About Sue Sue Vaughn, M.A. National Board Certified Teacher Owning Words for Literacy™ Trainer Sue@SelfofSteam.com  775.851.0488 (phone/fax) Trainings and Certification: National Board Certification | Adolescent and Young Adult English Language Arts Nevada Licensure:   License: 7-12 English and Speech Education MA in Speech Communication, The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) BA in English and Speech Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Classroom Experience:   20 years of High School teaching in Nevada; 2 years as a lecturer at the University of Nevada, Reno; 2 years as a presenter for the Continuing Education program at Penn State. I love teaching, and I want to be a part of encouraging an ever-improving public school system.  I flat-out love to learn and can’t imagine a world where children aren’t encouraged to delight in education.  I've taught every level of high school English and also have specialties in motivation, classroom management, mentoring for novice teachers, communication skills and organizational/productivity skills. My teaching career began in Pennsylvania, where I worked for the Continuing Education Department at Penn State.  I taught inservice classes for teachers/school staff at all the branch campuses in the University of Pennsylvania system.  My favorite workshop was “Flak Catchers,” a conflict-resolution class that was strictly for secretaries. They certainly were out on the front lines catching lots of “flak!”  This carefully targeted instruction has always influenced my teaching.  I find out as much as is possible about the needs of the learners, and then develop instruction that will meet their needs. For twenty years I have been an English and Speech teacher at McQueen High School in Reno, Nevada.  The job has changed dramatically over the years, both because of unforeseen growth and its inevitable overcrowding, to changes in the state and national requirements for schools.  I’ve taught every imaginable level of English, from freshmen to Advanced Placement seniors.  Literacy has been, and must continue to be, the cornerstone of all education. One of the best experiences of the last several years that I participated in was National Board Certification.  The cadre that I joined was the first group to attempt certification from Nevada (the 1999-2000 group).  I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, but there was a fantastic mix of elementary through secondary teachers who worked on their certifications together.  Over half of the group (myself included) passed that first year, and we learned so much.  That experience taught me that I certainly want to get back to my “roots” of teaching and spend time developing workshops for teachers.  Recently I conducted an inservice for the district called “AP Roundtable” which brought together honors and Advanced Placement teachers in an effort to more effectively align our classes.  It was so well-received that I felt compelled to suggest it for the 2007 national AP conference and it was accepted!  Presenting for a national audience was an outstanding experience.   I live in Reno with my husband (who is also a teacher), daughter and several cats.  Our son is at UNR.  Both our children have gone through the public school system in Nevada from K-12, and I think that my involvement in their education has also given me valuable insights.  Every child, after all, is someone’s son or daughter.  Each and every child deserves the best that educators have to offer.