I was thinking about it and in all fairness, the previous teacher
was probably a good teacher, but more important to the parents, a
familiar teacher. Parents, more so than children, need that
consistency, especially if they have had other children pass through
the system. You may have been too new and unfamiliar to them even
if you were in the school last year and have taught for years. I
have met, and experienced personally, the problems when you take
over a grade or program from a teacher who has been there for a
considerable amount of time (even if you have taught in the school
yourself for years). Some parents get upset when they can't predict
their child's teachers. They like to know that in Grade 4 they will
have ___________, in Grade 5 they will have _________, in Grade 6
they will have ________________.

In a few years when you leave your current grade parents will be
upset that you won't be teaching their children. Parents have short
term memory.

On 12/31/11, Ooops, one more thing - tmt wrote:
> I know, the earlier post was more than long enough, but I wanted
> to add:
>
> That very group of grade twos who had parents who made me
> absolutely miserably ended up (more or less) intact in my grade
> five classroom after an assignment change a few years later.
>
> Academically, not much had changed. Those who were lower pretty
> much remained lower. Those who were strong pretty much remained
> strong, and although they had matured and grown they were a
> similar group with respect to the now higher grade level
> expectations.
>
> There was a group of seven who had been the worst parents to deal
> with (and the most struggling learners) in grade two. I did my
> teaching and early assessments and found them to be about where
> one could predict they would be. Later, I wrote reports
> accurately, and to the best of my ability, and braced for the
> explosions during the first round of conferences.
>
> Not a one.
>
> Every parent listened to my comments, asked good questions, and
> was very civil. The most common comment? "Oh yeah, that's no
> surprise. We've been hearing that for years."
>
> So, after interviews were over I grabbed a few cums (six remained
> of my seven from grade two) and checked things out. I've
> summarized the gist of each year's comments for all six:
>
> Grade One report - glowing...child is reading well above
> Grade 2 (me) - student requires support to meet outcomes.
> Grade 3 (not me) - student requires support to meet outcomes.
> Grade 4 (not me) - student requires support to meet outcomes.
> Grade 5 (me) - student requires support to meet outcomes.
>
> Of course no one ever apologized for torturing me three years
> earlier, but at least the blame seemed to have faded....
>
> Anyway, you'll probably not hear from them later about what a
> difference you made, but you really are making one now.

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