Every month Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) honors teachers who stand out beyond the rest with their Instructional Teacher Superhero Distinction.
In November, Christopher Robbins was nominated for and received the award for how he teaches at White Station. Robbins has worked in education for many years within different roles, but this is his 20th year in highschool education.
“I teach English plus,” Robbins said. “So I do a lot of elective courses, creative writing, speech and communication, whatever they need me to teach.”
The Instructional Teacher Superhero Distinction celebrates teachers throughout the district that go above and beyond in helping students and coworkers achieve and adapt in an educational setting.
“They tend to do it once a month, by nomination,” Robbins said. “[A] fellow teacher has to submit your name and fill out all the forms.”
The teacher who nominated Robbins, Bailey Glydewell, is a former student of Robbins and a White Station alumnus. Receiving recognition was already refreshing for Robbins, but the personal connection to his nominator put the cherry on top.
“When I knew it was from Miss Gyldewell, I was like ‘that makes sense,’” Robbins said.
Robbins nomination stems from his approachability and willingness to help in anything academic from resumes, essays, college dealings, and time management.
“My door is always open for students [and] teachers to come in and ask questions, even if it’s not about my course,” Robbins said.
Robbins describes the way he helps students and teachers as socratic, not only giving them a straightforward answer but also asking them questions to help them develop the answer on their own. He compared it to the famous saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
“The big part is … if they get that metacognition going on where they’re thinking about their thinking, then they don’t have to come to me with the same problem,” Robbins said. “Every time they come to me, I teach them how to do it, and now they know.”
Robbins expressed how thankful he was for the acknowledgement of the award and how isolating teaching can be since many would be focused on teaching their students, not leaving much time for talking with other teachers and staff.
“You’re in your classroom, you wave at other teachers in between periods, you talk to students, but then you’re immediately [like] ‘Okay, I’m teaching,’ Robbins said. “You don’t get very much social interaction or opportunities for praise or even correction.”
Robbins received his doctorate degree in 2022 with his dissertation that includes his Writing Method. The Writing Method is a writing process different from the typical 5 phase one most students are taught. Robbins’ Writing Method includes seven linear phases, no rough draft, and prevents writer’s block. This method has also received praise from other teachers and the district.
“It’s a very academic thing,” Robbins said. “And the fact that I’ve had some people interested in hearing about it, usually when you write your dissertation, only your committee reads it, and then it goes on some shelf.”
When he is not teaching Robbins enjoys swing dancing and writing live-action murder mysteries. In these murder mysteries, participants each get a dossier with their character’s backstory, gossip and actions. The host of the game keeps track of time since characters of the participants have certain actions after a certain amount of time has passed. Once one of the players gets murdered, the rest of the participants try to find the method, murderer, and the motive, which can be solved through the gossip.
“Some of them would be surprised, but others would be like ‘That sounds like him,’” Robbins said.
When asked if he would still be teaching in 10 years Robbins answered with an absolute yes. Robbins has known he wanted to teach since he was a freshman in highschool and was inspired by his own English teacher.
“That’s what I’m very effective at,” Robbins said. “ … In twenty plus years I’ve taught thirty-one different courses because I’m a curriculum guy at heart.”