Every child is kind: Teaching goodness nurtures the good in their hearts

A creative journey in every lesson

What inspires students to be mindful, responsible, and engaged in every class? In Ms. Sao Yen’s view, to design effective lessons, a teacher must first grasp the students' psycho-physiological characteristics and the laws of cognition, memory, and impression unique to their age group.

Ms. Sao Yen notes that children are naturally drawn to new things, curiosity, and exploration. This makes teaching them both challenging and easy. Easy, because the teacher knows what to do to engage them. Difficult, because finding fitting novelties within a fixed curriculum is a real challenge.

“The undesirable behavior we see in class often stems from a need to find joy or newness. Adults label this as ‘not focusing,’ ‘not listening,’ or ‘lack of attention.’ But by understanding the reason behind these issues, teachers can approach them more effectively,” Ms. Sao Yen shared.

Driven by her understanding of students' needs, habits, and interests, Ms. Sao Yen consistently focuses on weaving "novelty" and "fun" into her teaching. These changes, she explains, don't have to be massive; they can start small.

For instance, instead of just teaching vocabulary, she often integrates knowledge about real life, maximizes the use of visual aids, and even uses real-life objects to enhance the students' sensory experience. Crucially, her lessons are never without games—sometimes crosswords or word-guessing card games, sometimes a class designed like a gameshow, or using technology to bring students' creations to life.

One of her ongoing creative initiatives is the "Sticker Redemption Counter." Whenever a student completes a task or shows progress, she rewards them with a sticker. At the end of the month, the accumulated stickers can be redeemed for corresponding prizes.

While not a new activity, Ms. Sao Yen finds it a key to connecting with her students. “Children, and even adults, prefer praise to criticism. A word of praise given the right way can be the reason a child is excited to come to school the next day. And encouragement reminds them that their efforts are recognized and trusted by someone.”

Every child is kind

After over a decade in education, Ms. Sao Yen’s passion for teaching remains undiminished. She confides, “Working with children helps me keep a young spirit and find daily joy. Their hugs and smiles after a long, tiring day give me so much positive energy, no matter how stressful the work is.”

Teaching has also been a continuous learning process for her. She recalls her early days, lacking classroom management experience, witnessing students argue and even physically scuffle during lessons. She felt like a failure and questioned if teaching was truly right for her.

Though that thought lingered, she ultimately chose to stay. What could be behind a small disagreement between a six or seven-year-old and a classmate? Pondering this, she spent more time talking and confiding with the student. The story had a happy ending: the child gradually became calmer, and the teacher and student developed a strong bond throughout the school year.

“Every child is kind. Teach them goodness, and they will keep the beautiful things in their hearts,” is the belief Ms. Sao Yen holds dear. The more she works with students, the more she embraces this idea, always striving to listen, understand, and find even the smallest good qualities to acknowledge and build their self-confidence.

“There’s one story about a Grade 1 student I always remember as a lesson for my own self-improvement. I asked the children to draw their dream bedrooms. One student caught my attention because they decorated their drawing with countless small dots. At the time, I thought the child wasn't taking the assignment seriously.

But when I asked why, the child told me, ‘My dream bedroom is among the stars, Teacher,’ and then pointed out where the bed, wardrobe, and desk were... I realized that children have unique ways of thinking and seeing, and working with them has given me a more multi-dimensional and tolerant view of differences,” Ms. Sao Yen recounted.

This perspective is why, after more than 10 years, Ms. Sao Yen is always eager to be in the classroom. Her greatest joy is hearing students readily declare, “Teacher, I’m so happy!” after a lesson, or having parents tell her, “Our child only had you for one year, but they felt very lucky and happy.”

Teaching children has fundamentally changed Ms. Sao Yen’s perspective and slowly altered the way she lives. Simply put, she believes that for children to change, she must change first, and these small personal changes have created a positive impact on her own life and the lives of those around her.

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