My+Great+Inspiration-Joel+C.

My Great Inspiration By: Joel C.

The most inspiring, kind, and helpful person in my life was my 3rd and 4th grade teacher Mrs. Herzog. She taught me to read better, write better, and she always pushed me to do my best. I was so happy to be with her in 3rd grade and was even happier when she looped up with the class to 4th grade. Two petite years with her and I learned so much!

All of the other teachers I had before Mrs. Herzog knew I wasn’t the best reader and they didn’t do much to help. They would pass me on to the next teacher hoping that the next they would help. Finally in 3rd grade I got Mrs. Herzog. She knew at once from my C-SAP scores that I was way behind in my reading and writing. So she started with reading. She started to look for books that I was interested in. To do this she had to get to know me. Almost every other day she would see what books I would like to read and what books I was reading. In about a week she had chosen many books for me and I took the ones I was most fascinated by. When I finished a book I would have to take a test on it or summarize it on paper. This showed Mrs. Herzog if I was improving or staying the same. Soon she had me at grade level in a little over a month. Although I still wasn’t enjoying reading like most kids. Mrs. Herzog kept pushing and pushing me until I was above grade level by 1 to 2 grades. Finally she had found the perfect book for me. Call Of The Wild. I loved this book so much and I was able to read it like it was a movie in my head and like I was actually there in the story.

The phrase write like a reader was impractical for me. Since I was not the best reader I couldn’t relate to this. The next thing Mrs. Herzog helped me with was writing and she taught the whole class and me a method that I will never forget. It was making your 5 paragraphs into a hamburger. Mrs. Herzog sustained pushing me to be the best. And even started a newspaper club that she had me join where you would write an article about what was happening in the school. It was called Ridgeline. Mrs. Herzog would also work with me one on one helping me with essays and paragraphs.

One thing I loved about Mrs. Herzog was how she was always so heartening, pleasant, and motivating. She was able to empathize my needs. She would also give me work that I shouldn’t have worked on until 5th grade. She pushed me to do my best and to not give up and keep trying. I remember when I was assigned to write a 3-page report/essay but Mrs. Herzog told me it only mattered about the content. Somehow I still wrote a little over 3 pages. She was so egotistical of me that she congratulated me in front of the whole class to show them what a four would look like.

Mrs. Herzog is the best, most kind, and inspirational person in my life. Without her I wouldn’t know who would’ve educated me to read and write like I am now. She also taught me to be encouraging and kind to my friends and family. I will always look up to her and how she made such an impact on my life.