The Importance Of Ms. Jockers In Education

Almost every student has an experience with an unlikeable teacher. In general, teachers are good at what they do. Those who are bad are usually bad in a generic way- those that assign too much homework or are too strict. Rarely do children experience truly awful instructors, the kind that make students dread coming to school. When I was nine, I had one such teacher. In the fourth grade, I suffered under the rule of a teacher called Ms. Jockers. “Suffered” may seem to be an extreme choice in wording, but I stand by it. To nine-year-old me, she was evil incarnate. Not only was she an awful teacher- she was also unfair and unnecessarily cruel. More often than not, I went home from her class feeling confused and upset. My grades began to decline,
Jockers did not just impede my education; she treated me horribly. At one point in the school year, we studied the Iroquois Confederacy, five Native American nations local to upstate New York. For one project, we had to create a toy or tool used by the Iroquois and provide background information. Another girl, Jasmine, and I were assigned to create corn husk dolls. According to the research I had done, corn husk dolls did not have faces because of an Iroquois legend about vanity. I explained this to the class in my presentation, and immediately after Ms. Jockers pulled me into the hallway. She claimed that I upset Jasmine because her dolls had faces. When I tried to explain that I left them blank because it was part of the Native American legend, she scolded me for “talking about
Jockers’ emotional abuse abated. From what I have been told, many parents complained about her. The principal was forced to speak with her, lest her actions be reported and her position as a teacher be reconsidered. Clearly, many of my peers were undergoing the same misery that I was in this class. I understand that I may sound childish, complaining about a teacher from long ago who hurt my feelings. However, it is important to note that as a fourth-grader, I did not expect to be bullied by an adult. My teachers largely influenced who I am as a person. Most were kind, and by the time I had another cruel teacher, I was strong enough not to let it affect me; but in elementary school, I was just figuring out who I was. A class of nine-year-olds should not be forced to defend themselves against the heartlessness of their authority figure. Teachers are supposed to encourage children to learn, to praise them when they do well and correct them when they are wrong. Ms. Jockers not only hampered my education, she also damaged my academic self-esteem. Truthfully, I can say that she was the worst teacher I ever