“Everyone Belongs Here” — a Nonbinary Grade School Teacher Went Viral for Explaining Their Pronouns

It’s Back to School time in the U.S., and one elementary school teacher is ready to kick off the new school year with a quick and easy lesson on pronouns, specifically their own. Middle school art teacher Nairobi Colon, aka “Teacher Robi,” has recently gone viral on TikTok (@teacherrobi) for their video in which they introduce themselves, their nonbinary gender identity, and their pronouns to their new incoming class.

A non-binary teacher explains their pronouns to their kids in a viral TikTok.

The Philadelphia teacher posted the video in late August 2025. In it, they present a PowerPoint slideshow that offers a brief introduction to who they are as a teacher.

One of their first slides explains that Robi is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. They even offer clear examples of how they like to be preferred. It also reads: “Names and pronouns are important! Tif someone makes a mistake, please politely correct them. That goes for me too! If I get your name or pronouns wrong, please correct me every. Single. Time.”

The rest of the slides feature fun facts about Robi, their hobbies, and their pets. And just as they seek to be forthcoming and honest with their students, Robi also encourages them to do the same.

“Joy is super important in this space,” they explain in their presentation. “Everyone is welcome, everyone belongs here.”

Robi’s viral success reflects their past experiences on TikTok. According to the TikTok description, they’d already achieved viral status a year prior to this video, in which they introduced themselves as nonbinary to their previous class. This year, they aimed to add to the conversation they’d already sparked.

“I’m recreating [this TikTok] so other non-binary teachers can use it too,” they wrote in the video description.

Their latest video was met with an outpouring of support from other TikTok users. One person commented, “Notice how they took less than a minute saying who they are and then went on to things that every teacher says. It’s a teacher. No teacher is going to yell at children for accidentally misgendering them.”

Another wrote, “This was a very simple and age-appropriate [way] to introduce yourself and specify your pronouns.”

Other commenters accused Robi of being “confusing” by trying to explain pronouns to kids. This may only be true if you never paid attention in school at all. According to a 2010 guide by Pennington Publishing Blog, simple and possessive pronouns (i.e., he/him/his, she/her/hers, they/them/their) are taught as early as kindergarten. Seeing that Teacher Robi teaches sixth graders, it stands to reason that they would already have a better grasp of pronoun usage than the adults who complain about them. More schools could use educators like Teacher Robi to be more inclusive and welcoming to their students, especially when it comes to exploring gender identity.

Do you wish you had a teacher like Teacher Robi growing up? Comment below!

The post “Everyone Belongs Here” — a Nonbinary Grade School Teacher Went Viral for Explaining Their Pronouns appeared first on LBS.