A New Narrative for Schools: the Blog

Storytelling, community engagement, global citizenship, sustainability… Welcome to my blog!

LeeAnne Lavender LeeAnne Lavender

Sustainable food: resources & an interview

When it comes to sustainability, food is a topic most people can relate to and understand. We all eat, and some of us grow gardens, cook, bake and think a lot about food. And, over the last number of decades, our food options have exploded, allowing us many more choices than our grandparents or great-grandparents imagined possible.

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LeeAnne Lavender LeeAnne Lavender

Creating a 5th grade classroom digital storytelling platform

In September, two grade 5 teachers from St. Andrew's Episcopal School in Austin, Texas, wondered if they could create a digital storytelling platform to create deep learning and engagement for students as well as awareness and action in the school community. Three months after their initial idea, they launched Impact, a purposeful and powerful digital storytelling hub for students, teachers, parents and other members of the St. Andrew's community.

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LeeAnne Lavender LeeAnne Lavender

Posters to stimulate inquiry and investigation

If you’d like some posters for your classroom featuring stages of service learning, key reflection questions and Project Zero’s 3 Y’s, please download the posters I created for a colleague this past week.

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LeeAnne Lavender LeeAnne Lavender

Achieving deeper learning with reflection

Reflection is a key, foundational component to service learning and global citizenship education. When we ask students to pause and reflect on what they're learning, we give them opportunities to synthesize and process their learning experiences, and to understand themselves and the world in deeper and more meaningful ways.

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LeeAnne Lavender LeeAnne Lavender

Digital storytelling for impact with Documentar

At the beginning of the Covid 19 experience in North America, service learning expert Cathryn Berger Kaye noticed there weren't a lot of online spaces for young people to post their thoughts, feelings and experiences. Cathy and her CBK Associates team of consultants decided to create a platform for dialogue, and Documentar was born. 

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LeeAnne Lavender LeeAnne Lavender

Changemaker Superpower Kit for Teachers

Are you interested in applying some Changemaker Superpowers in your classroom to transform your students into changemakers who participate in positive, purposeful change in the world? You can download my free PDF kit here.

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LeeAnne Lavender LeeAnne Lavender

Storytelling for a new school year: creating a plan

It's time! The school year has started and classes have begun or are about to start. There's that fabulous buzz in the air that signals to everyone that a brand new year has launched and that the year lays ahead, a blank canvas. Already, your mind might be thinking about headlines for stories you would like to see this year.

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