Signing Savvy Team > John Miller
John Miller
Owner
John Miller is the "Man in the Blue Shirt" who demonstrates how to sign in the videos on Signing Savvy.
John first began his work with sign language twenty-two years ago in an interpreter-training program, but after working in the mainstream classroom setting, he quickly realized his passion was in education. He went on to teach deaf and hard of hearing children in the public school setting and became a leader for incorporating sign language communication between the home and school settings and involving parents into the educational equation.
John has a Bachelor of Arts in Deaf Education from Michigan State University, a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education from Central Michigan University, and his PhD work in the Special Education program at Michigan State University is focusing on literacy and the deaf child.
John learned to sign at a young age, not because he was deaf, but because he had a deaf neighbor and friend who he wanted to communicate more effectively with. From that point forward, learning to sign and issues surrounding communication became a fascination of his.
John worked as a teacher of children who were deaf and hard of hearing for 12 years with students from preschool to age 26 until he was asked by his university mentor to return to the university, pursue a graduate degree, and share his years of experience from the classroom with the next generation of teachers studying in the field. While pursuing his graduate degrees, John worked with his mentor on sign language communication and education research across the United States and Canada. He ran the teacher training program for most of his time at the university, both on campus through classes he taught and out in various classrooms throughout the state of Michigan as he observed and advised his interns. He also taught several online Master’s classes to teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing throughout the country. John also taught introductory sign language classes to audiology and speech science Masters students.
After five years of teaching and studying at the university, John returned to public education as a Special Education Supervisor. He serves as an administrator in the public schools advocating for the “Home to School Connection” in Deaf Education, developing curriculum for Early Childhood Programs for deaf and hard of hearing children as well as other communication disorders, and working with teachers, interpreters, interveners, and students. He continues to work as a Special Education Consultant for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Programs in a number of public school districts.
John is passionate about improving education and literacy skills for deaf and hard of hearing students. He believes language learning cannot begin and end in the classroom. His hope was that Signing Savvy could be that tool – a communication tool between home and school and to bridge that communication gap between hearing and deaf people anywhere possible. John continues to infuse his passion for education and sign language expertise into Signing Savvy.
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