Teachers...

[Az Pirates]

I think this was discussed before but my daughter is in middle school now with 6 teachers..how do you handle that? Buying each one something can get expensive although if I made it a $5 gift card for somewhere that may not be too bad...but would it look weird?

We always do gifts for elementary teachers, but when the kids hit middle/high school we only get gifts if they have a really special teacher they want to do something for.

I'm guessing most folks do the same or do nothing at all for middle/high school teachers - so I'd guess even if the $$ amount is small, the gesture would be appreciated.
If you're looking in the $5.00 range I'd just be sure to go with somewhere you know they could actually get something for $5.00

I don't know if they're still doing it, or if they've gone exclusively to gift cards, but one year I picked up some individual coupons for Jamba Juice smoothies. They were good for one regular size smoothie with one boost - any flavor.
Everyone I gave those to loved them. They didn't have to worry about whether they'd have just a few cents left on a gc or have to come up with extra to cover something more expensive - just handed them the coupon at the register and got their smoothie. I know those were under $5.00 each... but they didn't have any value printed on them, which was nice since I was being cheap.

 

[kjs1976]

NO CANDY
NO HOMEMADE FOOD
NOTHING WITH APPLES

My kiddos know I collect things with tinkerbell and snowmen so I usually get somethings with these things on them....but not always.

 

[Gizmoboo53]

I am a special education teacher and I think the best gifts are the personal notes from my students and their families. Books for the classroom are also nice.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I love candles and GCs.

NO HOMEMADE FOOD.

 

[djm99]

I am a special education teacher and I think the best gifts are the personal notes from my students and their families. Books for the classroom are also nice.

I am a special ED teacher too!! MR (mentally ********) in High School (self-contained). They have me all 4 years so they really get to know me (and their parents too) - Disney, Disney, Disney you want to see me smile - go the Disney route!!! Some will go to the dollar stores and put together little Disney packets (with a mug, pens, pencils, etc.) its always so cute! Very few spend more than $5 dollars.

 

[grlpwrd]

He chortles like the merry old elf as he scarfs down his treats!

The thrift stores around here have a lot of apple/teacher items. Yup, no more apple stuff. I also have 2 neighbors whom are teachers and they rave about what they receive whether it's a sweet thank you card or a GC.

My kids will make reindeer candy jars out of fluted jars and I will give some thank you cards and GCs. Bus drivers get GCs to Golden Corral (last year it was WalMart GCs - they haul our precious cargo and do a great job) while office staff, janitorial staff, and cafeteria folks will all get a group fruit and snack basket.

I budget each year for this as I like spreading holiday magic.

 

[Disneyrsh]

I would say don't get the teacher anything from the dollar store, I could spot those gifts a mile away-piling up on the teacher's desk last year.

For my daughter's kindergarten teacher this year the head room mom collected money from everyone at the beginning of the year for a christmas present, which will be a pretty substantial Amex gift card.

I also convinced my younger daughter's teacher to take a picture in front of the new muraled front doors with her class-I told her it was for the yearbook but what I did was send it into Snapfish.com and had a big poster made of it. It's an awesome picture, and the poster was less than 10 bucks with a coupon. I'm pretty sure she'll like it! It actually will be in the yearbook, too.

Now, my first grader's room mom was totally scattered and was like, what, get her a Christmas gift? Why? Eh, so I'm getting her a HUGE bag of erasers, which she's always asking for and the kids are always running out of.

 

[binny]

Its funny how different the responses are here and what Ive heard at our schools. One of my kids' teachers is a single gal and she loves it when we bring homebaked stuff. She doesnt have time to make anything herself so its always appreciated!

 

[MrsPete]

Although I am not a teacher, I am an Ed. Tech. Teachers really do not "want" anything....but what would warm hy heart is a "thank you" note.

As a fellow teacher, I agree wholeheartedly. I feel awkward accepting gifts for doing my job. It makes me feel uncomfortable.

If you feel the need to give a gift to your child's teacher, I suggest something along the lines of candy or cookies -- something small.

 

[JodyTG]

Until my daughter left elementary school, we always got her teacher a nice large gift certificate to a movie theater. This way the teacher is pretty much forced to do something for his or herself for a change. Although I know that some teachers would rather have a gift cert to a store to buy more things for the classroom, all of my DD teachers loved, loved, LOVED the movie certs. They all said that it was nice to relax and enjoy the movie without worrying that they could have spent the money on something for the classroom.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I always try to ask another teacher that is friends w/my kids' teachers what kind of stuff they like (if I can't find out on my own). One year DD had a teacher that loved Diet Coke and Baja Fresh -- we got her a giftcard for Baja Fresh and found a really cute Diet Coke Christmas tree ornament. DS's teacher is very proud of her Dutch heritage so I began looking early in the year and was able to find her a beautiful blue delft (?) vase that was within my price range. Both of these gifts meant a lot to the teachers because I took the time to find out what they truly liked. Sometimes...all you gotta do is ask!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

As far as middle and high school goes...I feel these teachers need recognition as well. We try to buy a little something for each of them. Sometimes it's candy, others it's a gift certificate for BaskinRobbins, etc. I can't get too carried away because the number of people I have to buy for (school teachers, scout leaders, religious ed. instructors) -- but I always try to come up with something.

 

[mjh8955]

I've been a room mom for years and have organized group gifts several times. Last year our teacher was overhead as she was telling someone that she would do about anything for a massage, so we pooled our money and gave her a gift certificate to a spa for a massage and some pampering. It was a big hit.

Another year we gave our teacher a group gift of Disney Dollars since her family was going to WDW over Christmas Break for the first time. $300 was collected. She was so surprised and happy that she cried.

A friend of mine gave all her son's teachers cookie sheets. Those were a big hit.

Our school also takes advantage of a wish list for all our teachers. And every time I have a summer garage sale I take part of the earnings and set aside to give teachers the first week of school. I tell them to use it on anything for the classroom that they might need; decorations, books, large size bottle of Excedrin...

 

[TAKitty]

Once they hit middle school, I stopped with the gifts. My kids won't even take them a card - too embarrassed.

Though I did get the Spanish teacher a GC at the end of the year. She was great with my LD son, made sure he had a tutor, reworked tests for him.

Sorry middle school/HS teachers. Most of them I don't even know.

This is not to be mean but an honest observation. I teach honor classes and regular education classes. The students who do the best seem to have the most involved parents. Not overly involved, but they know what is going on in the classroom and they know their son or daughter's teacher.

For the holidays I will frequently have students give me homemade candy or cookies. I received a homemade pin once and loved it!

 

[disneymom225]

Gift cards to a book store! Hands down my favorite gift. But, I also have my least favorite gift-a HIDEOUS vase given my 1st year teaching- the student gave it to me saying "I thought of you when I saw this"--it still cracks me up to wonder what exactly he meant by that??? But, I can't bear to part with it!

 

[Danemom]

This is an interesting thread!
A couple of thoughts that came to mind - I may sound bad saying this (especially since I've already confessed to regifting!) but Yankee candles and Bath and Body Works stuff is a little different. It's the really cheap candles and bath stuff that I can't use. It's not the cost, there are some products from both these companies that I can't use but, as a general rule, I guess it's just the cheaper ingredients that bother me.

Also, please understand if your child's teacher doesn't make a huge deal about a gift. It's always very hard for me to show enough excitement/gratitude without making the children without gifts feel bad.

And disneymom225 - I completely understand your attachment to that vase. My BIL gave me a pretty hideous snowman statue one year. It was the first year he shopped for gifts himself and he had no clue what to get me! As he handed me the package, he said, "This could be a disaster!" So funny! I love that ugly little snowman!

 

[marcyinPA]

I've done "a night at the movies" and it's been a big hit....a blockbuster card in a basket along with stuff from the supermarker (microwave popcorn, candy etc.) Right now target has "popcorn boxes" in the $1 section

I do this at the end of the school year for my kids' teachers. It's always been a big hit. Thanks for the Target tip...I'll have to check that out!

 

[urabgirl15]

what do you NOT want your students to give you???

I know when I walk into my daughters class at the winter party, all I see on her desk is CANDLES . Give me some ideas that would be useful for a teachers gift. Thanks a million!!!

an apple yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[the kabuki]

This is not to be mean but an honest observation. I teach honor classes and regular education classes. The students who do the best seem to have the most involved parents. Not overly involved, but they know what is going on in the classroom and they know their son or daughter's teacher.

This is my first year with a child in middle school. It is so different to me that DD has 6 different teachers'. Quite honestly, unless there's some problem, exactly how do you go about getting to know the teacher or being involved in the classroom? We had conferences last month, was able to talk to each teacher for 10 minutes . How well can you get to know them in under 10 minutes?

Yes, your child is doing good, here's her scores for the past 6 weeks, she participates in class, a good student..and so on. It's not like elementary where you can volunteer in the classroom (egads can you imagine the embarresement ) or talk to the other parents in the class. As for what goes on in the classroom, well there's the agenda sent home showing a one or two word sentence about what was discussed and it's like trying to pull teeth to get an answer out of a 7th grader about what went on in class that day.

While the teacher's do have email, or set phone times, what exactly could I talk about with them if my child is doing fine in school and doesn't have any specific issues? Honestly, how involved with the teacher can you really be?

 

[MKCP5]

SCHOOL SUPPLIES!!!!!!!!! BRING 'EM ON!!!! It's not sexy, but a basket full of pens, pencils, glue sticks, white out, hand sanitizer, post it notes, kleenex and a chapstick--for me not the class --will float my boat better than any other gift. I spend a fortune keeping my class stocked with these things!