Teachers -- What was your favorite teacher gift ever?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generous gift cards

I can tell, you think 96% of what you get isn't generous enough

OP here. Please take any snarky, negative comments elsewhere.

I think teachers deserve 1000+% of what they receive. It's one of the most important jobs in the world and in proportion to its importance, the most underpaid.

Wait a minute now, all the previous "teacher gift" posts were going on about how they never judge or feel any differently about a parent that doesn't do a gift. In fact they didn't even know about any other teacher that would ever feel that way.
Now a week later you want generous gift cards?

[Anonymous]

My best gift as a first year teacher was a $100 gift card to Staples. I was able to use it for classroom supplies; it takes some time to accumulate the basics.

I also love Starbucks and Amazon cards. But it really is true that the handwritten notes and cards are the best, and they are the things I save.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generous gift cards

I can tell, you think 96% of what you get isn't generous enough

OP here. Please take any snarky, negative comments elsewhere.

I think teachers deserve 1000+% of what they receive. It's one of the most important jobs in the world and in proportion to its importance, the most underpaid.

Wait a minute now, all the previous "teacher gift" posts were going on about how they never judge or feel any differently about a parent that doesn't do a gift. In fact they didn't even know about any other teacher that would ever feel that way.
Now a week later you want generous gift cards?

No, that was one teacher saying that it was a favorite teacher gift of hers. Man, oh, man, you people need to learn to read.

[Anonymous]

What about flowering plants, like orchids, for my achool's awesome nurses who take care of my boys so well? Are cut flowers better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are preschoolers (private Montessori), I was thinking of writing a thank you note for their teacher and a $25.00 Starbucks GC, is the amount okay or is $50.00 more reasonable ? This is first year of my kids school and I have no clue. TIA!

Not that I would expect a gift (thank you notes are my preference), but I certainly think $25 is very generous. I really think a little note and $15 would be perfect!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are giving $100 per teacher: check the preschool posts

Well, we gave a LOT to daycare teachers (by my standards) -- $75 each, because I know how little money they make (when DC was in a home based daycare, we gave $200) But elementary school teachers are much more fairly compensated, so we give less now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the terrific responses so far.

Is the "no things" edict a general consensus? One idea out forward was a tray with all of the kids handprints on it. Would that be something you wish you could throw away?

Such a sweet idea, but yes it would end up in the pile of things I have no idea what to do with but can't possibly throw away. A picture of each child with their handprint and maybe a brief message would be just as sweet and so much easier to treasure. You could even get really fancy and have each child do a page, scan the pages and put it together as a nicely bound book in shutterfly.

SO glad to to hear this. Not OP but this thread was making me nervous.
We made shutterfly photobooks for our teachers. Several kids contributed artwork and we had pictures from the various events throughout the year. We also did room parent books and the kids all wrote thank you notes.

Phew! Hopefully our teachers are like you!

That's PERFECT. I like keeping notes and art but having it in a bound book would be so much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generous gift cards

Generous? Really? Wow. I'd skip right over you if I knew that.

- teacher and parent

The question was favorite gift ever (not "what do you appreciate?"), so I get the "generous" part. Especially since sometimes small gift cards to places you don't usually shop can mean that you end up spending more than you save/are being given (or you, in essence, waste the gift).