Teacher: Kottie Christie-Blick
Meet the teacherLinks
Kottie Christie-Blick
Kottie is a Climate Change Education Consultant, and an Instructor for the University of San Diego, California, USA. Having taught in the classroom for over thirty years, she understands the importance of strong professional development for teachers that allows them to teach with confidence and purpose. She has worked with school districts, private schools, universities, television producers, and environmental groups. She has published articles in numerous educational magazines and websites, and has spoken at many educational conferences. She’s received multiple awards and grants for her teaching. She is working to get climate science taught in every classroom.
Usefull links related to the Solution
kidsagainstclimatechange.co
kottiecb.com
oceanservice.noaa.gov
Overview
Kottie and her class of 11-year-old students developed a climate change website that provides learners with a sense of agency, encouraging them to discuss climate change concerns. The site inspires climate action, helps reduce climate anxiety, and provides accurate educational climate resources for classroom use.
Theory of Change
Kottie was motivated by the students who wanted to tell others about climate change after studying it in class. She understood that learners who discuss climate change issues sometimes develop climate anxiety, so the idea of reaching out to others was a positive step. Children are particularly susceptible to ecoanxiety due to their feelings of powerlessness and their concerns over not being heard. Kottie also knew that there is confusing information on climate change on the internet and limited online safe space for children to discuss worldwide climate change issues. To address these concerns, Kottie and her students created a website, so children could communicate with each other about climate change, and inspire each other to take climate action, knowing they are part of a larger like-minded group. At the request of other educators, Kottie also added a page of online resources that are appropriate for classroom use.
Approach and Actions
Kottie also helped her learners engage in age-appropriate climate actions themselves, which they then highlighted on the website to inspire others. Combining a variety of science teaching methods with project-based learning, made the learners more knowledgeable, resilient, confident and resourceful in addressing climate change as a scientific phenomenon with societal implications. It increased their sense of power and positive attitude toward climate mitigation.
Impact
Kottie, along with her class of 11-year olds, developed a simple website using WordPress. The students provided all creative material for the site. The site was added to each year by subsequent classes. Soon, learners from near and far were logging on. The website was eventually upgraded by a volunteer to provide additional site features. Seeing its success, NOAA Planet Stewards (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce) began providing funding for the website subscription. The site now contains original art, music, drama, and video projects created by children. Kottie moderates the discussion boards at the bottom of each page to ensure all content is suitable. All of the climate resources on the website have been approved by Kottie as reliable sources of information and appropriate for classroom use.