Teacher Xmas gifts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As both a parent who spent a lot of time volunteering in elementary school, and as a preschool teacher, I can tell you that a lot of teachers do not want home-baked goods. A gift card is much more appreciated.

Oh la tee da, well I happen to know many teachers and they always appreciate baked goods. What a snob.[/quote

uh

No, we don't all want baked goods. Honestly? While you may be the cleanest person in the world, I don't know that.

no offense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"It's DEFINITELY not enough money to bribe me. Write a lovely note or better, have your child write the note, and that's what is the most important thing. "

I'm a teacher, too. I don't think it's about whether or not it's actually going to bribe me-I think it reflects upon me poorly if other parents, teachers, or community members find out that I accepted cash as a holiday gift. Of course I'm not going to change grades for $20, or any amount of money. But, the fact remains that teachers are held to a different standard than some other professions and I prefer not to put myself in what I think is a questionable position.

Eh, it's $20. Do you feel that a $20 gift certificate to a book store is just as bad as $20 cash?

Certainly there's over the top expensive. I've never been given an expensive present as a teacher, myself, but can understand being uncomfortable being given, say, a $100 gift certificate to a restaurant or something else. Many school districts do have policies against over the top presents.

And yes, usually cash is handed as a tip to people working in "service" jobs, not jobs that require a master's degree. But personally no, I woudln't find cash offensive -- not if it came with a nice note, anyhow.

But I'm not someone who looks very hard to take offense. Probably to be safe, go with a nice scented candle or mug.

[Anonymous]

If you get them something, try to gravitate towards a store that isn't load every inch of it's shelves with chinese garbage. In your effort to do good for your kid, and the people that teach him/her, you'll be arming a country with which your kids may one day have to reckon.

I recommend:
-Barnes and Noble
-Starbucks/Caribou Coffee
-Amazon
-Giant Food/Safeway


I recommend avoiding:
-WalMart
-Target
-etc

At least with the former, there is a reasonable chance that whatever the teacher buys it will not be from a country that's on a crash course with meeting our precious children on the battlefield in 10-20 years.

By the way - a little off topic, but the same goes for your kids this christmas/hannukah. Skip the plastic garbage, and aim for US made (or at least ally-made - Taiwan, S. Korea, Germany, Japan, Phillipines, Mexico, etc) things -

-Texas Jeans
-made in usa forever dot com (research it, and buy it on Amazon if it's cheaper)
-megablocks instead of legos, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As both a parent who spent a lot of time volunteering in elementary school, and as a preschool teacher, I can tell you that a lot of teachers do not want home-baked goods. A gift card is much more appreciated.

Oh la tee da, well I happen to know many teachers and they always appreciate baked goods. What a snob.

Oh my, oh my, oh my.... as a teacher who has taught all over the country, I can say this ALL varies. And to be honest, it depends a lot on how much "info" teachers / teacher aides have about the cleanliness of people's homes. I taught at an elem school in Connecticut where teachers talked about "clean houses" vs. "dirty houses" and wouldn't eat the birthday treats brought in by parents from the "dirty houses." No joke. And the restriction of birthday treats to store-bought has little to do with allergens- it has to do with cleanliness / hygiene.

As for a cash gift-- well, I taught at a high school around here in a very affluent part of town, and kids gave me gift cards- mostly for coffee-- (this is high school, so I considered that above and beyond and totally appreciated it). Also, when I was pregnant the kids brought me all kinds of generous and very thoughtful baby gifts- I was blown away and totally wasn't expecting that-- but that was the kids' doing, not the parents (even if ultimately the parents footed the bill, which, obviously they did, it was the kids' idea / sentiment.) If I had gotten a cash gift from a parent in this particular school, however, I would have thought that they were treating me like a charity case, knowing that I made such a small sum in comparion to their millions (and of course not realizing that I'm married to someone with a "real" job). It just feels odd. It would feel like getting a tip. I don't know. But you asked, and you're getting genuine teacher responses. The vast majority of us who have responded have said we'd be uncomfortable with a cash gift.

[Anonymous]

This struck me as odd, PP. BTW - I'm the teacher who also mentioned the issue of cleanliness.

What do you feel about "charity" cases like those of us who are teachers married to teachers? Although you're using sarcasm, it still comes across as being condescending, which makes me think that we, the TEACHERS, are the ones who give ourselves a bad name.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As both a parent who spent a lot of time volunteering in elementary school, and as a preschool teacher, I can tell you that a lot of teachers do not want home-baked goods. A gift card is much more appreciated.

Oh la tee da, well I happen to know many teachers and they always appreciate baked goods. What a snob.

Oh my, oh my, oh my.... as a teacher who has taught all over the country, I can say this ALL varies. And to be honest, it depends a lot on how much "info" teachers / teacher aides have about the cleanliness of people's homes. I taught at an elem school in Connecticut where teachers talked about "clean houses" vs. "dirty houses" and wouldn't eat the birthday treats brought in by parents from the "dirty houses." No joke. And the restriction of birthday treats to store-bought has little to do with allergens- it has to do with cleanliness / hygiene.

As for a cash gift-- well, I taught at a high school around here in a very affluent part of town, and kids gave me gift cards- mostly for coffee-- (this is high school, so I considered that above and beyond and totally appreciated it). Also, when I was pregnant the kids brought me all kinds of generous and very thoughtful baby gifts- I was blown away and totally wasn't expecting that-- but that was the kids' doing, not the parents (even if ultimately the parents footed the bill, which, obviously they did, it was the kids' idea / sentiment.) If I had gotten a cash gift from a parent in this particular school, however, I would have thought that they were treating me like a charity case, knowing that I made such a small sum in comparion to their millions (and of course not realizing that I'm married to someone with a "real" job). It just feels odd. It would feel like getting a tip. I don't know. But you asked, and you're getting genuine teacher responses. The vast majority of us who have responded have said we'd be uncomfortable with a cash gift.

[Anonymous]

I'm the one who said my DH has a "real" job- believe me, it was entirely sarcastic. I'm just saying that that would be the way it would make me feel teaching at said ritzy school if someone handed me an envelope full of cash.

In New York State, where I did my teacher preparation, all teachers had to finish a master's degree within 5 years of earning a provisional license. I have since gone on to complete all of the coursework for a PhD and pass my comprehensive exams (I just have to finish and defend my dissertation- I hope within the next year). For that, I think I made $54K last year. If my husband left me tomorrow with this mortgage, I would be completely SOL, and not for want of trying. I don't understand how anyone in this country thinks that schools can attract the best and brightest if practically every other profession is more lucrative. I'm sorry if I sounded condescending- it's just frustration.