Gift for amazing teacher

[jennistarr1]

We did gift cards for Christmas and teacher appreciation...but doing it again just doesn't feel like it measures up to how amazing she is. We are writing letter to principal

Any ideas for me

[mccallister84]

Gift cards. I know you’ve said you’ve done it twice, but I can promise it doesn’t get old.

[ckay]

Gift card, and honestly, the letter to the principal is huge!! As a teacher, the heartfelt notes and acknowledgment mean so much. I also enjoy receiving an outdoor plant-basically, anything I don’t have to keep inside my house 😂

[MrsE]

I’m not a teacher but my sister and SIL are and they both appreciate gift cards.

[arehopsveggies]

Gift cards!

One of my students gave me starter tomatoes for my garden this year and that was awesome, but only because she knew I had a garden

[VillainV]

My husband is an elementary school teacher. Gift cards are SO appreciated, and a letter to the principal is an amazing gesture. My husband also really appreciates when families send in his favorite treats (a can of Dr Pepper, a bag of skittles, etc). One student made him a keychain in the colors of his favorite sports team, and he loves it!

[shauni27]

For TAW I did gift cards and a letter to the principal raving about the teacher and also ALL the teachers at S's school. Apparently the principal sent it to the entire school to read it and I had staff I don't even know coming up to me thanking me. They said it means so much to hear that, so I would encourage you to do that.

But also a gift card is always great as is a personal note to the teacher as well.

[VillainV]

I also just want to point out that I think this board skews VERY hard toward teacher gifts. My husband has taught in several school districts in different states (all elementary) and even around the major teaching gift periods (winter holidays, TAW, end of school) he gets a small handful of gifts. In a class of 25ish students, he might get 2-3 small denomination gift cards and maybe 3-4 other small gifts (like I said above, can of soda or small bag of candy). His current school is in a fairly affluent area, and he gets gifts from maybe 1/3 of his students. I think on these boards we feel like we HAVE to get something for teachers, and while it is really very kind and generous, it’s not as common as these boards would have you believe. So if you can’t afford it, or just don’t get around to it, it’s really no big deal. Not worth stressing over.

[jennistarr1]

Jun 7, 2023 8:05:23 GMT -5 VillainV said:

I also just want to point out that I think this board skews VERY hard toward teacher gifts. My husband has taught in several school districts in different states (all elementary) and even around the major teaching gift periods (winter holidays, TAW, end of school) he gets a small handful of gifts. In a class of 25ish students, he might get 2-3 small denomination gift cards and maybe 3-4 other small gifts (like I said above, can of soda or small bag of candy). His current school is in a fairly affluent area, and he gets gifts from maybe 1/3 of his students. I think on these boards we feel like we HAVE to get something for teachers, and while it is really very kind and generous, it’s not as common as these boards would have you believe. So if you can’t afford it, or just don’t get around to it, it’s really no big deal. Not worth stressing over.

This is helpful in general but in this case I REALLY want to show my appreciation...she really is amazing

[scm1011]

Jun 7, 2023 8:05:23 GMT -5 VillainV said:

I also just want to point out that I think this board skews VERY hard toward teacher gifts. My husband has taught in several school districts in different states (all elementary) and even around the major teaching gift periods (winter holidays, TAW, end of school) he gets a small handful of gifts. In a class of 25ish students, he might get 2-3 small denomination gift cards and maybe 3-4 other small gifts (like I said above, can of soda or small bag of candy). His current school is in a fairly affluent area, and he gets gifts from maybe 1/3 of his students. I think on these boards we feel like we HAVE to get something for teachers, and while it is really very kind and generous, it’s not as common as these boards would have you believe. So if you can’t afford it, or just don’t get around to it, it’s really no big deal. Not worth stressing over.

This is true. My DH gets maybe 1-2 gifts a year and its usually something like a homemade bracelet or handwritten card from a student. I think he's gotten a gift card 2-3 times in his 10 years of teaching. Admittedly, he's in a very high-poverty district, but still.

[macmars45]

jennistarr1 because of your post I just finished a letter to my DS' principal.

[meanie]

My go-to class gift is a shutterfly book of thank you's. Each student creates a "thank you" page however they want (letter, drawing, painting, etc). Parents take a picture of it and send it to me, I compile a shutterfly book. I also add pictures from the year's parties and field trips, and a note to the teacher is on the first page.

My husband used to teach and he always got excited for money/giftcards and food, but anything made by his students went into a keepsake box and really meant a lot to him.

[186momx]

My DD is older but random acts of kindness towards teachers and staff we have found are very appreciated. Last Friday DD and I walked down to her old elementary school and took brownies to her old 1st grade teacher. DD had a rotten day at school and she turned the brownies into meltdown brownies and decided Mrs. J need a Friday meltdown brownie. I got a message from her later and those brownies saved her from her strangling someone in her 2 hour meeting.

Yesterday DD and her friend stayed after school to clean the teacher's classroom. They had a sub and things got trashed. I'm interested to see if her teacher noticed today or not.

[jennistarr1]

So another mom circulated a questionnaire we gave teachers about things they like which included kettle corn and candles. So I went to a local popcorn store (popsations) and got tub of kettle corn, a small bag of caramel corn that had a "we love our teachers" sticker, and a candle that smells like popcorn. So I still got a gift card, but this helped me feel like I went next level..and us and kiddo left long messages on card

[outnumbered]

Those gifts sound very thoughtful and she will love the card. If you have time an email to the principal and district administration would be great too.

[ssmjlm]

Gift cards, seriously. I know it sounds cliche, but they're the best. For end of year I'm doing a starbucks gc with a box of fancy sharpies because I already did amazon gc's for teacher appreciation week.

I'm also on the PTA, so I see the hustle in the mornings and after school. Or them showing up to a PTA event because they know it makes the kids happy when they could be anywhere else.

[jordylee]

If you have contact info for the other parents - our class made a “we love Mrs X because…” video and it was a huge hit. All the parents sent a short video (like 10 seconds) to the room mom and she stitched them all together in iMovie with a background song and texted it to her. The result was SO ridiculously sweet and the teacher cried real tears. I loved that it was not “stuff”, which teachers have plenty of. We did a gift card in addition to the class video.