End of the year Teacher Gift ideas?

[paper1225]

Jenos-DD has now made it to high school, this seems to be the cut off for us since she has 7 different teachers. If one would stand out to me, I would do something nice for them, but unfortunately I do not think 1 hour/day gives the teachers enough time to really have the same effect as the grade school teachers do.......DD has her favorites, but this does not always make them a "good teacher" we have found.....

 

[Sandi]

Just wondering the grade that teacher's stop receiving gifts (asking teachers)
Or maybe they don’t,

DD has so many teachers/coaches, that it would get expensive to give each one of them a gift. I do help when help is needed throughout the year but haven’t given a gift since maybe 4th grade.

DD16 is in high school and we still do gifts at winter break [usually $10-15 gcs to a local coffee place -- it also serves tea, juice, sandwiches, etc., so even if they don't drink coffee (like me) it's still useful] and something at the end of the school year. She also participates in sports, so we do gcs for the coaches.

We also bring the bagels or lunch items on the teacher appreciation days.

I think most people stop doing gifts (if they did them at all) by high school. But, I tell you what, there is no more appreciative bunch than my DD's high school teachers. We have only one child and DH and I both have good jobs, so it is worthwhile to include in our family budget.

 

[jaylensmom]

I am thinking about starbucks gift card and making this cute card to put it in:

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/04/thanks-latte.html

next week is teacher appreciation week at my son's school and this is what i will be doing

 

[gabriellyn]

How about for my DS10's teacher who is being laid off...

I am getting her a Target gc and a super nice thank you card. We are all so sad about it...

 

[chellt]

When I retire, I am opening a store called "Apple Crap."

I kid, I kid - save the flames.

As a teacher, I must agree.

Mugs and candles are plentiful and aren't always used by the teachers. But regardless of what my students give me, the smile on their faces and twinkle in their little eyes when they give you something is the true gift!

 

[torinsmom]

We have really appreciated our son's teacher this year - he has gone way beyond what we have had others do! We want to thank him extra special! I see all these great "cute" ideas, but not sure a man would want them. We are getting him a $25 restaurant GC, we know he and his wife enjoy eating out.....would like to make some sort of basket, or bag with other ideas......

Maybe have your son write or scribe a letter telling you how much he has enjoyed being in his class. Make sure a copy of the letter makes it to the principal as well.

 

[Minnie_me]

I'm a teacher, and I always give gift cards to my kids' teachers. They're easy to buy, and always appreciated! Times are tough right now for everyone. Our school budget has been slashed so drastically, we teachers are buying TONS of supplies on our own. So it's nice to receive a gift that we can actually use to pay for something for ourselves.

I've been teaching for almost 24 years, and when we moved 5 years ago, I bit the bullet and sold TONS of teacher knickknacks (mugs included) that I had accumulated over the years. The stuff is cute but really serves no purpose.

 

[Aliceacc]

A couple of times I've given a box of goodies from the Scholastic Dollar Sale (though the dollar store might have some offerings)-- border, posters, and so on.

That stuff gets expensive (especially with all the cuts going on; teachers are getting less of a budget to spend on their classroom, if any at all.) So a big bag of goodies goes over well.

I'm a teacher (though high school) who doesn't drink coffee.

 

[labdogs42]

I'm giving my DS's kindergaretn teacher a Tervis Tumbler. Not the teacher design (I might go with Mickey Mouse, since she likes Disney stuff). I will have DS make a card and enclose his picture, too. Hopefully she'll like it.

 

[IDoDis]

I can't believe the end of our school year is only a few weeks away It has me thinking about our end of the year teacher gifts. I am hoping my Dis-friends can help me come up with some special gifts on a budget. So far I am thinking a mug/travel mug with a GC for coffee, but I am open to any suggestions!

NO mugs! Teachers have too many of these -- trust me (DH and I are both teachers). Each year we end up with 6 to 10 mugs and about 4 Starbuck's travel mugs. We kept the Starbucks mugs and got rid of the others, but now we have way too many travel mugs, too.

Spend a little more on the gift card and save the money you'd have spent on the travel mug.

Another suggestion is to buy a gift card to Coldstone or another ice cream place. Then buy a nice ice cream scooper. Attach a note with a ribbon saying, "Thanks for giving me 'the scoop' on learning this year. Have a 'cool' summer."

 

[StitchBuddy]

I teach high school and have a DD in middle school. I do sometimes receive gifts especially from students I have taught 2-4 years. I plan on sending some of my DD teachers gifts at the end of this year, but only those she has really bonded with. Teachers don't usually recieve many gifts when they teach middle or high school. A student wrote me a page long letter this year and I think of all the "things" I have ever received, that one is the most special. This student has never been enrolled in one of my classes, but volunteered when I taught middle school special needs students. When I moved up to the high school with them, I would run into her in the hall and have kept up with her over the last 6 years. She also chose me as Teacher of the Year for an event at her church. I can't tell you how much that meant to me.

 

[Dizzyworld]

I suggest no mugs, tote bags, anything with a scent, anything with #1 teacher on it, or other things for desks.I am getting too many picture frames now. I agree a small gift certificate is so much more appreciated. I have given away so many tote bags over the years. Things with scents, I'd offer my neighbor or they were tossed before even getting to my house. While those gifts were appreciated, you just get too many of them over the years. Cards and notes have always meant a lot to me.

I have two children in high school. I give gift certificates to teachers that have really helped my child in school, and to those teachers that wrote college letters of recommendations.

 

[whatsup]

I can't believe the end of our school year is only a few weeks away It has me thinking about our end of the year teacher gifts. I am hoping my Dis-friends can help me come up with some special gifts on a budget. So far I am thinking a mug/travel mug with a GC for coffee, but I am open to any suggestions!

Teachers have enough mugs, candles, picture frames, body lotions, candy etc... year after year they get these same gifts only to find themselves giving them away or donating them. The best gift to give is a GIFT CARD!!!

 

[Mary•Poppins]

I know this has been said before. But a personal note from the student and/or parent is what is appreciated the most. I have been teaching for 23 years and I have all the notes my students and/or parents have written to me. When I am having a bad day, I like to go through this file. These are the families I remember the most just because they took time out of their busy schedules to say thanks.

I am a teacher and don't expect anything for doing my job. Times are tough for everyone. Save your money for a Disney trip.

 

[spacemountainmom]

I will add that a note is probably the best thing you can give a teacher.

A couple of months ago, my 6th grader made a very nice comment about a teacher he has this year and his second grade teacher. He said that "Mr. B is the male equivalent of Mrs. R - you know, the BEST TEACHER EVER!"

I work at my son's school so I told Mr. B about the conversation and he loved it. I emailed Mrs. R with the story and thanked her again for being the favorite teacher for both of my kids. My dd is in High School and still talks about how much she loved being in Mrs. R's classroom. The next day I received a reply from her thanking me for taking the time to share the story and said she'd been having a rough year and a rough week and it was just what she needed to hear. It helped her to remember why she comes to school every day.

It took just a few moments of my time, but made a huge difference to her. I used to always write notes to my kids' grade school teachers, but am trying to remember to do something any time a teacher does something that makes a difference to my kids.

 

[dawnball]

My first-grade daughter had an issue this year year that involved bringing erasers home from school. She fessed up and took back the erasers (as many as we could find, at least), then bought more with her allowance to give to the class.

For her end of year gift/teacher appreciation week gift my daughter wrote and illustrated "The Story of the Missing Erasers". I'm writing a note about how much her teacher helped my daughter grow, and helped us understand her this year. Then we'll add a pink eraser, a pack of sticky tack (another growth vector from first grade) and a gift card.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

As a teaching assistant for 9 years, I've gotten a lot of end-of-year gifts from my students and their families. We always love gift cards of any type. The amount doesn't matter one bit. It's just nice to know the family is thinking of you and appreciates your work with their kids. Last year, one family gave us little gift bags with useful summer items including sunscreen, hand sanitizer, lip balm, etc. Another family gave us flowering plants that were very nice.

It's also nice to give something that matches the person's likes or interests. The teacher in my room always makes a big deal about how much she likes dark chocolate. She teaches our preschoolers to say, "Ms. B. loves dark chocolate!" Several parents brought her some at the end of the year. The kids also know how much I like bunnies because I'm always pointing them out in books and pictures. By the end of the year when we see a bunny the kids say, "Ms. T! There's a bunny!" Last year, I got two little stuffed bunnies and several bunny cards from my kids!

 

[Fobgirl12]

As a teacher I cannot agree more with previous posts that say we teacher love gift cards, especially to chain places. Those are definitely gaurenteed to be appreciated.

 

[kaywoody]

I give personalized flash drives at the end of the year. Teachers have to back up their files from their computers (we usually reimage them during the summer), and they come in handy.

I order from www.pexagontech.com and let my kids pick the color of the flash drive and what wording to put on them. You get two lines of text. We tried the ones with the swivel caps this year and I really like them!

My thought is that you can never have too many flash drives!

 

[Mom2Ben02]

I always give my kid's teachers plants. I attach a note that says, "Thanks for helping me grow!". It usually costs me around $2. That way, I can give one to everyone - my son has speech, social workers, gym, music, etc etc etc. His "main" teachers - special ed and regular ed - also get a home depot gift card to buy more garden supplies