Best Teacher Gift You Ever Received

E

EMom

Comes from a long line of all fork ...
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
It's been ages since I taught and I taught older students, so I never got the group gift card. It wasn't really common to get gifts back then anyway, but I did get a few that were really special and I still have them. I've kept many notes, cards and letters.

A student whose family was from another country had gone home for a visit and brought back a teapot for me. I look at it every day in my kitchen. He was an incredibly shy student and it took all he had to walk up and give me that teapot. I taught history and one of my students came across a piece of graphite shaped as a pencil, found in an old abandoned schoolhouse and gave it to me. I still treasure that.

I'm not really talking about "wow, that was an expensive and impressive gift" type of things, but did you ever get a gift from a student that touched your heart?
 
I got a bra once. It was a Playtex "Cross Your Heart" bra. It really was touching..... A great gift actually. Memorable. And it fit perfectly. :thumbsup2
 


I left off the offer of protection, as it was not a tangible gift. When I was student teaching, I had a pupil with a criminal record as long as your arm. He took a shine to me and one day stayed after class and said, "Miss ____, If anybody ever gives you any trouble, you just tell me and I'll take care of them for you. Nobody's gonna bother you as long as I'm around." I decided to handle it as delicately as possible, especially since he was trying to be generous and was known to knife people. I told him I appreciated his offer and that it meant a lot that he would want to protect me, but that it was important to me to take care of myself whenever possible. He seemed to understand and was not offended. Whew!
 
Many years ago, I taught sixth grade. Several of the girls had shirts that looked like football jerseys. They each had their first name on the back. I mentioned how cute I thought they were. For Christmas, the class gave me my own jersey. On the back, it said "Tony". That's what they called me since my last name is Kellogg....Tony the Tiger.
 


a note from a student at the end of the year was the best gift I ever got. I love when students make me homemade stuff.
 
My students once got me a WWII scrapbook. Very cool & I use it. My most memorable was a bottle of wine... From a 16 year old... Who brought it to school on the bus :scared1:.
 
Once I got a bookend of an Indian elephant from an Indian student. She said she choose that because it was Indian like her, so I would always remember her <3

When I taught primary a student made me a little wood box with my name on it. I still have it on my desk and use it for my post its.

Another gift I've loved is books for our class library.
 
Ok I'll be honest here...I'm gonna say it. After 25 years of teaching, I am going to admit that handwritten notes are nice, but I don't save them.

I love giftcards. They're something I can use and don't create clutter. (My house is the most UNCLUTTERED house of all. I actually could be a potential candidate for that show Tiny Houses). Two years ago, on the last day of school, my class, along with the Room Mom, presented me with a $250 Disney Gift Card (they all knew I was heading to Disney a few days later). I thought that was SO thoughtful and I was extremely appreciative.
 
I have two small works of art done by students and given to me as gifts that I display in my office at school. One is a colored pencil sketch from a HS student of the characters from a favorite musical with a wonderful quote from the same show - that student is now a graphic designer. Another is a painting of a tree from a MS student referencing a song we sang that year about roots and branches. Here at home I'm looking at a framed original poem from another former student. So things that they have made that are special to them. Teaching in the performing arts, I don't often get gifts like an elementary classroom teacher would (which is fine) but when I do get them, they tend to be from students who I've worked with for many years, and very special.
 
Not a teacher, but a nurse. Can I join in?

One of my most treasured gifts from a patient is a cashmere scarf. We forged a special relationship and medically, his situation went on to become a landmark case. I still run across the story from time to time and it always brings a smile to my face. He was one of those people you never forget.

Another (way back in the 80s) was a $20 bill. The reason it is noteworthy is because he was one of the most difficult patients I'd ever had up to that point. As I started my shift, he was swearing and cussing at me; at everyone, including his wife. I left the room, took a deep breath, thought about how I'd handle it, then went back in and told him straight up it was going to be a really long shift for both of us if he didn't stop swearing. Within a few hours, we'd become fast friends, and, believe it or not, before the shift ended, after his family went home, he asked me to sit down and help him plan his funeral! It was the first time he'd apparently opened up to anyone to talk about it. He taught me the lesson, as a young nurse, about the grief response sometimes manifesting itself as anger, but that underneath the rough exterior, there can be someone who is really just hurting a lot.

Another touching gift, that I was thinking about last week as I worked the holiday, was the year one family made us an entire Thanksgiving dinner. That was amazing! (And yes, we gobbled it up!)

Love hearing your stories!
 
I got my 3 favorites all the same year. One was a gift certificate for a little local candy store. Super fun and I walked my class there a lot.
Then there was the Santa head ornament the little girl picked out and wrote her name on the back. I still have this one and my daughter loves it because I always talk about 'that little girl' She is around 22 now I'd guess.
The last one was a little scarf and gloves. It wasn't that they were anything special but the little girl was so excited for me to open them she was shaking while I did.
One thing about teaching preschoolers they really love to give gifts as much as getting them. Their excitement was the best!
 
During my student teaching, ET was a big thing. When I left, a 3rd grade student drew a picture of ET with his finger shining saying "Miss X phone home." Regretfully, although I'm sure I saved it, I have never been able to find it. I wish I had framed it to hang in my classroom.
 
A fleece blanket. Nothing spectacular, just a green blanket. One of the few things I brought back from overseas with me and I still think of him when I see it. Two students gave me scarves but I agree, the pictures and notes were the best. I like them because you just put them in a scrapbook so they take up no room.
 
My wife is a preschool teacher. Last year she received a $50 gift card for Ruth's Criss Steakhouse. We ate minimal, and still spent over $100 out of pocket! And that was with our drinks getting comped!
 
I have two that are sitting in my family room right now. I taught high school so I never really got much but I had these three girls for three years. At the National Honor Society meeting they asked their favorite teacher to come. One talked about how she wanted to go to DW with me and go on all the rides while her brother held our bags. The other two,who knew I loved villains since I had the Villains poster in my classroom, gave me a bag with a villain travel mug and a Maleficent doll and a Cruella doll.

I am the type to keep thank you notes. I also started a book a few years ago where the kids could leave me a note before they left for the year. This has a great deal of memories for me now that I am retired.
 
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