There's a math teacher in Atlanta,
Georgia named Manny Robinson who has
been dubbed Teacher Bae by millions of people online.
Now when we found out he's also genuinely
changing the lives of his students,
well we couldn't wait to share his story with you all.
So Manny thinks he's going to be in our virtual audience today
but we're going to surprise him instead.
All right?
Let's go.
Hey, Manny.
What's up, man?
Hey.
Surprise.
Oh my God.
Now, listen.
How are you?
I'm great.
How are you, man?
I am-- oh my God.
Yeah.
I know you thought you were going
to be in the virtual audience today
but you're actually on the show.
You're my next guest, man.
Y'all give it up for Manny.
Let's go.
Whoa.
Y'all this a blessing.
This is amazing.
Man, so it's just a run down.
You're a sixth grade math teacher
and you're going viral for a video of you teaching.
So what made you record and post this video?
Man, honestly, the first reason why
I recorded it is because I love my babies
and I love teaching them but my parents never really got
to see me teach my kids.
And so I was like, let me just go live on Instagram real quick
and let my parents see it.
But then I saw the praise it was getting on Instagram
and how many people were liking it,
so I put it on Twitter just to show that representation.
You know, only 2% of black males are teachers in this country
and we have millions of teachers.
Teachers are the largest union in the world
but we only made 2% of it.
So I wanted to show Twitter and the rest of the world
that Black men are teaching and that we're
all facets of the world.
Absolutely, man.
And when I say it hit, it hit, man.
It's been viewed over two million times
and why do you think it went so viral?
I think, honestly, the first reason
will be the genuine connection I've made with my babies.
People got to see me really truly care and see
that I really do.
My team and my family are my babies
are my kids are my students.
And the second reason, I think some people might find me
a little bit attractive so that kind of helped
push the video as well.
I'll tell you now, there are some people in the audience
right now, when you just said, they was like, yes.
Yes, he is.
And I got to be straight up, I definitely
did not have a teacher that look like you at any point in time
in my school career at all.
Now you've been dubbed Teacher Bae online.
Did you expect this type of response or no?
No, sir.
I definitely didn't expect it.
My mom keeps me humble because she's just like,
I saw the video and I don't see the hype.
You cute but it ain't all that.
Then, of course, my students.
They be like, Mr. Robinson, you still lame.
But I did not expect the video to do what they do,
but I'm definitely blessed.
I'm excited.
I'm elated and I get to sit here with my hero tWitch.
I remember watching you in ninth grade
on "So You Think You Can Dance." and seeing a Black man
do contemporary dance that came from doing hip hop,
just being able to sit here with you,
this is a full circle moment so I'm
blessed that this has done what it has done.
Man, I appreciate those words, man.
And also this is incredible, just--
because, I mean, if you think about it, man.
You're getting national recognition right now
for doing something that you love
and also representing and showing people
that we are multifaceted and not a monolith, right?
So I appreciate you.
I respect you and send that sentiment right back
to you, brother.
I appreciate you, man
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Let me dial back for a second.
So your students said you still lame.
Are any of them hyped that you went viral?
What's the deal?
You know what's funny?
My kids are not hyped because they like,
man, if Drake did this, he'd be blowing up by now.
They're like, Mr Robertson, you are still the Dollar General
Drake.
So my kids keep me very humble.
If nobody else is going to do it,
my students are going to keep me humble.
They make sure that they know-- that I know that I still
can't dance, I still can't sing, and that I'm still lame.
But they are excited that they might
get to know somebody who has sat down with now tWitch
on "The Ellen Show."
This is going to make them be elated.
Right.
I can't be lame now.
OK.
Now, I love--
I also picked up on, you call your students babies.
Why is that?
Because that's really what they are to me.
They're my babies.
They're my family.
They're my children in that moment
and I'm there to protect them and to give them
exactly what they need.
Just like a parent, I feel the same way
when they're in my custody, when they're in my care,
and when I have them for that 60 minutes in that classroom.
And that's why I take what I do so seriously
and why they will forever be my babies.
Absolutely, man.
And I just want everybody to know
just how incredible you are.
OK?
So here are some of the amazing things that you
do for your students, OK?
You constantly go out of pocket to buy your students everything
from food, clothes, shoes, to school supplies.
You visit their homes to check in, help them with homework,
and bring them whatever they need.
You show up to sporting events, birthday parties, and act
as family.
You even hire barbers to cut your students' hair when
they need a fresh cut, man.
Y'all, can we please give it up for Manny please?
But seriously, man.
That's so much love and we appreciate that.
We got to take a short break, but we're
going to have more with Manny right after this.
We'll be right back.
We're back with teacher Manny Robinson AKA Teacher Bae.
Right now you're doing hybrid learning.
Some students are in the classroom
and some are over Zoom and that's
got to be challenging, right?
Definitely.
Definitely, it's a challenge but I got to keep them going.
I got to keep them excited about getting on every morning
but it is a challenge of keeping them engaged.
Now I understand you try to keep them engaged by dancing.
How is that going for you?
Listen.
TikTok keeps me in tune.
TikTok keeps me in shape.
And TikTok keeps me up to beat.
So I don't have a TikTok, but they upload all that stuff
to YouTube and so I learn it while I can
and then I spit them back out the kids.
And they know I can't dance and they still say I can't dance.
But at least it keeps them engaged
for the next 5-10 minutes.
OK.
Well, I'm going to tell you what.
I'm going to help you out.
I'm going to teach you some moves, OK?
All right.
So can we play some music?
I'm going to teach you some moves.
Let's go.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
OK.
So, look.
You can just bounce up.
You can just give me this little bounce right here.
Oh yeah.
Oh good.
I got you.
That's good.
OK.
Now give me this one.
Hey.
Hit the other side for me.
Oh.
Hey, you know [INAUDIBLE] too?
Hit me with the--
give me some Milly Rocking here.
Let's go.
Yeah.
Oh.
Yeah.
Oh.
Yeah.
You know what?
Actually, you know what?
There's something missing real quick.
I think we need a prop, actually.
Give me one second.
This would be a lot better with a prop.
Give me one second.
All right.
Yeah.
See, it would look really good with this.
So Shutterfly
Yo.
Oh my God.
So Shutterfly loves helping amazing teachers like you
so they want to give you $10,000.
Oh my God.
Thank you so much.
Absolutely.
Thank you for everything you're doing, man.
Keep spreading that love, brother.