His teaching subjects? Accounting, integrity, vulnerability

“It’s never about the numbers, it’s about the student. Always.”

Through his O3 routine (One Day, One Student, One Discovery), Mr Sng connects with students daily, understanding their unique learning styles and challenges.

“When I make mistakes in class, I’ll say, ‘Sorry, I missed that. Well done.’ You need to be vulnerable to let them know that you are human.”

From pioneering a QR code for students to report signs of distress in their peers, to launching nationwide financial literacy competitions, the Principles of Accounts teacher brings innovation to education.

His approach combines his auditing background with empathy – teaching not just accounting principles, but also integrity, moral courage, and the confidence to make positive change.

She weaves a passion for nature into language lessons

“While we may not get to see some ‘trees’ grow, it doesn’t mean that the roots aren’t there. That’s what we do as teachers – we give hope.”

In Ms Wong’s English Language and Literature classroom, the wonders of nature have been worked into the curriculum. Students transform from indoorsy teens to wildlife observers, and lap up poetry and essays about nature – naturally.

On their outdoor trips, they also witness poor eco habits up close, and follow up by writing passionate posts against marine trash.

Beyond her innovative English lessons, Ms Wong opens her classroom to fellow teachers, demonstrating how EdTech tools can enhance learning.

What began as an individual effort has grown into a school-wide culture of shared growth.

She tailors lessons to her students’ trades and traits

“My aim is to help every student discover their talent, be it academic, creative, or practical, and walk away with something they’re proud of.”

“Communication looks different in every job, and makes a difference in every job.”

It’s like a masterclass in adaptation. Ms Izriena tweaks her lessons on soft skills to suit not just different students but also the courses they take. To her nursing students, she speaks like a nurse. To her engineers, like an engineer.

It’s not mimicry, it’s respect. She calls it “trade-speak”: adapting soft skills to each profession.

Ms Izriena builds school-wide challenges around what excites her students, like the Influencer Challenge, where they create one-minute videos to promote local products.

Behind the fun is real learning: creative thinking and a deeper sense of identity and purpose that stays with them long after class.

The accidental lecturer is poised to help students find their way

“I want students to engage with real-life problems, not academic hypotheticals.”

Mr Kwek’s Chemistry degree led to teaching and leveraging on the chemistry he has with his students at Republic Polytechnic.

For his food science modules, he integrates workplace scenarios and regulations into his curriculum.

Drawing from his frequent engagements with industry, he designs authentic tasks, like testing food under poor storage conditions or analysing kaya for safety risks. His goal: To help them step into the workplace feeling ready and confident.

“People often say, ‘You’ll only understand how this works when you’re in the industry.’ But why wait? Why don’t we bring that experience into the classroom while they are still learning?”

She finds ways to lift her students’ ‘invisible burdens’

“A single act of care today can echo for decades.”

“Character must be moulded, not left to chance.” From morning assemblies to after-school activities, Mdm Huda ensures every moment at Fuhua Primary becomes an opportunity for character building. One core school value is emphasised per term, and sustained through daily practices.

As HOD of CCE, Mdm Huda reviews emotional sensing data, coaches prefects, and builds character-building moments into her Science lessons. Her comprehensive approach ensures that values education isn’t just a subject – it’s woven into the fabric of school life.

She builds confidence in ways that get students talking

“I want my students to know that where you begin does not define where you can go.”

Teaching is more than lessons – it is listening and uplifting students, says Ms Kang. She uses the power of conversation to help others feel seen, valued, and ready to try again.

Ms Kang started Reconciliation Circles to help students heal conflicts and find mutual understanding. She is just as committed to her colleagues, creating spaces where teachers can share challenges and support each other. For Ms Kang, care means giving people the courage to speak up.

With a culture shift, she turns mistakes into motivation

“We have a ‘culture of error’, where mistakes are seen as chances to learn. Expecting perfection or improvement all the time is unrealistic.”

I want to see that sparkle in students’ eyes when they learn.”

Ms Lin – better known as Mrs Tan to her students – has been teaching for 20 years. She says children need to see that learning is about growth, not just grades.

She and her Vice-Principal introduced a “Culture of Error” to challenge students and teachers to view mistakes differently.

“It took a little bit of time for everyone to get on board,” she acknowledges. “My teachers had to be vulnerable and share how they feel about making mistakes themselves as an adult, and rethink how they react and respond towards their students’ mistakes.”

They struggled with the moral dilemma of how much encouragement to offer when children kept failing. “Where do you draw the line?”

This Science teacher is a ‘balsam plant’ for spreading knowledge and kindness

“I don’t just teach from the textbook. It’s boring to learn the flower parts by only reading about them.”

To Mr Jonathan Lo, good teaching isn’t just about content, but connection.

His Science lessons unfold like mysteries, designed to spark curiosity and wonder. Whether conducting experiments or running sustainability projects, he keeps learning meaningful and real.

He crafts lessons to suit his students’ different needs. To a student who had selective mutism, he communicated using written notes and online platforms to check understanding.

To students who need more help with answers, he might offer sentence starters. “The same objective is achieved, even though the process is differentiated,” he explains.

She teaches them ‘not just to look but also to see’

“Some students learn faster, while some take a little longer, but everyone eventually crosses the finish line.”

When Mdm Cheng saw her student struggling to sketch his idea for a cat grooming device, she didn’t correct him outright.

Instead, she asked: How might cat owners struggle with existing combs? What problems did he observe?

For her, design is not about cleverness; it’s about empathy.

Imperfection is a starting point rather than a flaw in Mdm Cheng’s classroom.

“Sometimes, students feel discouraged because the sketch is all wrong. But I don’t ask them to redo it. I tell them to keep going,” she says.

This shift in thinking encourages students to see design as a process of iteration, and teaches them to not fear mistakes but grow from them instead.

This artist-lecturer designs hope and confidence in her students

“I borrow techniques from the art world and unpack creativity for students.”

A practising artist and art mentor, Ms Ng spent years curating immersive digital experiences.

Her studio practice informs how she teaches: layering experiences, scaffolding discovery, and helping learners navigate the unfamiliar.

Ms Ng’s students often start where she once stood: Afraid of failing, and unsure of how they fit into the creative world.

To let them make “mistakes that matter”, her students prototype, pitch, and present to real clients. And if they meet rejection? She encourages them to see their designs as drafts, not declarations. And that they can find another way forward.

She ensures that students with different needs have opportunities to shine

“Sometimes, all that everyone needs is a chance to try.”

Mdm Usha mentors teachers in inclusive practices. She helps them to adapt lessons to accommodate certain learning needs, and apply new strategies and tools in Special Educational Needs (SEN) support.

“It is never just about tools, it is how you use them to ensure everyone in your class feels included and involved.”

When teaching Tamil, she uses structured routines, simple instructions, and multimodal and multisensory techniques.

For a dance student with Down Syndrome, she developed visual cues to help her put up a better performance. These inclusive methods are useful for all students, not just those with SEN or learning needs.

She comes from four generations of educators, and found teaching to be her career of a lifetime

“I want to keep teaching for as long as I can; it warms my heart and fills my soul.”

Mdm Lee, who has taught different subjects throughout the course of her career, says teaching PE is where she is in her element.

But perhaps her biggest challenge today is that many students are spending far less time outdoors than previous generations of children. “They sit a lot, using their handphones and iPads to access social media content and play online games,” she explains. “This results in poor psychomotor skills, low cardiovascular endurance and poor attention spans.”

Rather than lower expectations, Mdm Lee uses tech to bridge the gap for these digital natives.

Her students don’t just hop – they study how they hop. Using the Onform app to capture their standing broad jumps in slow motion, they watch themselves move frame by frame, spotting what they can’t intuitively feel.

He turns classrooms into creative spaces and safe havens

“Art should be comforting, meaningful, and speak to their hearts.”

Mr Hadi communicates life lessons, values and care through the language of art.

In his classrooms, students say his kind humour, honesty, and openness to discuss and to listen, change the way they view art and more importantly, how they view themselves.

Mr Hadi’s creativity is apparent in the school-wide framework he initiated to foster multi-disciplinary teaching and maximise the benefits of learning each subject.

Teachers now see co-teaching as a way to deepen learning.

His ‘dual empathy’ approach helps students find their True North

“Empathy [in teaching] doesn’t mean lowering expectations. It means helping students rise to meet them.”

“Students need an inner compass made of two needles: self-empathy and other-empathy.”

When designing programmes and mentoring students at Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Business & Accountancy, Mr Goh also wears the lens of a psychologist and active citizen. How can students find their purpose and put society before self?

By understanding themselves and what society needs, everything else tends to fall into place: from picking the right courses and coping with stress, to developing business models that work.

Even his sprints to solve business challenges are designed to push students to apply empathy in real time: interviewing stakeholders, prototyping ideas, and testing solutions in the field.

Student are attracted to Physics thanks to her magnetic lessons

“If the students are restless, it’s not that they’re not trying. They’re trying very hard somewhere else.”

A student looking distracted in class is one of Mdm Quek’s biggest bugbears. But she doesn’t blame the student. Instead, it’s her cue to up her game.

“If we want our students to take Science seriously, they need to see it in the real world,” she says.

To give her students that experience, she gamely cold-called companies to partner with the school’s Applied Learning Programme (ALP), which focuses on the chemistry of fragrances.

Those calls led to partnerships with industry players where students even got to prototype fragrance-related products, linking molecular chemistry with the school’s 3D printing module.

He brings purpose and precision to every classroom

“I owe it to my students to give them the best version of the lesson I can.”

For Mr Otreba, adaptive thinking among students doesn’t happen by accident. He deliberately builds opportunities for it into the classroom.

“Sometimes, you give students a puzzle, then shift the constraints. Or you ask them to complete the same task, but using a different tool.”

In his class, this plays out through hybrid lesson structures or blended-learning models.

One of his assignments required students to write two essay paragraphs: one on their own, and the other using AI.

“Some of them had misconceptions that using AI is cheating. But if you show them when and how to use it well, it builds their digital literacy and opens their thinking,” he says.

He teaches AI, assisted by AI

“I myself cannot teach the whole world. I need to multiply this effect.”

The Advanced Computing Lab at ITE College West is where Mr Chua reimagines how students learn AI with his innovative pedagogical approach, AI Classroom.

“I created the AI Classroom to personalise learning at scale – giving every student the experience of a class size of one.”

Mr Chua is all about making tech accessible.

He leads the teams creating modules for students to build real-world AI applications, even if they don’t know how to code. Through Train-the-Trainer sessions and workshops on AI and High Performance Computing for fellow educators, he multiplies the effect of his work.

She teaches lessons in flavour, grit and dignity

“Not everything worked. But that’s the fun of it.”

In the lab, Ms Tan gets her students to experiment with tools like molecular gastronomy and AI. Through spherification, foams and edible films, students transform familiar flavours into fruit caviar or restructured sauces.

Some of their creations wouldn’t look out of place in a fine-dining kitchen.

To date, she has guided many of her students in developing food products with commercial potential. Some have even won food innovation awards.

Ms Tan has also rebuilt the curriculum to have a strong industry focus, where students rotate through collaborations with companies such as Dnata and Tetra Pak.

“Let them face it. This is how the real world is,” she says.