Teacher gifts

[AZMermaid]

I bought lunch for my infant daughters daycare teachers last year for teacher appreciation week. I figured this was the best I could do for the many floaters that were in and out. This was in addition to $10 gift cards for the 6 main teachers between my two kids. I don't have any sort of aides in my classroom (1st grade) but the kinder classes have an aide 45 minutes a day. I would buy for her. Art, PE and music will likely be cut next year, but I plan to get $5 gift cards for them if those classes are still there when my kids are elementary age.

 

[KayW]

Do you give gifts to middle school teachers.....if so all of them?

At the middle school I work at it varies. Some families give a small gc to each of the core teachers. Others may just give to their child's advisory teacher.

In regards to the baked goods, I teach in the same town I live in so I know many many of the families (and even their kitchens). Most are tins of cookies or packaged fudge. We have one family who brings, for the whole team, bagels, cream cheese, homemade breads, etc plus a small donation to a local organization.

One year (at a different school) a student handed me a piece of fudge on a paper towel. I thanked him, placed it on my desk, and then put it in the garbage at the end of the day.

 

[ninecrayons]

Do you give gifts to middle school teachers.....if so all of them?

As an MS teacher I will say we definitely get fewer gifts overall. Not so something that bothers me, in fact I'm surprised to get anything!

I have also often found that students will just give something to a favorite teacher, which is totally fine. Also we have a "homeroom" system, so sometimes kids just give stuff to homeroom teachers.

I was reminded of a cool gift I got last year. It was a cardboard letter of my last name, decorated with scrapbook paper. Very cute!

And I agree - even a handwritten card would be a awesome gift. I get lots of drawings that I put up in my room.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I try to have my kids find out something specific about their teachers. One year my son's teacher would bring in McDonald's coffee every morning so we got her a gift card for that. Last year a teacher told my 9yo that she would rather read than watch TV so we got her a Barnes and Nobles gift card and a throw.

I hate to say it, but I don't buy for support staff and I stop buying once they hit middle school. I have 5 kids, that would be approximately 20 teachers this year!

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Well I'm not a teacher or a mom but as a person with several teachers in my family, they appreciate gift cards most. Most of the schools around us have a room mom collect money (a suggested amount of maybe $10 per kid, but any or no amount is accepted for those who can't afford it) they pool the money to get a gift card to a place the teacher enjoys and it's from the whole class.

 

[nugov2]

Gift cards and homemade treats are my favorite. Notepads are also good too. As a teacher we cannot accept a gift that is valued at $50 or more. Not sure if that is in every state, but definitely here in MA. We had to take a mini course with certificate of completion.

Interesting. When I taught usually the class mom would ask if anyone was interested in donating and buy one big GC for me and then I would get small individual gifts(ornaments, mugs, note pads). The GC was usually for $100. This was the norm in most classes in our building.

Now that my kids are in school the district we are in doesn't have a room mom b/c school parties are in the gym with game stations and bounce houses etc set up for the kids so all the parent volunteers are at a game/food booth. For Christmas I give the bus driver a $5 GC, office staff homemade treats and teachers $20 GC and I make each teacher a little Christmas tree(decorated in a teacher theme). When I was a teacher a student made one for me and I always said when I had kids I would do the same. It is so cute!

 

[nugov2]

As a teacher, I have to agree with the general consensus. No homemade baked goods please. Teachers spend half of their day asking kids to take their hands out of their mouth/ nose/ pants, so they certainly won't eat something that your kids may have helped make. Its truly nothing personal.
I'm happy to get a hand written note from a student, sans gift. (Although a $5 coffee gift card certainly brightens my day!)

I agree. I never ate homemade goodies when I taught either. I do make stuff for the office, but I know them well and bake a lot so they always love it, but I think that is typically the norm.

 

[kymom99]

At my son's elementary school, they had a room mother who collected money at the beginning of the year. The teachers all filled out a sheet with their birthday, likes, hobbies, etc. They also listed a classroom item they might like to get. The room mom bought a birthday gift and christmas gift off the list from the whole class.

As far as buying for large amounts of people, you could take a basket of things such as purse sized hand sanitizers, bagged snacks, etc. Put a card with it with a nice note and let each person choose something from the basket. You could also take it araound to each person so that you know it goes to the right people. When my dad passed away after a lengthy hospital stay, we did this for the staff on the floor that took care of him.

 

[Cinderelly5507]

When my daughter was born, we took in treats for the nurses. Dayshift got donuts, nightshift got pizza, and the pediatric nurses got awesome bakery pumpkin pies. I think this could work for office staff or other larger groups.

 

[ninecrayons]

I try to have my kids find out something specific about their teachers. One year my son's teacher would bring in McDonald's coffee every morning so we got her a gift card for that. Last year a teacher told my 9yo that she would rather read than watch TV so we got her a Barnes and Nobles gift card and a throw.

I hate to say it, but I don't buy for support staff and I stop buying once they hit middle school. I have 5 kids, that would be approximately 20 teachers this year!

That's definitely one reason that I totally understand why people don't give gifts at a middle school level. However, a card never goes unappreciated.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I would give whatever amount you could (depending on what you can afford and how much you appreciate this particular teacher) in a gift card. I can't think of anyone I know who doesn't like Target, so I'd choose that.

Money is very tight for us this year (I am unemployed and DH just took on a second job ), so our gifts this year will be slight. I used to work as a para and candy is always welcomed, if you can't spend much, so we'll probably go that route.

 

[Liberty Belle]

As a teacher, my favorite gifts were always handwritten/handmade cards from students. Gift cards are great. Small treats are always fun. No mugs or other cheesy "teacher" gifts as every teacher gets a zillion of them. I like to remember my students and so something to remember them by is always great. One of my favorite teacher gifts ever was a restaurant gift card.

However, if your child has an assistant in the room, in my experience, it was always nice to get a "teacher" item from a child. Yes, I wasn't officially a teacher, but I did teach and I loved when that was acknowledged.

 

[Lisa71]

We have done many things and my Mom taught for years ...and we did eat the food. We actually have a popcorn recipe that was so popular when we gave it we had a dozen emails from the other teachers asking for the recipe when they shared in the break room. You eat out and buy baked goods...seriously no one else eats them?? I teach college and enjoyed a homemade goody last week !

 

[hops&dreams]

We have done many things and my Mom taught for years ...and we did eat the food. We actually have a popcorn recipe that was so popular when we gave it we had a dozen emails from the other teachers asking for the recipe when they shared in the break room. You eat out and buy baked goods...seriously no one else eats them?? I teach college and enjoyed a homemade goody last week !

Lisa71 - Now you did it - can you pm me the recipe? You have me all curious now - I love a good recipe that involves popcorn!

I was talking ot my friend about this post last night (she's a teacher) and she said that last year, she got a gift card Christmas tree with over $350 worth of gift cards on it!!! She said it was extrodinary, but that she regularly gets $150 and up worth of gift cards and gifts both at holiday time and at the end of the year. I told her I think I went into the wrong profession - at work, I just got a ham from my boss for Christmas and a bag of homemade chocolate covered nuts, maybe a car wash voucher too from assorted generous co-workers.

Seriously though - I'm thankful for my kid's teachers (because god knows I don't have the patience for it!) and even though I can't afford a lot, I always try to give SOMETHING to show our thanks. A handwritten card, drawing, a random bouquet of flowers or plant, even a $5 gift card - a free coffee or blizzard sure would make my day, I assume it makes theirs too!

 

[kajs22]

Wow - you all really chuck the home baked gifts??? That makes me so sad - we usually spend a lot of time and energy plus expense sending in trays of cookies and gift cards to the elementary school teachers and staff. My daughter and I use family recipes passed down from generations and bake from scratch. Hope our teachers don't share your distaste for this. BTW - she doesn't place her hands in any inappropriate places and from what I am told I should open my own bakery.

 

[KayW]

Honestly the only time I threw any home baked gift away was the single piece of fudge on the paper towel. That one was a little sketchy. Most are always in the cute holiday bags, tins, or even colored saran wrap with a ribbon.

I gave my daughter's teachers homemade scor bars last year in a cute holiday baggie and then placed it in a 31 gifts small tote.

 

[mrshoffman]

As a teacher, I have gotten very few homemade craft style gifts that matched my decor. I have thrown away more than I have kept. Ditto for ornaments, mugs, etcetera.. If you have a teacher who wears teacher sweaters and carries a bag with kids' painted handprints on it, I bet she would love a crafty gift. A hungry young teacher away from home might like a few cookies or brownies. Consider the individual teacher. I see lots of posts about cute Pinterest gifts, but those are usually more appreciated by the people you show on Instagram than by the actual teacher who has to find a place to hide 3 crayon wreaths and a homemade snow globe. (Hopefully no one has posted about crayon wreaths while I typed-if so, no offense!) It might just be the area in which I live, but I can't think of one teacher I know who would prefer a crafty gift or baked goods over a $5 target gift card (or just a kind note from the family.) Also, in addition to a note from the child, an additional note from the parents is always appreciated. Hope this helps!

 

[pigletto]

Our board and our school in particular discourages gifts for the teachers and sends home a note saying so. We have our children (well not dd anymore because she's in high school) write the teacher a nice card, buy a book or books for the classroom and we make a donation to Unicef in the name of the teacher. They have a great gifting section on their website where you can see what you are buying for your dollar amount. Last year we did $30 in water purification tablets in the teachers name. She appeared genuinely appreciative and said so, we don't break the no personal gifts rule this way, and the kids feel good about what they are doing.

 

[littlezar]

I do a gift card attached to a bag of candy (usually the Ghiradelli squares) for Christmas and then at the end of the year, I'll do a bouquet of flowers with a gift card.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

To those who give homemade food---do you know the teacher that well that you know if they are gluten free, have a dairy allergy or a nut allergy or that a family member doesn't?

Do you think a teacher would ever say I don't like it...more likely oh we loved your cookies (even if they did end up in the trash due to allergies you didn't know about)?