Heather LeBlanc - Brainy Apples

I have over 20 years of educational experience. I have taught secondary social studies and grades K-5 either as a homeroom teacher, Title I/EIP teacher, Extended Day teacher, and instructional coach. My goal is to create interactive lessons and units that bring social studies alive for my students and help them make personal connections to the content.

I love creating tasks that are standards-based and cross-curricular, but also fun and engaging for my students. Tying each task with a real world scenario ensures students see a relevance for the activity, and they feel a connection to how it can apply to their life. Making sure each task is accessible by all students is also very important. That is why I design tasks that are differentiated so every child in the classroom is successful and pushed to his/her fullest potential whether it is done through remediation or enrichment. Teaching students to become real-world problem solvers and applying skills and knowledge to a new situation can be a daunting task. Let me bring my passion, knowledge, and expertise into your classroom! Performance tasks are essential in my classroom. I have seen the most unwilling student complete a task with a smile and remark later about how much fun it was! My students always get excited when they are given a new task because they never know what role they will take on next. Integrating multiple subject areas in a task show students how our world is intertwined with content areas, and it helps them see why what they learn in school really is important. Sure it is difficult for students to complete these tasks at first. Chances are they haven't been required to think in that way, but after modeling, showing exemplars, and having them work collaboratively with others, they soon learn how to become independent real-world problem solvers. I am always amazed at the solutions my students come up with and the projects they create. When you give them the freedom to exercise their creativity in a risk-free environment, the results are beyond expectations! Close Reads are my newest love, and they are simply amazing at being able to easily integrate your content areas with reading. As a middle school social studies teacher, I am constantly integrating literacy standards with my social studies standards to strengthen my students' reading and writing.

I want my students to see the importance in being lifelong learners, so what better way to show them than by example. I have received advanced degrees in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment as well as Teacher Leadership. I also have my Gifted Endorsement, On-Line Teaching Endorsement, and certification for Administrative Leadership. I am state certified in Georgia to teach grades P-5 and middle grades social studies, ELA, and science.