With the end of the school year approaching...

[Jill in Chicago]

I would like to suggest to all of you with school age children that you re-think the end of the year teacher gift. I realize that with some schools this is already built in and there is one big group gift, and in other schools there is no gifting allowed.

If you do want to gift though, consider having your child make a card for the teacher telling her "what I liked best," or "You are a special teacher because...."

From you to the teacher write a letter of thanks, note specific qualities you appreciated, and then send a copy to the principal.

I have talked to many, many teachers and they do not want or need gifts. What they really appreciate is that special written letter of thanks.

 

[Kellydelly]

There are plenty of teachers that do appreciate, like or expect gifts, whether they want to admit it or not .

 

[taylor3297]

When I taught school, yes I appreciated the end of year gifts, I liked the end of year gifts, but I never expected them. The ones I liked the most were the thank you notes/cards. I have put all of them in a scrapbook.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

We will be giving gifts. I will make sure the card attached is a personal one that comes from the kids.

 

[daisyduck123]

1st grade teacher chiming in

I love & greatly appreciate the gift cards that my room moms usually arrange for me (by taking up a collection). Unless you are a teacher (or married to one), you have NO IDEA how much of our own $$ we actually spend on our classes. Just yesterday, I had to purchase seeds, little Jiffy pots, & soil for my 2 dozen 1st graders so that we can grow plants.

Of course most teachers are going to say they don't need anything because they don't want all the little trinkets (photo frames, candles, bath stuff)...it wouldn't be appropriate to TELL our room moms that we would love a gift card....but consider yourself told now.

And by the way, I always get gifts for my room moms as well. They do SO much!

 

[MomToOne]

End of year gifts now? Really? I'm sorry, but I think this whole gift giving thing is out of control.

Our class (private school w/only one grade per class - same group of kids for 5 years now) usually just gives a photobook of the class during the year at the end of the year. (We do a group collection for gift cards at Christmas)

We've had better teachers and worse teachers over the years. The better ones I have written a note to at the end of the year expressing how I feel they have helped my children grow and learn during the year - those seem to go over well. This year, my daughter has had an absolutely OUTSTANDING teacher who was new to the school - in her case, I've already sent an email to the principal saying how great the teacher is, giving specific details. I can tell you that went over better than ANYTHING I could have bought!

 

[msmayor]

Put me in the camp of no gift-giving either.

If one of my kids has had an exceptional experience with a particular teacher, I will write a letter to the principal and superintendent of schools for recognition. Feedback to the administration is a way to help ensure they keep their job, and in this environment that may mean more than anything.

 

[Mary•Poppins]

I am a teacher ... and a mom and I also think the end of the year gift is out of hand.

As the poster said ... a note is appreciated the most. (I have all of the notes parents and children have given me ... and I cherish them. I know I don't have all the gifts.)

In light of the times, I don't feel anyone needs to give me a gift for just doing my job.

 

[torinsmom]

Teachers would never tell you that they want you to give them a gift, but I can assure you that we DO appreciate them. As a PP said, it is not an expectation; it is an extra treat and makes us feel like we made a difference in their child's life.

I always buy a gift card for my son's teachers, even now that he is in high school. His french teacher told me last year that his was the only gift she got, and she teaches 80 kids each day.

 

[jennyopenny]

I just did teacher appreciation week. That killed end of year gift for me.

 

[mommyintn]

My son's 1st grade class is giving their teacher a photoalbum with the kids pictures in it and hand written note from the child. Those that want to participate with the group gift (not the album) are free to give money to the room mom for that. At Christmas we all chipped in to give the teacher this really nice vase with a message on it and it was stuffed with money. I know how much teachers spend of their own money and am thankful they feel called to do it.

 

[mward73]

Our school doesn't allow individual gifts, but they have teacher appreciation days where people can bring a dish in that feeds 10 or so. They get several people each day and feed the teachers a nice lunch (DS's class has 3 teachers for 14 kids, so each teacher would go 1 day). They also take up a collection (you can choose to contribute or not - no pressure). They then divide what they got evenly among all the teachers in the school. They do this for Christmas and end of year. His teachers (and all that we've met at the school) are just really amazing and do so much for the kids all year, whatever they get is well deserved. I do plan to have DS write a card for each teacher since that's all we're allowed to send individually.

 

[mafibisha]

Put me in the camp of no gift-giving either.

If one of my kids has had an exceptional experience with a particular teacher, I will write a letter to the principal and superintendent of schools for recognition. Feedback to the administration is a way to help ensure they keep their job, and in this environment that may mean more than anything.

YES YES YES! This is the best advice / idea ever!!

(and maybe a note to the teacher as notes are always cherished)

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I would like to suggest to all of you with school age children that you re-think the end of the year teacher gift. I realize that with some schools this is already built in and there is one big group gift, and in other schools there is no gifting allowed.

If you do want to gift though, consider having your child make a card for the teacher telling her "what I liked best," or "You are a special teacher because...."

From you to the teacher write a letter of thanks, note specific qualities you appreciated, and then send a copy to the principal.

I have talked to many, many teachers and they do not want or need gifts. What they really appreciate is that special written letter of thanks.

We do both!

 

[luvmy3]

I'm a room mom and I was thinking of having each of the kids in my ds's 1st grade class write a letter, or a special memory they have, or a picture or just a thank you to the teacher and put it in a scrapbook for her. I also hope that we will have money left over from what we collected in the beginning of the year to give her a GC.

 

[lastminutemom]

You had better believe I am giving gifts this year (I always do anyway) and they will be bigger than previous years.

Our teachers are taking a 5 to 10 percent pay cut and will have fewer planning days and more students in the classes next year. If there was ever a year to show your appreciation this is it.

I know that many high schools are facing the loss of clubs and other extracurriculars because teachers need to get second jobs.

I am so disappointed (but not surprised) in the poor legislative decisions made about education funding in GA, but then again it takes work to rank 49th or 50th all the time!

 

[JACKie SPARROW]

Each year on the last day of school I give each of my kids' teachers a hanging floral basket for their yard/patio/deck...and a hand-written note thanking them for all the hard work they have done with my child.

A few years ago my son had a wonderful teacher who loved every minute of her job; she beamed with enthusiasm and stood out from all the rest. At the end of the year I wrote her a thank you note complimenting her on qualities as a teacher; and guess what...this teacher wrote me a thank you note thanking me for for my note...WOW! I have never been thanked for a thank you before! Kind and sincere words can go very far when spoken from the heart .

 

[MoniqueU]

Not to nitpick but most teachers have tenure so writing a letter to the principal won't in my mind make much difference in if they keep their job or not. Why do you think there are a few bad apples in each bunch of teachers and they still have their jobs. Heck there was just a thing on the cable news channel about teachers accused of pretty serious crimes still getting paid. Teachers are union and extremly hard to actually fire. Layoffs sometimes but even here they send out all the notices then rescend as a scare tactic to get people to vote for more tax money for schools even though per pupil spending for public school kids far surpasses what it costs to send a kid to private school And I know far more people out of work and running out of unemployment and my DH took a 50 percent pay cut so 5 to 10 percent seems like a dream to me. And here in CA they make darn good money for not working a full day and all the time off they get. My MIL taught for 30 years so I do have alot of respect for teachers but here in CA they sure do get by believe me. My MILs teachers pension is quite healthy let me tell you, she sure didn't retire to the poorhouse thats for sure.

I agree a personal note to the teacher is nice. I plan to do one for my 6th graders teacher this year, I will also do a gift card.

 

[MomToOne]

Not to nitpick but most teachers have tenure so writing a letter to the principal won't in my mind make much difference in if they keep their job or not.

My child goes to a private school. There is no such thing as tenure - the school is free not to resign any teacher for the next year for any reason, as long as it does not voilate the standard discrimination laws. Letters to the Principal do matter in our case.

 

[Tikitoi]

I am a teacher ... and a mom and I also think the end of the year gift is out of hand.

As the poster said ... a note is appreciated the most. (I have all of the notes parents and children have given me ... and I cherish them. I know I don't have all the gifts.)

In light of the times, I don't feel anyone needs to give me a gift for just doing my job.

Nice to hear this point of view from the other side. I agree a note to an outstanding teacher. But a gift. NOT. Imagine if you were to give a gift to everyone who just did their job.