TanyaL

A comment under another thread made me wonder about the best teacher gifts in today's world. She mentioned she had to buy many of the supplies for her classroom out of her personal money. I am thinking that cash or a gift card would be better appreciated than a home made item. What do you think?

deneldacoop

Why do we have to buy teachers gifts?

willferg

When my kids were younger and we did teacher gifts, a parent would often ask around to the other parents if anyone wanted to go in on a gift card for the teacher. Any amount was okay, so no pressure on those for whom money was tight. Sometimes the card was to a specific store the teacher would like (REI for a teacher who hiked, a bead store for another) and sometimes generic like Costco or Starbucks. All who gave were listed on the card.

Any parents who preferred to do something separate and personal were welcome to do that as well. It seemed to work out...

For really special teachers, I made something. I am working on two lap quilts right now for teachers that have really helped my daughter. These will probably be the last for teachers, though.

ptquilts

I would bet a gift card to Staples or Office Depot would be very appreciated.

TanyaL

It has always been the custom in my family to give the children's teachers gifts at special times of the year - Christmas, end of the year, birthday, etc. I still have one grandchild in the 5th grade. So I only give a teacher's gift when my DIL doesn't give one. I have frequently given boxes of school supplies. I have another DIL who teaches 5th grade in another city who spends about $500 a year out of her purse on things she needs in her room that used to be supplied but are no longer, like Kleenex and copy paper.

dd

I didn't by teachers gifts when my kids were little but knowing teachers now, I think a gift card would be good. I saw a lot of kids come in with teacher mugs and ornaments. Seriously, how many mugs and ornaments can one person use. Give something they can use and use up. Gift cards for supplies or a night out to dinner or a movie would be nice. I did make pillow cushions for the rocking chairs for each of the kids teachers one year. I had to sit in those rockers also and they were hard and uncomfortable. Both teachers really appreciated them.

AlienQuilter

We used to give gift cards. There used to be a store here that sold items geared towards the classroom. It was open to everyone but teachers got a discount so it was better to give them a gift card to there rather than buying.

Also, gift card to the theater or a nice restaurant. Make sure it's enough for at least two people.

The teachers in public school have it rough. Too many students per teacher and budget cuts. They are expected to do more and make do with less. I used to volunteer at the schools. Without volunteers I don't know how the schools could stay in business.

Even before I retired, I would take a vacation day to help with field trips. If both boys had field trip on the same day, DH and I would both take a vacation day. I don't think we ever missed a field trip.

I know, I got on my soap box. I just wished more parents found time to volunteer even if its just one time a year for an hour or two. It shows the children that you care about them and gives you a chance to know their teachers.

lynnie

My sister is a teacher. All i hear from her is how much she is underpaid.
well...she maakes over$100,000.00 a year. This is a public school, she teaches
At a jr/sr high school.
She gets extra for lunch, or parking lot duty. Also if she coaches.
She get$100.00/game for one hr. Of umpiring.
And...she cant get fired either, she has tenure(more thaan three yrs).

When my son was in school, i would make a collection and buy a visa gift card.
Also my son would make the teacher a personalizd pointer.
a 3/8" dowel he would paint pencil yellow, sharpen on end to a point, paint oter end pink
And put the name on the pencil. Teachers always asked for that.

moonwork42029

Dang, teachers get paid alot in NY. In Kentucky the wages are no where near that.

My SIL is a 3rd grade teacher and they spend quite a bit out of pocket for supplies that aren't provided by the districts. If they run out of paper towards the end of the school term she also has to buy that for worksheets.

Some schools don't allow cash or cash gift cards as it appears to be a "bribe" to the teachers where a personalized gift is an expression of appreciation for the dedication shown by the teachers. Some districts even have placed a dollar limit on what gifts can be accepted.

No one "has" to give a gift and the teachers don't hold it against the ones that don't give one and don't give special recognition to the ones that do. My SIL would much rather get a homemade card or a letter saying how much the student has learned/enjoyed being in the class than "another mug".

When my sons were in elementary school, we would give several boxes of kleenex or several reams of paper at various times. Now, germix would be a good thing to provide too.

kathdavis

Teachers in my area do not make six figures. We also aren't paid overtime like most are in the corporate world either. I could grade papers until midnight at my desk every night and not make a single dime more. By mid-October, my students are out of notebook paper, so I stock up on spiral notebooks by the cases in August because my students will go through them in a school year. The last several years, my students have stopped bringing in tissues, so I have purchased at least $50 in tissues each year. I went through over three grosses (432) of pencils by the 1st of December last year and had to order more. I teach manners, respect, tolerance, appropriate dress, social skills, and vocabulary, along with my core subject, English. Almost monthly, I'm cursed out by students, as well as, parents who aren't doing their job in the first place and wonder why I'm bothering them about their child. And, the government is thinking about basing my salary on their child's test scores.

I still think what I do is important. I don't expect nor receive many gifts from my students, since I teach middle school and it just isn't cool by then to give teachers gifts, plus many of our students don't get much themselves around the holidays. Money is very tight for many of our families and I would much rather my students come to school with their tummies full, than give me gifts. I do love when my students come back to see me several years down the road to tell me they are finishing up high school or doing well in college. That really makes everything I do worth while.

Thank you out there for thinking about us teachers.