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Reno NBCT wins Presidential Award

Zan Coonce is a fifth-grade teacher at Brown Elementary School and is one of 100 teachers and mentors to win the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Coonce began her career with the Washoe County School District as a substitute in 1995 and became a full-time teacher in 1999.
She is an active member of the Technology Committee, where she established a technology plan for the school and secured a $50,000 grant to purchase new computers.
Coonce has been described as a teacher who instills a love of science and discovery while remaining focused on state standards. Colleagues describe her as a skilled, innovative, passionate, and dynamic teacher. She develops relationships with students to encourage them to flourish and do their best.

Read more about Zan.

YOUR STORY HERE!  Check it out:  www.nbctlink.org/web/featured/nbct

New Mexico NBCT Network

The New Mexico National Board Certified Teacher Network began in 2001. A group of National Board Certified Teachers and other educational leaders met and envisioned a statewide network of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) working together to advance the work of National Boards in New Mexico. Through a survey it was determined that NBCTs were interested in forming a statewide network. Thirty National Board Teachers attended the first conference in January 2002. They created by-laws, action plans and named our network, The New Mexico World Class Teacher Network. The network name was honoring the state project that brought National Boards to New Mexico in the early 90’s. The network board began with five NBCTs, five officers, and one representative from business, university and PED. The main purpose of the network was to recruit candidates each year. Since 2002, a lot has changed. Our membership is now well over 600 members with 482 members being NBCTs. The network board of directors now consists of ten NBCTs representing five regions around the state, partnerships from Businesses, Universities, PED, three committee coordinators, and six officers. Our purpose no longer is just recruitment. It now involves candidate support, NBCT candidate support training, and professional development for teachers, NBCT candidates and NBCTs, advocacy, and partnership recruitment. Our network was renamed at the 2008 conference to better identify our work as The New Mexico National Board Teacher Network. The network continues to evolve and hopes one day all school districts in New Mexico will have established candidate support programs for teachers interested in pursuing National Board Certification.

The NM NBCT Network will be visiting their state legislature on Friday, February 5 and holding their annual conference on Saturday, February 6 in Albuquerque.  They will present sessions on advanced candidacy, candidate support, renewal, and other professional opportunities.

Find out more by visiting the New Mexico NBCT Network website:    www.nmnbctnetwork.org/index.html

 YOUR NETWORK NEWS HERE:  Submit the latest news from your NBPTS Network Affiliate to share with the world!  Visit the Network Affiliates group and upload your news to the document library.  Look for the Network News folder!    www.nbctlink.org/c/portal/layout

NBCTs on Second Life! Julie Ramsay and Mary O'Brien, NBCTs from Alabama, go virtual!

Mary and Julie will be conducting a basic class on Second Life to any educator who is interested in learning. We will be doing this on Wednesday,January 20 or Thursday, January 21st from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Central time. Teachers probably won't need to be there the entire time, but should plan at least 45 minutes to get the basic training and to create an avatar.

If someone is interested in completing this training, here are the basic instructions to get into Second Life

1. 1.Visit their site.
2. They will be prompted to download the free program and choose an avatar.
3. 2. During those times listed above on the 20th or 21st, they will walk their avatar up the hill (using the arrow keys) and will find either Serena Offcourse (which is Mary O'Brien's Second Life name) or Austen Rae (which is my Second Life name). It will be easy to find us as your name floats over your avatar's head. We will take the training from there.

I would love for as many NBCTs to have the opportunity to take advantage of the possibilities of a Second Life network. They are welcome to come to the training whether they plan to attend the presentation or not.  Mary and I are always eager to help "SL newbie" teachers find the potential in Second Life