HI, I’M THOM GIBSON

I’m Thom and I’m a two-time teacher-of-the-year former educator in Austin, TX and am a Adobe Education Leader.

I spent 10 years as a middle school teacher, teaching math, science, robotics, esports, and YouTube Video Production.

I now support fellow middle-school STEM educators through my self-paced online PD courses and my YouTube channel.

MY JOURNEY TO EDUCATION…

I never planned on becoming a teacher.

I went to school for audio engineering.  A semester before I graduated, I started seeing my classmates venture out into careers doing sound for music studios or TV stations.

I didn’t want to do that and I wasn’t sure what direction to go.  I had plans to get married the following summer so I knew I had to make a decision soon.

A few things were pointing me to teaching.

I remember being in one of my electronics classes at university.  I remember we were reviewing a concept that a lot of students were struggling with.  The teacher had tried various methods to explain it but it wasn’t clicking with most students.

I wasn’t very good at electronics but for some reason, that particular concept was clear to me.  I remember thinking ‘I feel I could actually explain this in a way that makes sense.’

In that moment, the teacher asked ‘well…does anyone else want to try and explain this?’  He had never done that before.  I raised my hand.

I went up and shared my process and sat down.

Afterwards, a couple of my classmates told me ‘Thom…I had no idea what was going on until you got up there and explained it.”

On top of that, I was also leading a bible study for international students with one of the Christian organizations on campus. Most students were not Christians but were interested in learning about what the Bible said.

I remember before each bible study, I would decide on a passage we would study, go to the library, and print out versions in mandarin Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Turkish.  In retrospect, that was the beginnings of me working to make the content as accessible to all the students there.

In December of 2010, I decided I would become a teacher and 8 months later, I was starting my first year of teaching.

In my 10 years in the classroom, I worked hard to make my classroom a place where students have meaningful and memorable experiences they take with them long after they leave my classroom, and now help other teachers do the same.

OUTSIDE OF EDUCATION…

I have a lovely wife named Sara who is a pediatrician. We’ve got two kids, Audrey and Thomas.

FUN FACTS!

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