Susan Pryor, M.Ed. – teachingforbiliteracySP@gmail.com
Susan began her career in education in 2000 as a teacher of young deaf children after receiving her dual B.A. in Elementary Education and Deaf Education from Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. She received her first M.S. in Administration in 2005 from Gallaudet University and then a second M.S. in Early Childhood Education at Erikson Institute in Chicago, Illinois that included coursework leading to certification in Bilingual Education.
Susan has served as a kindergarten dual language teacher and a dual language instructional coordinator for dual language teachers K-8 at a charter school. She then moved on to a large school district, where she served as a district dual language implementation coach. Susan has coached teachers to support their pedagogy with dual language learners and their knowledge of bilingualism and biliteracy development. She has also facilitated development of integrated curriculum units that can be applied across dual language and general education classrooms and supported teachers in selecting, analyzing, and using authentic Spanish children’s literature to implement biliteracy units. In addition to curriculum development and the use of authentic children’s literature in Spanish, Susan’s interests include biliteracy development and pedagogy in early childhood settings and ways of creating and nurturing a multilingual and multicultural school community.
As a consultant for the Center for Teaching for Biliteracy, Susan has supported districts in the process of developing biliteracy units and coached teachers on biliteracy pedagogy. She has also presented at local, regional and national conferences on topics such as biliteracy pedagogy in early childhood, oracy development, and the Bridge.
Susan grew up as a simultaneous bilingual in Miami, and ultimately became trilingual when she learned American Sign Language as part of her preparation to teach deaf children. Her interest in bilingual education has been influenced greatly by her desire to maintain a connection to her Latino heritage through the process of helping the next generation of Latino children learn about and maintain a connection to their own cultural roots.
Susan es cubana americana y es una bilingüe simultanea que se crió en Miami. Cuando era pequeña, compartió mucho tiempo con sus abuelos monolingües quienes la cuidaban mientras sus padres trabajaban. Esas experiencias, y el hecho que tenía varios familiares que solamente hablaban español, fomento el desarrollo de su bilingüismo a lo largo de su vida. Susan se crió en un ambiente familiar donde siempre celebraban el bilingüismo como una gran ventaja, y por ello, Susan ha reconocido esas ventajas muchas veces en su vida. Por ende, su interés en la educación bilingüe ha sido influido por su deseo de apoyar a la próxima generación en desarrollar y mantener su bilingüismo, al igual que mantener la conexión con la herencia Latina.