A Great Teacher Makes A Difference

Children need to be in the right environment with the right state of mind to learn well. Hence, we need to create and champion learning opportunities with practical applications of love and support in schools.

This story “One Teacher’s Brilliant Strategy to Stop Future School Shootings—and It’s Not About Guns”  highlights how a teacher identifies students who are lonely, bullying or being bullied in class; so that they get the help they need before it’s too late.  

Learning social skills, how to manage one’s emotions, and developing empathy is as important, if not more, as mastering academic subjects.  

I remember my teacher Mrs Yen Toh used to play this game called “Carer and Caree” in Secondary Four class. It was like Secret Santa but it lasted for a few weeks each time. On a daily basis, the secret Carer (randomly chosen) will secretly do something nice e.g. look out for the Caree, post positive or encouraging messages on the special board designed for this game, for whoever they were caring for. Some students even made breakfast, shared a joke, and at the end of the game we had to guess who our carers were and present him or her with a small token of appreciation.

This game not only taught us how to care for people, including those whom we didn’t get along or know too well.  We also learned how to express love and support to others, and there was strong peer pressure to care too. In the end, our class had such a strong bond, we all felt accepted, supported and a sense of belonging.  

I actually played this same game in my company a few times. The results were the same.  When people experience love and support, they become nicer human beings.  I am so lucky to have studied at Singapore Sanyu Adventist School and be taught by some incredibly loving teachers. The school might not have a big name, but I would not exchange it for any other elite schools, regardless of how impressive it would be for my resume🙃.