For Cottonwood Middle School math teacher Michael Gilboy, being a teacher is the closest he can get to being a rock star — without the money, of course.
“The respect in the community is there,” he said. “99.99 percent of parents hold you in high esteem. I have an advantage where I’ve been at it long enough that I’ve been able to build those relationships.”
Gilboy described teaching seventh and eighth grade as “constant chaos” but said he loves it all the same.
He admitted that the eighth graders tend to get his humor more than the seventh graders.“
They’re easy to get along with,” he said. “They are so grown up but still so young …. I try to remind them, ‘It’s OK, others feel the same way you do.’”The age group does still have its fair share of distractions that Gilboy said he tries to keep up with.“
They’re extreme creatures of habit who love routine,” he said. “If we can make it from Monday to Tuesday and they learn something, that’s a win,” he said.
A resident of Cottonwood for 21 years, Gilboy has had both of his now-grown children in class — something he insisted on.“In order to do this job, you have to believe you are the best,” he said. “Doesn’t my daughter deserve the best?”
When asked why he wanted to be a math teacher, he said, “Well, I’m good at it.”
But knowing and teaching are two different things.In the classroom, Gilboy aims to create a creative learning environment and tries to avoid too much lecturing because he believes students learn better from each other than they ever could from him.
He also encourages his students to problem-solve on their own because he knows when it comes to math, there isn’t just one way to solve a problem.
“If you can get from point A to point B, then you aren’t wrong,” he said. “Math is neat because there is a definite answer but so many ways to get to it.”
Often, Gilboy said he has to be careful with how he phrases a question.“If they don’t get it, the one who has the problem is me, not them,” he said.
Gilboy is also active outside the classroom. He has coached cross country, volleyball and basketball. Basketball, he said, is where he thinks he makes the most impact.
“I like coaching girls because no matter how devastating the loss, they always move on — boys, not so much,” he said.
Being a coach also helps with interacting with kids in the classroom.
“Teaching is about relationships,” he said. “If a student doesn’t think you like them, they aren’t going to do well and they won’t learn.”It’s the “a-ha” moments in the classroom where Gilboy feels the most success.
“I had a girl …. I moved her to high-level math and she was scared but when she got it she told me, ‘You were right, I am smart.’ Those are the moments you wait for… suddenly they just get it,” he said.
Kelcie Grega can be reached at 634-8551, or email kgrega@larsonnewspapers.com
Kelcie Grega can be reached at 634-8551
can be reached at
634-8551, or email
kgrega@larsonnewspapers.co
