1 . Steve was a seventh grader, a big boy, looking more like a teenager than a 12-year-old. Yet, he went unnoticed — he had been________ every examination since first grade — until Miss Wilma.

In the middle of the first semester of school, the entire seventh grade was________ for basic skills.

“You all did pretty well,” Miss Wilma told the class after going over the________ except for one boy. And it________ my heart to tell you this, but…” she________ , “the smartest boy in the seventh grade is failing my class.” Steve________ his eyes and carefully examined his fingertips.

After that, Steve still wouldn’t do his homework. Even if Miss Wilma________ punished him, he remained________ .     

“Steve, please! I care about you!”________ , Steve got it! “Someone CARES ABOUT ME?!”

One Monday a couple of weeks later, Miss Wilma gave a________ on the weekend homework. Steve________ through the test and was the first to hand in his paper. With a look of________ , Miss Wilma took his paper and began to look it over.

Miss Wilma’s face was in________ shock! She glanced up at Steve, then________ , then up. The smartest boy in the seventh grade had just passed his first test!

From that moment, nothing was the same for Steve. He discovered that not only could he remember and understand________ , but he could translate what he learned into his life. He became________ . After high school, Steve enlisted in the Navy, and he had a(n)________military career. During his naval years, he inspired many young people who might not have________ themselves without him. A________ took place within the heart of a boy all because of one teacher, who________ .

2 . During a team of online learning, the teachers had done their best to keep students ________ during the COVID-19 pandemic. And students are now returning the favor by surprising their teachers with messages of ________.

“I wanted my professors to know they were ________ for all the inspiring words they say and their ________,” Faith Williams, a student at a university, said. “This teacher-appreciation action kept ________ on my TikTok and in each video teachers broke down in front of their students, which was really moving,” she said. Williams’ own video surprised her ________ Michael Rapp, gained immediate attention from viewers and received ________ comments. “Rapp really ________ his students’ lives and has great popularity across campus. You can tell by the comments on my TikTok that many students love the caring and ________ professor,” she added.

Williams explained that she ________ her surprise via a mass email to her classmates, encouraging them to make their own signs and ________ them when to show them off. As seen in the video, it was perfectly ________ with the professor saying goodbye to the class as the ________ term ended.

“You can always find me and I’ll always be there if ________ Good luck with everything in your life,” Rapp said ________, before going speechless at the sight of the signs. “Thank you” he said with tears in his eyes. “Sorry if I got a little ________ right there, but thank you so much. I hope I had as much of ________ on you as you just did right here for me... That’s something that I will definitely ________ forever.”

Many ________ receiving these teacher-appreciation videos displayed the same reaction as Rapp. “I will never forget this. It was so ________,” one of them said.

3 . I loved my first grade teacher, Mrs. Gross. She had such a(n) _______ smile and kind heart. I wasn’t sure what her _______ was at the time but she already looked very grandmotherly. She was soft-spoken and had a very gentle sense of humor, making her lessons _______.

Unlike some teachers, she never _______ or criticised(批评)her students. To me I felt like having a second grandmother as my _______. Every day I arrived at her classroom and sat _______ at my desk with a big smile on my face. Throughout all my years of school I always _______ the happiest times I had spent in her classroom.

One such _______ is still with me to this day. One day, we were doing math problems that were _______ on the blackboard while Mrs. Gross walked through the classroom ________ our work. I finished first and lifted my ________ up just as Mrs. Gross walked up behind me. She looked at my work and smiled. Then she said, “This is really ________ work, Joe. You are a very ________ boy.”

As she walked on, she gently ________ my shoulder and I felt a shock in my heart. I felt so good to be seen. I felt so good to be ________ . From that moment on I always tried my best. I always worked hard. I always wanted to be as clever as she thought I ________ was.

Now I have made a little success in my work. Would I have done as well in school or in ________ if I hadn’t had Mrs. Gross as my first grade teacher? I don’t think so. She ________ a desire in me to be the best person I could be. With her gentle love and ________ I started down a wonderful ________ that I am still on today.