First of all, I know how hard it can be when ONE out of many
calls you out for what he/she thinks. You handled this
PERFECTLY in listening to what she had to say and thanking her
for her opinion. I can also tell you are a fantastic teacher
for really thinking about what happened, what you do in the
classroom now, what you could possibly do to "fix" it, and
being so bothered by this. A teacher who didn't care about what
he/she does wouldn't even give this a second thought.

I see a couple of things in your post that I would address:

1. She says the class is paced too fast. Is she struggling with
her work or grades? If so, her frustration may come from this.
In all honesty, this one sentence jumped out at me as the
likely main reason for her complaint. If she's struggling with
keeping up, that could definitely translate into "I'm not
learning anything, and my previous classes were better because
they were paced more slowly."

2. If you do indeed give more work than her previous teachers,
is it possible she is more bothered by an adjustment to a
different format than she is the work itself? If you really
look at those assignments and truly don't feel they are not
"busy" work, you need to explain to her EXACTLY why you give
them. Don't let her just walk away calling it busy work if it's
not. Actually show her the state standards and explain exactly
how your work relates to them.

3. You also need to let her know that yes, talking about how
literature makes you feel is a large portion of reading it, but
so is identifying the qualities in it that make it great
literature-especially at the high school level- and yes, a
great deal of your time in a HIGH SCHOOL English class will be
used to identify these.

4. You absolutely have to let her know it was disrespectful of
her to compare you to her other teachers. How would she feel if
you ended the conversation by telling her how much better all
of your other students are. I really think you need to get the
point across that while she did the right thing in approaching
you and you definitely appreciate her specific feedback, the
personal attack was not needed and not helpful. I feel this was
a very inappropriate thing for her to say.

5. Talk to her other teachers. Find out her strengths, and use
that information to "reach" her.

Please keep us updated on how things go. Although I know one
student's complaints can really make you doubt yourself, take
out those emails from previous students and remind yourself
just how fantastic you are-because you are!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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