end-of-year teacher gift?

[momofsage]

Any suggestions?  This is for a Kindergarten teacher.  We were thinking of giving her some books for her classroom.  But I'd love to hear what others have done/are doing.

Thanks,

Jen

[Geofizz]

I give bookstore gift cards.  Other things I've heard that people have done around here:  gift cards to the local mall or Macy's or gas cards.  We also have a great teacher supply store here with amazing craft and classroom materials.  We have only twice given actual books for the room - I worry that there might be duplicates, or otherwise inappropriate.  The books we did give had really special meaning to my kids - in the first case it was sign language dictionary or sorts for the classroom (our school district silos special needs and the deaf kids are all at our school, so there's a significant amount of sign language exposure and DD was very interested and taught herself a lot).  The second case was a set of Elliot the Moose books from my son, Elliot.

We also always make a personal card where my kids write a thank you note, along with my own thoughts.  This year was so phenomenal, I sent a paper letter in the mail stamp and all cc'd to the principal thanking the teacher for the fabulous year, outlining exactly what was so great and why it was such a great fit for DD.  Letters like this go into the teacher's employment file.

[Turtlecouple]

Last year for DS's K teacher, we did a gift certificate to a spa from the whole class. She really enjoyed that. This year, DS has a male teacher which makes it a little more tricky for me to come up with something...for Christmas we gave a gift card to Borders. I figured if he could choose if he wanted to use it for books for the classroom or for himself. 

[Kerrie]

I ask the teacher what they want.  When my DS was in K his teacher would often mention that it got frustrating for her to go to the next door room to use that teacher's pencil sharpener.  So, I got together with a few moms and spent $50 on a great one that she is still using 3 years later.  In our district there is a limit on what gifts the teacher is allowed to accept so be sure that you do not go against that if it exists.

[momofsage]

Thanks, everyone!  This is really helpful.

[ecoteat]

DD just finished her third year of preschool before heading off to kindergarten in the fall. She's been at the same wonderful home-based Waldorf-inspired preschool with the same teacher the whole time and it was so great. We wanted to make something for her teacher that was personal and useful, so dd drew a picture of her that I then embroidered onto a piece of fabric. I made that into a pocket that I sewed onto a store-bought apron. We put a lot of time and effort into this because it was a pretty special goodbye. But a simpler version of the same basic idea would be to have the kid draw on fabric with fabric pens and then make something using it that would be useful in the classroom. Maybe a notebook cover? Or a totebag?

Kerrie, I am a middle school teacher and I would LOVE a new pencil sharpener! The good ones are so expensive, and the cheaper ones are crap. What a great idea! As a teacher, I also always appreciate small, thoughtful gifts. My middle school kids don't really do teacher gifts anymore, but when I taught elementary, I loved the little gifts that showed that the kid got to know me or picked up on something that was special. Some of my favorite gifts were yarn, homemade hot cocoa mix with a little whisk, a mini maglite, a chicobag, fancy spiced nuts, and the sincere notes from kids.

[HappiestLilMama]

I'm a teacher, and honestly, the best gift I could imagine would be a letter from you thanking me and telling me exactly what I did to go beyond your expectations :)  I also really treasure handmade cards from kids...I have a "warm fuzzy" box that I open once in awhile to remind myself how important my role is! 

[AllisonR]

We settled for 6 bottles of nice red wine as a gift. This is for 3 teachers, so 2 bottles each, and it's from the whole class. I bought but we divy up the tab.
 

Originally Posted by HappiestLilMama 

I'm a teacher, and honestly, the best gift I could imagine would be a letter from you thanking me and telling me exactly what I did to go beyond your expectations :)  I also really treasure handmade cards from kids...I have a "warm fuzzy" box that I open once in awhile to remind myself how important my role is! 

My sons last day is today and I wanted him to do this. I think handmade are better if there is some real care and effort that goes into them. But unfortunately DS doesn't do well with artwork/letters-on-demand.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by AllisonR 

My sons last day is today and I wanted him to do this. I think handmade are better if there is some real care and effort that goes into them. But unfortunately DS doesn't do well with artwork/letters-on-demand.

If you have some of his artwork, perhaps he could pick out something that he would like his teacher to have. You can write the note, slip it into a store-bought card and get him to sign the card. He gives her the artwork, the card and the note. Very little demand on him but he goes through the process of expressing his gratitude. It will be a helpful early step in learning a social grace and he'll be prepared for next time. Soon, with a little more maturity, development and practice, maybe he will be more willing to produce something on demand. 

[4Marmalade]

I just went out today and bought some gift cards.  For ds's two teachers we are giving each a bookstore gift card as ds says they always ask him what books he is reading and looking for recommendations .  My ds has also decorated a small card and will write a small note.  For dd's kindergarten teacher we got a gift card for a local dairy bar.  In his introductory letter to his new students he always mentions how much he loves ice cream and what his favorite flavours are.  He has two young children and I know they go out for ice cream once in a while.  My dd will also complete a fill in the blank type letter.  We always get these for father's and mother's day and they almost always make us smile or laugh out loud.  You know the type of letter :  I like it when my teacher_______________.  My teacher doesn't like _________________.  I laugh when my teacher ______________.  I will also write a short thank you note.  

[Emmeline II]

We did a bookstore giftcard and a little box of Godiva (ds wanted to give his teacher chocolates). I like the fill-in-the blanks letter; I'll have ds do that next year.

When I was a child, my teachers received more coffee mugs and stationary than they could possible use if they taught for more than one year .