pseudo-science, or sui generis?

Psychoanalysis is a field of study, not a theory. It is replete with neologisms and formalism but, like Quantum Mechanics, it has many incompatible interpretations. It is, therefore, equivocal and self-contained (recursive). Psychoanalysis dictates which of its hypotheses are testable and what constitutes its own falsification. In other words, it is a meta-theory: a theory about generating theories in psychology.

Moreover, psychoanalysis the theory is often confused with psychoanalysis the therapy. Conclusively proving that the therapy works does not establish the veridicality, the historicity, or even the usefulness of the conceptual edifice of the theory. Furthermore, therapeutic techniques evolve far more quickly and substantially than the theories that ostensibly yield them. They are self-modifying “moving targets” – not rigid and replicable procedures and rituals.

Another obstacle in trying to establish the scientific value of psychoanalysis is its ambiguity. It is unclear, for instance, what in psychoanalysis qualify as causes – and what as their effects.

Consider the critical construct of the unconscious. Is it the reason for – does it cause – our behavior, conscious thoughts, and emotions? Does it provide them with a “ratio” (explanation)? Or are they mere symptoms of inexorable underlying processes? Even these basic questions receive no “dynamic” or “physical” treatment in classic (Freudian) psychoanalytic theory. So much for its pretensions to be a scientific endeavor.

Psychoanalysis is circumstantial and supported by epistemic accounts, starting with the master himself. It appeals to one’s common sense and previous experience. Its statements are of these forms: “given X, Y, and Z reported by the patient – doesn’t it stand to (everyday) reason that A caused X?” or “We know that B causes M, that M is very similar to X, and that B is very similar to A. Isn’t it reasonable to assume that A causes X?”.

In therapy, the patient later confirms these insights by feeling that they are “right” and “correct”, that they are epiphanous and revelatory, that they possess retrodictive and predictive powers, and by reporting his reactions to the therapist-interpreter. This acclamation seals the narrative’s probative value as a basic (not to say primitive) form of explanation which provides a time frame, a coincident pattern, and sets of teleological aims, ideas and values.

Juan Rivera is right that Freud’s claims about infantile life cannot be proven, not even with a Gedankenexperimental movie camera, as Robert Vaelder suggested. It is equally true that the theory’s etiological claims are epidemiologically untestable, as Grunbaum repeatedly says. But these failures miss the point and aim of psychoanalysis: to provide an organizing and comprehensive, non-tendentious, and persuasive narrative of human psychological development.

Should such a narrative be testable and falsifiable or else discarded (as the Logical Positivists insist)?

Depends if we wish to treat it as science or as an art form. This is the circularity of the arguments against psychoanalysis. If Freud’s work is considered to be the modern equivalent of myth, religion, or literature – it need not be tested to be considered “true” in the deepest sense of the word. After all, how much of the science of the 19th century has survived to this day anyhow?

Critique and Defense of Psychoanalysis is a post from: Cross Campus Ministry Education Site

Common sense suggests, that for an explanation of the observable diversification in life, it is necessary to admit that each separate subject, each organism, each social unit, and even each computer program should contain a special internal causative engine, a local determinism, which maintains an autonomous internal life in it.

The conventional concept of determinism does not suppose the existence of such sources. This represents a scandalous weakness in the concept. Not finding the required causative source within the framework of philosophy, people are compelled to address the always-available, exotic, exciting fantasies of the irrational sources that are available in religion and mysticism.

Today the situation can be considerably rectified. The recently published concept of Ring Determinism identifies the required internal causative source by way of a closed plot of the customary causal chain. This is a self-contained circuit which, it turns out, is contained in the entrails of each separate natural formation. This circuit is just that ontological base in which each separate natural formation finds and displays its exclusive individuality and asserts itself in the capacity of causa sui the cause of itself.

Internal local causative action, continuously circulating inside a separate body, is transmitted from element to element. It ensures its systemic, synergetic wholeness in the operation of its elements and subsystems in the phenomena of emergence, special internal policy, resistance to external actions, aggression directed externally, egotism, egocentricity, self-preservation, self-organization and finally, self-development.

One of the conclusions of ring determinism is, that under the supervisory control of the internal cause continuously circulating in a body, and under the continuous effects of external factors, there is the miracle of self-development. This results in an observable diversification of surprising properties of subjects, organisms, social units, human products and other things.

The local causative circuit can randomly or by design, become closed. Then finding an ability towards long-lived quasi-stable self-maintenance, self-resumption, or, in the case of dynamically developing systems, the determining vortex, it becomes the high-power engine which creates, saves and induces a flock of living and nonliving natural formations in development.

Educated people can now sigh with relief since a rather weighty rational argument against the idea of creationism has appeared and the necessity to appeal to irrational theories has vanished.

The Idea of God is not Henceforth Relevant is a post from: Cross Campus Ministry Education Site

You will go to trial, and need to get a good, reliable lawyer to represent you. There are many DUI lawyers who are not trustworthy. Some of them boast of a lot of experience but they have little to show for it. Improper representation can have the court coming down very hard on you, so you have to be careful when you pick your lawyer.

The first thing you must find out about your attorney is if he or she specializes in DUI. Lawyers tend to specialize in trying certain types of cases. If your lawyer takes on a wide variety of cases, both civil and criminal, then you are probably talking to a lawyer who does not specialize in DUI cases. If your lawyer represents only DUI offenders, he or she is likely to know the law very well. Go for someone who is a DUI only attorney. A good DUI attorney will also have access to technical experts, and have full knowledge of police procedures.

A good DUI lawyer will also settle the fees and expenditures in advance. When getting a contract down on paper, make sure you check if the fee covers charges for DMV hearings. Also, find out if the attorney is a member of the National College of DUI Defense. You can also get a rating on your prospective lawyer through the Martindale-Hubbell International Directory of Attorneys.

Conclusively, a good DUI lawyer is necessary if you are charged with a DUI offense. A specialist lawyer is important to your successful defense.

An Introduction To California DUI Attorneys is a post from: Cross Campus Ministry Education Site

Before the 17th century the Dutch language was not yet standardized. There were many dialects in existence that it was beginning to pose a problem.

After the 17th century, after the standardization of the Dutch language has taken place, it became so much easier to identify the distinctions between the standard Dutch language and its dialects. But the developments surrounding the Dutch language has continued well into the 19th and 20th century. Because of the influences being exerted by other languages like German, French, and English, the standard Dutch language is undergoing a change.

One of the more noticeable change in the Dutch language over the past century is with regards to pronunciation. The voiceless pronunciation of certain letters or syllables are now entering the standard language and is a unique feature that was more commonly heard from a dialect found in a province in Holland. These voiceless pronunciations commonly revolve around v as f, z as s and g as x. This current trend mirrors the desire for a change in spelling Dutch as near to its phonological sound as possible. This would mean that each particular sound is represented by a single letter or that a grapheme is only made in one particular way.

There is also a shift in how three diphthongs are being pronounced. The diphthongs in reference are ei, ui, and ou. The current shift for these are now moving towards aai, ou, and aau. This change was first seen among women who are middle aged and well educated and who come from the upper middle class. These women are identified with the world of the academia, politics, arts and literature.

From these beginnings the practice eventually spread out to women from other demographics. But lately even men have started employing this language change. It is also becoming employed by children, even those under the age of ten years and from very diverse backgrounds.

Already, this change can be heard in large parts of the Netherlands, but most especially among women of Turkish or Moroccan descent.

There are also some changes being seen in the area of morphology. One very significant change is inclusion of plural endings ( -s) even for nouns. This change is mostly seen in words that end in e for example, hoogte de hoogtes, which was usually hoogten.

Even the suffix baar is becoming more and more prevalently used in modern Dutch usage more often in the use of neologisms. In turn, the suffix -(e)lijk is becoming less and less used and in fact is being ignored in favor of the aforementioned baar.

There is even a rising use of concentrations in modern Dutch. This is most commonly seen when using multi part compound nouns.

Dutch progression: The changes in the Dutch language in the 20th century is a post from: Cross Campus Ministry Education Site