Educator of the Week: Andrew Robinson
It’s time now to recognize our Educator of the Week, brought to you by the Tennessee Education Lottery.
Andrew Robinson is a 5th grade math teacher at Andrew Jackson Elementary School.
Robinson’s favorite part of being an educator is building relationships.
“Knowing what their favorite color is, what’s their favorite snack, just something small, but, if you build that relationship, you’re able to get them to do so much more than just them seeing you as an authority figure,” Robinson said.
Robinson shares that his father is also an educator, and has been for decades.
“Seeing him do that for almost 30 years, and even just the time of me growing up and being with him, he was my own teacher,” said Robinson. “That is always what inspired me to become a teacher.”
When it comes to his own teaching style, Robinson values real life examples and honesty.
“You’re not going to go into Walmart and be asked the Pythagorean theorem, but you have to be able to budget groceries, you have to think about your bills, you have to add and subtract, multiply, divide, those are basic life skills every human’s got to be able to do. And I try to instill that, ‘Hey, you may not know everything, but you know this is what’s going to work in life and what has to be known. Get those things down.'”
For future educators, Robinson offers encouragement.
“You gotta have patience, have love and have passion for it, because any kid’s gonna be able to tell when a teacher’s here just to be here. If you have the passion, that’s gonna make them actually care, work and do their best each day and therefore, you got to give them what you want to receive back so just come in ready, come in with love, patience and passion and you’re going to be fine as an educator.”
Robinson is now eligible for the Tennessee Education Lottery Educator of the Month award.
To vote for him or any other nominees, go to the Tennessee Education Lottery website.
To nominate an educator for our Educator of the Week award, email us at educator@wbbjtv.com.
