raptureready

I usually made seasonal (winter, not Christmas) tied couch throws for dd's main teacher. The other teachers, chorus, band, P.E., nurse, office help got cookies and they all loved them. This year she has different teachers for each class so they'll all get cookies.

lab fairy

Ladies, I think many of you misinterpret some of the comments made. On my campus, we shared cookies and other baked goods with the whole campus. Custodial staff are often overlooked and underappreciated. There is always a clean-up at the end of each day for health department reasons.

My most treasured gifts have been letters written by students which I save in a special album.

My original post was based on both being a parent and a teacher. I always looked for gifts for a teacher that would be useful. I could only guess what a teacher would appreciate because I knew my taste was probably not going to be the same. Scented lotions, soaps, and candles are "pamper me" gifts but make sure the teacher is not sensitive to them. Baked goods have the same problem (lot of people have food allergies). Anything that has religious implications can also be a problem. You know your teacher best.

Debra Mc

I was giving my DGS's teachers real pretty mugs with chocolate & hot coco mix. Oh my gosh did reality bite me. I saw how many she got & I swore I would never give them anything that couldn't be eaten Or gift card again. Never thought about it. Last year at end of year I made DGS's teacher a lap quilt. She nearly flipped out.

jayelee

I am a teacher every year I get an ornament from most of my students. I really do appreciate them but I find it very hard to keep them all or at least display them all.Twenty five years of students end up equal to alot of ornaments . I often recommend that instead of gifts that we give to the Food Pantry. I am giving my kids teachers mug rugs with a coffee mug to match filled with hot chocolate and some microwave popcorn. I am also making these for each of my students

bepositive

I'm a special ed teacher too and I TOTALLY agree with your daughter regarding the increase in the amount of paperwork, etc. It definitely impacts the amount of time we can devote to the children!!! CONGRATULATIONS to her on her award!!!!

Aggierebel76

All gift are appreciated especially the ones we can save or put on our desks!

taylorsgmom

having taught for 32 years, holiday gifts ended up interesting at our house. Loved the baked goodies. One parent gave me a baking pan with a personalized lid(worn out, hated to get rid of it). One parent was a doll maker. Since I had two of her daughters at different times, I have some beautiful treasured dolls. And then there was the year of the seven coffee mugs. Oh my!

JanTx

I have taught for 34 years and think the drink ideas are awesome. I enjoy the instant tea/tang mix. Spiced teas, flavored hot chocolates - love those. Cards, letters, and hand-drawn pictures are wonderful. I have enjoyed the ornaments, but as we no longer put up a big tree those stay in their box some years -but loved them in earlier years. So think about the age level of your teacher. If they can't cover a tree in home-made ornaments then they don't have enough yet. I even enjoyed gift bags with an assortment of candy - could put those in a dish at home and .. instant entertainment. A sweet card with a tiny candy cane attached is well loved. A sentence or two written by a child goes a long way on those long days!

My two grandchildren are in pre-school this year and I already have the fabric chosen for lap quilts for each of them for the end of the school year, but ... one child is on the autism spectrum and I have taken off days to go sit and help in his classroom and that teacher feels like a friend of mine - though we have only this connection this year. The other is in a private school run by the church I attended as a child and where my mother still attends - different kind of connection there.

redbugsullivan

As a long time teacher, my favorite gifts were plates of homemade cookies, fudge, and those Christmas ornaments that were homemade and FLAT! The flat ornaments were on my wall as decoration on our ornament tree (can't have the tree but nobody said I couldn't put up the ornaments in the SHAPE of a tree). My childrens' teachers loved our handmade boxes (wallpaper) filled with 4-6 pieces of fudge. If you do the decoration, be sure to label it with first and last name along with the year. Trust me, it matters.

Caswews

When our kids were growing upand the kids were in elementary school: we made it a habit to give 20.00 and a letter of testimonial to the teacher (how much each child enjoyed the classroom etc..) in a Christmas card. That way if the classroom needed something or she/he just wanted to keep it as I know teachers don't make that much (personally I think they should make alot more !!!)