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Amanda Jones
Weaver
Rhetoric 101
8 September 2014
Influential Teachers
From an early age, I was always drawn to adults. While the other kids in the
neighborhood were playing with children their own age, and having their own conversations, I
always loved sitting and being with the adults, and listening to their conversations, hearing the
experiences, and just being totally focused on what each one of them had to say. Their
conversations were so much more exciting than my peers topic of choice, which usually
included who drew what on the back seat of the bus. This draw to those who were older than me
went on into my school and allowed me to make some close bonds with teachers I had. I was
closest to Mrs. Hobbs, Ms. Switzer, and Ms. Pitcock, all of which were influential in my journey
to becoming a literate person.
Mrs. Hobbs was my fifth grade school librarian at King Elementary in Woodbridge,
Virginia. I remember she suggested a book to me by the name of Blue Lightening and I went
home and finished it that night. I brought it back to her, and we both talked about it, and we had
an instant connection. We had a connection with our sense of humor, ways of thinking, and how
we viewed what was going on around us, which I thought was really interesting, considering the
age gap. This became a routine for us. She would suggest a book, and I would read it, and we
would discuss it. Then the Accelerated Reading (AR) Program was implemented, and each book
became worth a certain amount of points that you would get if you took a test on your knowledge
of the book. Mrs. Hobbs set up a challenge to get a certain number of points, and I always passed

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what she expected. I loved reading. She challenged me to read a lot, and not just read it, but also
really understand it--to become immersed in the story. I took on a whole new way of reading. I
was able to put myself into the story, and really get into it, which is something I had never been
able to do before. She opened a new door for me. I had always liked to read, but never as much
as I did that year. While other students struggled to get the 50 points required for AR tests each
quarter, my numbers were always over one hundred. What I noticed while reading all of these
books was that my vocabulary was broadening. I was using words that I didnt even know
existed. Mrs. Hobbs encouraged me to do better, and to learn more. By the end of my fifth grade
year, I had a few hundred AR points on the board, and I had read a wide array of books. I have
never read so much in my life as I did that year. That year was pivotal in my journey to
becoming a literate person.
My first day of 8th grade, first class of the day, and Ms. Switzer came into the room and
set the tone with a spelling test of some words I had never even seen before. She made her point.
We hadnt been given a spelling test in years, and a lot of our scores showed it. Luckily, I didnt
do so bad, and ended out with an 80%. I still couldnt believe I only had gotten an 80%. It was
spelling! Ive known how to spell words since Kindergarten. That test she gave us set us straight,
and we all knew that we were in for an interesting year. We read some deep and dark books that
were more emotional that anything Id ever read before. It started with The Diary of Anne Frank.
I wasnt used to the darkness of the material she was giving us. I was used to happy stories of
hope, joy, and freedom; which this book had nothing to do with. Then we read The Giver, and
again, it was dark. A seemingly utopia, that really turned out to be a dystopia. We read some
dark and serious books that year, but it broadened my view of literature. It let me know that there
is more out there to read than books that were unrealistic romances, Prince Charmings, and

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gum drop castles. Those things just dont happen, and Ms. Switzer was honest about that. She
didnt sugar coat the stories and I think that it made me a better reader, and also a better person.
She made me a better reader because she allowed me to explore other genres and themes that
were available to me, but that I had never really taken into consideration. Throughout the school
year I would go to her for help in what I was reading, and we began to talk and it became a
regular activity for us. It was usually about what book we were reading in class, or the general
subject matter that was being covered at that time. It was a way to relate to someone, which in
middle school isnt always the easiest thing to do. It was very helpful to have her in my life, both
educationally and personally. She greatly influenced me as a literate person.
My final literary influence was perhaps my most influential teacher. Ms. Pitcock was a
firecracker. She would tell jokes, make us laugh, and genuinely try to understand us. We were
11th graders, and most teachers didnt take the time of day to really get to know us. Ms. Pitcock
did though. She had been teaching for 27 years, and knew how to do her job well. She made us
laugh, but she also got the job done. She allowed us to get to know ourselves as readers and
writers. We did journaling, both creative and structured. It was a lot of fun. I was never one to sit
down and write in a journal, but we didnt have to. We could put in magazine pictures, quotes,
drawing, paintings, and old photographs. We were allowed to express ourselves, and she would
look over them, and truly appreciate them. The assigned books werent all that great, but she
tried to make them fun for us. We did Jeopardy games, and things of that nature. It wasnt until
we read As I Lay Dying that I really had a favorite book. I dont know if it was that the books
was so great, or that Ms. Pitcock got so into teaching it to us, and helping us look get a better
understanding of what it was that we were reading. It has been my favorite books since I read it.
She taught me, and everyone else in the class, not just about literature, but also about life. Over

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the course of the school year, she became the person I would go to talk about what was
happening in my life, and what I was dealing with. She listened to me when I didnt have parents
at home who were there for me to talk to. I really connected with her, and she helped me out
significantly my 11th grade year. What I loved about Ms. Pitcock was that she connected with us,
and got to know each of us as individuals. By the end of the year we were all a bit devastated to
learn she was retiring. I had the chance to speak to her after graduation, which was the first time
I had seen her in almost a year. I thanked her for her enthusiasm and love of teaching. She is the
best teacher I ever had, and I am forever grateful for her.
It was always something about the adults in my life that fascinated me, whether it was
their lives, the experiences, or their topics for conversation, I was extremely interested. This
draw to adults from an early age is why I bonded so closely with several teachers I had. My
teachers, Mrs. Hobbs, Ms. Switzer, and Ms. Pitcock all had positive and extensive influences on
my abilities as a literate person. Theyve allowed me to become a better-equipped person in this
world, and I can never thank them enough.