I know we've had past discussions regarding teacher gifts but here goes again.... What items are most appreciated/needed for elementary school teachers? I understand they've all probably got a drawer full of #1 Teacher coffee mugs/ornaments, etc. I've done gift certificates to Target, Wal Mart in the past but just wanted some new (& maybe less expensive ) ideas. Between school teachers and Sunday school teachers, I need help. Thanks & Merry Christmas!
I did embroidered lunch bags last year (cute prints with the bright monogrammed initial)! they were a huge HIT! :hurray:
I usually do a goodie bag with candy, chocolate, small memo pads, nice pens, hand location, etc. I am looking for ideas for something small my son could make for his teacher this holiday instead. He is in 2nd grade. I took his teacher a goodie bag not long after school started "just because" and she thought it was a bride. She was for real about it too and I was for real that it was NOT a bribe.
Bribe? I don't get it. IF she thought it was a bribe, why would you want to make her another one! Just curious.
:iagree: Maybe a note saying that you would have gotten her something but didn't want it to be thought of as a bribe.
Really only because my son wants to. We always try to give something to all of the people who he knows directly at school including PE teacher, library staff, receptionist, etc.
One year I did a movie basket - a plastic bowl and 2 cups from Wal-Mart or Dollar Tree, a package of microwave popcorn, a couple of soft drinks and a gift card to Blockbuster.
I usually bake mini-loaves of banana nut bread, take small mason jars and fill with hot chocolate mix (or get a Dunkin' Donuts gift card), a card, and a Christmas ornament or picture frame to give to teachers. Believe it or not, I have every ornament my students ever gave me over the 12+ years I taught middle school. I love putting them on the tree every year! At the end of the year or semester, usually a modest gift card is given. It gets expensive with 2 kids who can have a ton of teachers over the year's time in middle and high school, but I think it is important to do a little something for all they do each day. What I appreciated most when I taught was a note written by the parent and/or student expressing gratitude for the job I did. The gift was not the big thing!
I love the new Vera Bradley lunch bags. There are also some cute ones at the Hallmark store that are monogrammed.
I did this and was promptly informed that she didn't watch movies or care to. So there we stood, with her obviously useless gift in hand. ...A simple thank you would have done...then she could swap with another teacher...which I'm sure they do. Cynical is my favorite color. :neutral:
<- Miss Manners says that those who do not appreciate or say Thank You should have their gift snatched out of their hand. "Oh, I don't watch movies or care to" "Well then you won't be needing this, then" <snatch> Wow, where do these people come from?
Oh my gosh! I am shocked by some of the responses on here!! How about being thankful!?!? I had a student bring me an obviously well used, chipped coffee mug one year....it's still my fave gift of all time because he had drawn me a picture of the two of us reading a book as well as included a little note. It made me cry...I'm a sap though!
teacher gift One of my all-time favorites is a blouse that a student had taken from mom's closet, wrapped and gifted. It was awfully embarrassing to accept, but mom insisted too. It could have come from Good Will I guess, but still one of my favorites.
PG, that is SO sweet. Reminds me of this story - one of my faves. LITTLE TEDDY STODDARD There is a story many years ago of an elementary teacher. Her name was Mrs. Thompson. And as she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise. Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners...he is a joy to be around." His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle." His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken." Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class." By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present which was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to." After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets." A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favourite teacher he ever had in his whole life. Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favourite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer -- the letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, M.D. The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he'd met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference." Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you.
