Primary school teachers usually don’t know the impact of their teaching but I am unusual because I returned to the specialised secondary school to teach this year. As Fate would have it, a girl whom I taught last year is still in my English class this year.  

To prepare them for the demands of their national examination, I insisted that my primary school students use the words “eager” and “magnificent” in their letter because these words are from their learning unit and so I want them to remember them for life and if they can use such words during the exam, they will stand out from the crowd and maybe gain 1-2 extra marks. But that was before I realised that vocabulary wasn’t included as part of the marking criteria, so I stopped harping on them to use these words because I had other learning objectives to drill into their impressionable minds.  

Nonetheless, I knew that this girl took my exhortation to heart because she was one of the rare few to keep on using these words consistently throughout the year.  

Today, in an unfamiliar environment, this girl remembered what I had taught them last year and used ‘magnificent’ beautifully and appropriately. I didn’t even have to correct her spelling! So she internalised how to use this word!  

Teachers will always lament how their charges’ memories are akin to those of goldfish, but here lies the appeal of teaching. I never know which methods will make information stick in my students. I also never know if any students will remember what I try to teach. But when learning is indelible and lasting for even one student, I find that it is truly magical. And of course, my huge ego is boosted.