About Me

My name is John Head. I am a Special Education major at Grand Valley State University. I plan to obtain both my Cognitive Impairment and my Learning Disabilities endorsements. Prior to attending college, I was a 2010 graduate of H. H. Dow High School in Midland MI. I have spent three summers (2011, 2012, and 2013) at SpringHill Camps working with children with disabilities. I also spent three years working for Heritage Homes Inc. out of the Ottawa County Area as a Community Living Support worker with children with disabilities. Following working with Heritage Homes Inc., I decided to do the same work that I did for that company independently. I worked it out with a family I had a good relationship with to hire me to do all of the work that a company such as Heritage Homes Inc. would do for them. I currently still hold that position where I work with Community Mental Health, as well as a contracted Speech Pathologist to serve two kids. When I am not working or at school I enjoy a variety of sports. I spend my winters watching and playing basketball, and my summers are spent with golf and biking. I even participate each summer in a week long biking and camping trip in the Upper Peninsula. The goal is to raise money for Teaching Family Homes, which provides support to children in need. The distances vary, but it is common to cover 500 miles throughout the five days of biking. 

My experiences of planning and using technology in a classroom stems from my experience teacher assisting at Forest Hills Central High School. The district implemented a "Bring Your Own Device" program in which every student was encouraged to bring a laptop or tablet to use in their classes. If a student was unable to obtain a laptop or tablet of their own, the school had Chromebooks available to those students. With that program in action, I was able to both observe and develop lessons of my own that were centered around the use of technology. With that experience, I was able to see many of the pros and the cons of the use of technology in the classroom.