Depositing into every student’s Emotional Bank Account, Mdm Yeo Chay Yee
How do we spark the joy of learning in our students? To do that, Mdm Yeo Chay Yee, who believes that her Primary 2 students are innately curious and hungry to learn, constantly explores and tries a variety of ways to make her lessons fun and interesting. For example, for Mathematics, she uses the See, Think, Wonder thinking routine to identify her students’ prior knowledge and get them curious and excited.
Her pride in her students is evident.
“The students are passionate about acquiring knowledge. They show enthusiasm in sharing their ideas with their classmates. They are able to make connections from what they have learnt in class to real-life examples,” she says.
Her student, Shu Yu, says, “I like Mdm Yeo because she is very kind. She is very patient when she guides us in our work. When I have problems, I can talk to Mdm Yeo.”
Besides making learning enjoyable, Mdm Yeo instils strong values in her students. To her, a good teacher is one who imparts values. She recognises teachable moments to help her students build character, provides a listening ear to her students and gives them advice on their problems. To build rapport and connect with her students, she takes time to write personalised notes to them and deposits them into their Emotional Bank Account in the classroom. Through this, she creates a positive class culture and gets to know her students better.
Mdm Yeo also encourages her students to build good relationships with one another. Students are encouraged to write positive messages to their classmates. Shu Yu shares, “I use the mailbox to say ‘good job’ and ‘don’t give up’ to my friends.”
Another student, Shahan, says, “I like the mailbox. I wrote a letter to my friend to thank him for helping me with my work. I was very happy when another classmate wrote a letter to me to ask if we could be friends.”
Through the Emotional Bank Account, Mdm Yeo and her students create many positive school experiences and fond memories together.
A firm believer that it takes a village to raise a child, Mdm Yeo works hard to create strong school-home partnerships. She builds trust with parents and works closely with them to help her students grow and maximise their potential. She provides regular feedback to parents on their child’s work and behavior in school. One way that she does so is by sharing her students’ achievements with their parents so that they can celebrate and recognise the efforts of the child together.
Parents appreciate her support and efforts to engage them. A grateful parent said, “Thank you for the photo of my child in class and for being such a loving and caring teacher.”
Another parent wrote, “Thank you for your encouragement, support and advice. It will motivate my child to work hard the next time.”
