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If you want plants to grow add rain, sunshine and warmth. The same works with children. A warm, caring environment where students and teachers have positive relationships, where they feel safe and have supports to help them succeed improves test scores. This is no surprise to good teachers. Those who put inordinate stress on teachers in ways that causes stress and harshness are likely hurting test scores and having the opposite effect, if one is to interpret this. Take a read and take action - on my blog I and many commenters have been discussing getting along with colleagues and having warm relationships with students. It isn't fluff but rather, is the stuff that test scores are made of. "It's the million-dollar question or, given the size of the California education budget, the $50-billion-dollar question: What makes extraordinarily successful schools different from other schools? The answer: school climate, according to a new study from WestEd, a San Francisco-based research agency. In recent years, the concept of school climate has gained increasing currency in education reform circles and the California Department of Education has received federal grants to evaluate school climate in 170 schools, as well as Safe and Supportive Schools grants to fund programs that enhance school climate. As defined by the WestEd study, a positive school climate includes caring relationships between teachers and students, physical and emotional safety, and academic and emotional supports that help students succeed. The goal of a positive school climate is "a sense of belonging, competence and autonomy" for both students and staff, the report said."

"A new study from North Carolina State University finds that educating children about climate change increases their parents' concerns about climate change. "There's a robust body of work showing that kids can influence their parents' behavior and positions on environmental and social issues, but this is the first experimental study demonstrating that climate education for children promotes parental concern about climate change," says Danielle Lawson, lead author of a paper on the work and a Ph.D. student at NC State."

Positive school climates contribute to academic achievement and can improve outcomes for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, according to a new study published today in Review of Educational Research, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association. In a comprehensive analysis of research published since 2000, U.S. and Israeli researchers found substantial evidence that schools with positive climates can narrow achievement gaps among students of different socioeconomic backgrounds and between students with stronger and weaker academic abilities...

Despite the political rhetoric, the scientific warnings, the media headlines and the corporate promises, he would say, carbon emissions were soaring way out of control - far above even the bleak scenarios considered by last year's report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Stern review. The battle against dangerous climate change had been lost, and the world needed to prepare for things to get very, very bad.

This is a great set of video and other resources from London's science museum about climate change and its mitigation. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/PSHE%2C+RE%2C+Citizenship%2C+Geography+%26+Environmental

A climate game where players must make key decisions for the world's environment. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/PSHE%2C+RE%2C+Citizenship%2C+Geography+%26+Environmental

Kirpotin describes an "ecological landslide that is probably irreversible and is undoubtedly connected to climatic warming". He says that the entire western Siberian sub-Arctic region has begun to melt, and this "has all happened in the last three or four years".

A complete listing of ways to counter climate skeptics for a wide variety of arguments. Very detailed. Organized by topic.

A point by point list of topics climate skeptics often bring up w/ information to counter their arguments. Very thorough.

What are the questions that will engage our students meaningfully well into their future...

background to questions from Gallop World Poll

To try to be fair, many journalists may print what someone says, print what the other side says and call it a day. The trouble is, there isn't always equal merit on both sides. Think climate change.

To try to be fair, many journalists may print what someone says, print what the other side says and call it a day. The trouble is, there isn't always equal merit on both sides. Think climate change.

"School officials focused exclusively on bullying prevention efforts might want to consider the findings of a new study showing the highly damaging effects of multiple forms of victimisation on school climate. The study, published in the Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, measured the impact of polyvictimisation - exposure to multiple forms of victimisation - on school climate at the middle and high school levels. Results show that bullying, cyberbullying and harassment were significantly associated with decreases in perceptions of school safety, connection, and equity."

Over time, students' personal values become more similar to those of their school principal, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Associational for Psychological Science. The findings indicate that head-teachers' values are linked with aspects of school climate which are, in turn, linked with students' own values.

Survey tool and formula to analyze school climate amongst faculty

# Ning, a social networking system which lets you create a community * An example: The Falmouth Kids Global Climate Change Institute is a unique opportunity for teachers and students to communicate and collaborate with a global audience as they study the causes and effects of global climate change. This project was designed to inspire teachers to empower students to use Web 2.0 tools in contextual learning environments

This is a set of environmental games where players take the role of a CEO of a company and try to please everyone and make the best decisions. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/PSHE%2C+RE%2C+Citizenship%2C+Geography+%26+Environmental

The Journey of Mankind is a virtual global journey of modern man over the last 160,000 years. The map shows the interaction of migration and climate over 160'000 years. Based on synthesis of mtDNA and Y chromosome evidence w archeology, climatology and fossil study.

A great science resource showing and explaining how weathering can change the landscape. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Science

Get students to start with their 40 day challenge starting on International Day of Climate Action to minimize their ecological footprint.

Great resources and links on student engagement and motivation.