A concerned friend of a second grade child sent me an email the child’s teacher recently sent the parents. The friend wanted to get my impressions. Here was my immediate reaction to the email (which you will have a chance to read not just once, but twice): my body tightened. I felt sorrow for the child. I felt a combination of disgust and despair that the teacher clearly has no idea how dull and dispiriting this classroom and teaching approach sounds. I was curious to see what Natalie and William thought. I printed out the letter and asked them to jot down their responses. I’ve pasted in the teacher’s email…