off subject (sorry) - teachers out there...

[moaddi]

what do you like receiving for christmas as gifts from the students?

 

[dana1696]

I always enjoyed gift cards when I was teaching. One year one of the room moms collected about $5 from every student and went in and got me one big gift card! I give gift cards now to my kids' teachers...starbucks, Cheesecake Factory, Barnes and Noble, Cold Stone Creamery, etc.

Hope that helps!

 

[Tricia819]

A gift card to an office supply store, the Know Place, or other teacher supply store is always GREAT!!!! Or if you don't like gift cards, maybe put together a gift basket of commonly used classroom supplies. We pay so much out of pocket for stuff for the classroom and there is never enough to go around.

 

[dana1696]

yes...also great ideas!!

A gift card to an office supply store, the Know Place, or other teacher supply store is always GREAT!!!! Or if you don't like gift cards, maybe put together a gift basket of commonly used classroom supplies. We pay so much out of pocket for stuff for the classroom and there is never enough to go around.

 

[mjkacmom]

Okay, I'm jumping in here to ask another teacher gift question. I've always given gift cards, and have never been guilty of giving mugs, candles, ornaments, body lotion, or anything with an apple on it. My oldest just started JH, and I just can't afford to give all 7 of her teachers gift card (I will continue to give them to the elementary school teachers, since my children only have 1 each).

My dd7 had to sell nuts/candy for Brownies, and I really don't like hitting up friends, family, and neighbors - everyone has kids, and everyone has fundraisers to deal with. I ended up buying 10 holiday containers filled with chocolate covered pretzels (enough for dd to get her badge), and I was planning on giving them to the middle school teachers. I figure they can eat them, serve them to others, or re-gift.

Am I totally lame?

 

[Lstar311]

Gift Cards!! Especially ones to book stores or teaching supply stores. I've had some students that really knew me get me things that I like (Snoopy related) So if you know of anything in particular that your teacher likes you could go that route.

 

[J3nn78]

Gift cards of any type.
I hate getting mugs. I have gotten close to a hundred in the 8 years of teaching.

 

[princesspiglet]

May I ask, how much do you normally spend on a teacher? This is DD's first year in real school (1st grade) and I plan on getting her teacher a gift card but I don't know how much I should spend. I don't want to come across cheap but I don't want to seem snooty either by giving an outlandish amount. I live in a middle-class to upper middle class area.

DD's teacher is really awesome and has gone out of her way to communicate with me and DD adores her. I am thinking $100-$150. Is that about par?

 

[oldbay]

May I ask, how much do you normally spend on a teacher? This is DD's first year in real school (1st grade) and I plan on getting her teacher a gift card but I don't know how much I should spend. I don't want to come across cheap but I don't want to seem snooty either by giving an outlandish amount. I live in a middle-class to upper middle class area.

DD's teacher is really awesome and has gone out of her way to communicate with me and DD adores her. I am thinking $100-$150. Is that about par?

Wow! That seems really high. I think $20 is more than sufficient. Does she have an aide/special area teachers you can give to as well? I would also save some of that $$ for an end of year gift too.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

May I ask, how much do you normally spend on a teacher? This is DD's first year in real school (1st grade) and I plan on getting her teacher a gift card but I don't know how much I should spend. I don't want to come across cheap but I don't want to seem snooty either by giving an outlandish amount. I live in a middle-class to upper middle class area.

DD's teacher is really awesome and has gone out of her way to communicate with me and DD adores her. I am thinking $100-$150. Is that about par?

It really depends on your area. My niece teaches in NJ and gets Coach bags and Godiva chocolates from her kids (or their parents). Around here, gifts range from $20-50, although one of DD9's teachers got a Coach bag last year (not from us).

 

[SLK1]

First, I think around middle school is when I stopped giving gifts. It just got to be too much.

Second, I treat an end-of-the-year gift like a tip...if the teacher was good, she got a decent gift. If she was phenominal (only had one of those so far, and I have a 9th grader, 7th grader, and 1st grader), she gets about $100.

Third, at Christmas I usually give about $25. I do not like contributing to a class gift because they sign it from the whole class, even if only a few participate, so your teacher doesn't really know if you are appreciating her or not!

 

[princesspiglet]

Wow! That seems really high. I think $20 is more than sufficient. Does she have an aide/special area teachers you can give to as well? I would also save some of that $$ for an end of year gift too.

Ya know, I was thinking it was high also, but there are alot of kids in DD's class whose parents drive BMW's, Mercedes, etc, so of course, I don't want to come across as being cheap. We can afford to give it without breakfing the bank, but again, I want to know what is common.

She does not have any aids. There are room moms who help out, but I won't be giving them all gifts! I plan on giving an end of year gift also, but that will be totally seperate from the holiday gift.

 

[CoffeeCup]

Gift cards are great. The containers of nuts, brownies, etc. a poster mentioned also are appreciated. I realize that some school have bans on homemade foods, but I have had several families well-known for their baking skills who have provided me with wonderful homemade goodies I enjoyed greatly. I taught high school for over 35 years, and the gifts I really appreciated the most were cards from students who didn't have wealthy parents, a candy cane, or a "Merry Christmas" at the end of class from a student who had seemed very aloof all semester. If you have several children in the same school, you might consider sending a tray of cookies to the teachers' lounge for the entire staff to enjoy. Sometimes several families have gone together and provided hot spiced tea or coffee, cookies and cakes, etc., for the staff.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I like getting thank you notes. But that's just me.

How much people "usually" spend depends on the region -- my old school served lots of rich people and $100 was not unusual. DS's school is pretty middle class and I think people often give $10 or $15 gifts (I usually do around $20). My school is low income and teachers don't usually get any gifts at all.

But when I taught at the "rich" school I didn't expect anything, other than a handshake and a "Happy Holidays", same as I expect now.

 

[RN01]

I have a friend who is a teacher. I was in her basement one day and I saw 8 rubbermaid tubs full of candles. I asked her about them and she said that's what all her school kids get her for christmas. So here's a hint, DON'T GET A CANDLE FOR A TEACHER!

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

I was just reading this to my DH and we are SHOCKED to say the least. I typically spend $5 per teacher (last year was different, I loved the teachers and spent a few extra, literally, like $3 extra.) for the end of the year gift and normally make fudge and other goodies wrapped pretty at Christmas that the kids have helped me make (yes, no homemade rule at our school but the teachers can decided if they want to eat them or not. I know they do cause they often eat a nibble as soon as they look inside.) I know we don't live in an expensive area, but wow! Anyway, DH pointed out that you should be careful giving too much as many teachers are not allowed to accept excessive gifts and cash (which a high gift card could be looked at as being.) I like the idea of $5 per kid for a gift card and I used to be the room mom with my oldest and we did that, but since the school has done away with room moms so we have no way of doing it. Also, we stopped the gifts at MS as well, way to many teachers. She would give a candy cane or someting just to say Merry Christmas, but that is all we can afford for her 9 teachers.

Side note, It will be interesting to see what the teachers are given this year at my kids' school. Our school district closed our school and they are at a new school this year. We were at the "poorest" school in the district and my kids are now at the "wealthiest" school in the district, I wonder if we will see a big change. Doesn't matter, we still can't afford more, and I think what we do is thoughtful.

 

[Tricia819]

Maybe you could just make a donation to the school. It would benefit everyone and then you don't have to worry about giving gifts to all your child's teachers.

 

[mjantz]

I mentioned this on another thread but I had a parent give me a nice beach towel a few years back. It was in my favorite color & I still love it.

Also, in addition to the candles & mugs, I personally kill plastic plants so real ones stand absolutely no chance in my house. I appreciate the thought behind any gift but plants are usually dead within a week or two in my house.

You know what I'd love: Movie cash. $5, $10, I don't care. We go to the movies frequently & even being able to take $5 off the cost of going to the movies would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Ctsplaysinrain]

Hello- I tend to give about 15-20 per teacher. Last year, at the end of school, since it was our last year at the elem school I gave a 200.00 gift card for the pricipal to use to treat all the teachers for a "working" lunch.

This year, both kids are at Middle school. Instead of the individual gifts, I think I will be buying a 10 lb bag of coffee from a friend who does his own roasting. http://www.theunseenbean.com and perhaps a really nice cookie tray from a bakery for all to share in teacher's lounge.. ( I know the teacher's coffee fund was axed from the budget.)

 

[Bama mom to 3]

When my dd was in Kindergarten and my oldest DS in 2nd grade we gave the teachers ornaments that listed each child in the class and had the teacher's name and year on it and I felt bad and good at the same time because DD's Kindergarten teacher cried when she opened it. She said she loved that it was a momento of this particular class and had each of the children's names on it.