My son had an old school kindergarten teacher as well. Lots of tears and hurt feelings that year, but I survived... no wait, I meant him. I helped a lot that year in her classroom - and almost all of those kids were reading before Christmas, the highest level of booklets in her room were on a 3rd grade level and 7 children, including my son, reached that by May. Did I mention there were a lot of tears that year?
Interesting. I had a bad 3rd grade year with a teacher who would not let you go home at night until you corrected every single mistake you made in any classroom work, homework, or tests. I can recall walking out of there crying one night. I had a headache and was too miserable to deal with it. On the front sidewalk I puked my guts out. Turns out I had a fever when I got home. My mother was furious.