I can speak experience on this one (I have been a teacher). Teachers get inundated with anything that has an image of an apple. Mugs are in the attic, candles have been regifted, etc. You get the idea. Elementary teachers seem to be especially gifted by their students in this area. When my children were in school, I talked to the other parents from the classroom. We pooled the money that we would have spent on the teacher's gift and got one "giant" gift certificate from the closest "teacher supply heaven". For an elementary school teacher this might be a Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Joann's, etc. This allowed the teacher to receive a far larger gift than any one of us could afford on our own (most parents donated around $5 but when you multiply that by 25...), the teacher was thrilled not to have to spend her own money on things for the classroom, and we still gifted a small plate of cookies.