Teachers-good end of year gift

[Iam.Goofy]

We always do gift cards. It can get expensive, especially in middle and high school, so we try not to go very expensive unless the teacher was outstanding. I'm a little worried that receiving a teacher gift is becoming expected. Not everyone can afford it, and, it shouldn't be an expectation. We do it because we appreciate the extra help and effort teachers usually give us during the year. We also do a Christmas teacher gift, so, they get two gift cards per year from us.

 

[goofy4tink]

When I was a high school student, my mom always wanted me to bring gifts to my teachers at the end of the year, and I was too embarrassed to do it. I can hear it in my head: "But, mooooooommmm ..."

Now that I am a high school teacher, I personally understand how much my high school teachers would have appreciated it had I not been so self-conscious. I have friends that teach in elementary schools that tell me how many awesome gifts they received at the end of the year, but I can't say the same. I'm lucky to get one gift in total for the year! I have been extra lucky this year. One student got me a $5 gift card to Culver's, and two students who went to Disney over Thanksgiving and Christmas each brought me back some Goofy Gummies (which I guess weren't gifts since I paid them to do it... but it was still very nice!).

Please don't forget middle and high school teachers. We certainly don't have it easy. None of us do... despite what the media will tell you. (Here I am, taking a 10 minute break from my Sunday fun day of grading assignments and writing final exams.)

I agree with everybody here - gift cards are the way to go. They might seem impersonal, but they are likely the most appreciated gift of all.

Quick story...as a high school teacher, you should get a kick out of it....and it's almost a thank you note. My dd had a wonderful teacher for English Comp in high school. This same teacher led a class, during the early summer, for seniors who were putting their college essays together. Dd didn't want to do it, I forced her. She was sooooo happy when her essay was done by August, everyone else was struggling and getting little input from teachers. Then, this teacher went on to become a Vice Principal at the high school. So, fast forward to dd's freshman year in college. It was second semester and she was taking a requisite English class. She got a paper back, with a very personal notation on it. Evidently, the professor was stunned with dd's ability to use grammar correctly and to form proper sentences.....she said that she had seldom seen such a well written report from a freshman, especially in that class. Evidently, her high school teacher had done a really good job and had some pretty high expectations...which evidently the kids (some at least) met!!! I suggested that my dd let this high school teacher, now vice principal, know about the paper. She sent the teacher off an email, with the professor's notes included, and thanking her for being such a great teacher! That woman was so happy to, not only hear from a former student, but to hear how well they were doing. And to know what a great part she had played in that success!!!!
I'm sure teachers sometimes wonder if it's all 'worth it'. Kids, and their parents, tend to never recognize what good teachers do for their students!

 

[IDoDis]

We always do gift cards. It can get expensive, especially in middle and high school, so we try not to go very expensive unless the teacher was outstanding. I'm a little worried that receiving a teacher gift is becoming expected. Not everyone can afford it, and, it shouldn't be an expectation. We do it because we appreciate the extra help and effort teachers usually give us during the year. We also do a Christmas teacher gift, so, they get two gift cards per year from us.

It's certainly not an expectation. I hope people don't think that. Many parents/kids don't give gifts at all -- ever... and that's perfectly fine. However, when a gift IS given, it is very much appreciated! If you can't afford a gift, a thank you card is just as appreciated. Many parents don't even do that the entire school,year. High school teachers get the least of all because the kids don't want to give the gift or card. When my own kids were young they were happy to give a gift to their teacher, but once they were in middle school it got harder to convince them to take a gift. Then in high school they definitely didn't want to bring gifts because no one else did (according to them) and they didn't want to appear to be a "suck-up." I know those teachers would have really been thankful for their hard work being recognized and valued.

 

[fly girl]

Amazon has gift cards, as a teacher I would like the flexibility of it.

Yay! Happy to read this. I've given these out the last 2 years for dd's teachers!

 

[Teresa Pitman]

When I was graduating high school (a LONG time ago), I wanted to give a gift to my languages teacher because I thought he was a great teacher and he'd done a lot to encourage me. I didn't get an allowance, and while I had a summer job coming up, I had no money at the time. My parents thought the idea of teacher gifts was ridiculous (we were pretty poor and lived on a farm). So I took some of my ceramic horses (I loved horses and collected little ceramic ones) and some books I liked, and wrapped them up to give the teacher. He seemed really happy to get the gift and my thank you, but ever afterwards I felt like an idiot. What was a grown man going to do with ceramic horses?? To this day I hope he understood the spirit the gift was given in and that I was trying to share something I loved to let him know I appreciated what he did for me.

 

[IDoDis]

When I was graduating high school (a LONG time ago), I wanted to give a gift to my languages teacher because I thought he was a great teacher and he'd done a lot to encourage me. I didn't get an allowance, and while I had a summer job coming up, I had no money at the time. My parents thought the idea of teacher gifts was ridiculous (we were pretty poor and lived on a farm). So I took some of my ceramic horses (I loved horses and collected little ceramic ones) and some books I liked, and wrapped them up to give the teacher. He seemed really happy to get the gift and my thank you, but ever afterwards I felt like an idiot. What was a grown man going to do with ceramic horses?? To this day I hope he understood the spirit the gift was given in and that I was trying to share something I loved to let him know I appreciated what he did for me.

That is so sweet! I'm sure those horses meant a lot to him!

One year I had a student who was adopted from a foreign country and had a very rough first few years of her life before coming to the U.S. She had a difficult year with behaviors post adoption, on top of having to learn a new language and culture, but I felt like I was able to at least gain her trust. On the last day of school (she was moving to a different school the next year), she handed me a wrapped-in-notebook paper, crudely taped gift. It was half of a Geode rock that was plain on the outside and had beautiful crystals on the inside. She told me to keep it always and to think of her when I held the rock. She said she had the other half and would think of me the same way.

I will forever cherish that Geode. On the outside my student looked just like any other little girl (like the Geode), but on the inside was a beautiful, unique, delicate child who was going to need a lot of caring people in her life to help her on her rough journey. What made the gift even more special was that she didn't go buy it specifically for me. She bought it earlier in the school year at a museum gift shop during a school field trip. She was probably in her bedroom thinking about what she could give me as a gift at the end of the year and decided on the Geode.

I'm sure your teacher cherished those ceramic horses for the same reason. Your gift truly came from the heart!