Good idea. If anyone knows who this teacher is and wants to share it with her, go ahead!
Dear Dreadful First Grade Teacher:
I wanted to let you know that DS has thrived since we pulled him out of your class, and the school, mid-year. He now has a teacher who understands how important it is that all of the children in the class progress and learn. You claimed that he did not need anything special because he was "happy" and treated me like a pushy tiger mother. You seemed to go out of your way to hold him back, not "push" him, and make sure he doesn't learn anything new. Luckily you have not completely ruined him, and he has said several times how proud he is that he is learning "hard math" and is reading at an advanced level. His new teacher has each child be "Star of the Week" and display a talent. DS got to stand on a chair (as a stage) and the kids asked him multiplication questions. He was grinning ear to ear and so proud of himself and how impressed the other kids were. Considering how many other challenges he has, I think he deserves to be proud of something rather than having his strengths completely dismissed and ignored. You took a strength that that could have been used to motivate him, and motivate the other students, and turned it into something negative.
You claimed that he would not need to be given any math above a first grade level, and that even first grade math might be too hard for him, despite his high IQ and achievement scores. How strange that his new teacher was able to get him to understand probability, how to convert units of measurement using multiplication and long division, and adding and subtracting negative integers.
His writing improved dramatically within 2 days of being with the new teacher, because she recognized that he was regressing and wasn't doing his best work. She firmly (but kindly) told him that she was expecting more and he obliged. Kids tend to do what is expected of them. You expected nothing of him and ignored him, and he did no more than what he could get away with.
I strongly suggest that you think about what you are trying to accomplish as a teacher and whether there are children remaining in your class that have not made adequate progress, or have regressed. I also suggest that you listen to parent concerns from now on, and stop with the passive aggressive behavior when you disagree with a parent. Thanks for your time.
