Anonymous wrote:Oh darn, I thought this was going to be about when you stop the madness of AAP discussions here on DCUM. Should have known better.

Kudos to the teacher posting above. No one forces anyone to appreciate another, but hand sanitizer and Kleenex go a long way, almost as much as a thoughtful hand written note from a child or parent does.

I thought the same thing-AAP. Our room mother is really reasonable and she doesn't have us doing something every day. Plus we are thrilled with the teacher so it's fun to be able to give back and make her feel appreciated.

The one time I did not like my child's teacher at all, I was really annoyed by teacher appreciation week especially because we were made to feel everything was mandatory and every day there was a new requirement. The room mothers that year were pushy and I was singled out (in front of the teacher!) the one day I didn't sign up for anything.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally think teachers are nothing short of heroes, but I choose not to participate in the PTA run "this is how we are showing appreciation" actvities. I opt to find my own ways to express appreciation, and also make sure that my children do as well. Nothing against the PTA run stuff, its just not our thing.

I agree with this (and thanks for the idea of just doing our own thing- still new to ES). The room mother has turned all events/presents into something she personally did (i.e. presenting Xmas gift from class but talking about herself and appreciating teacher). I went by the school during the same week last year and saw huge bouquets of flowers, cupcakes etc. for the staff and teachers. Some parents do go overboard.

It is one of those things that you learn as you go along...why should the PTA president get all the credit for your gift? And how do you know exactly how the money was spent? And is that your idea of how to thank your child's teacher? Now, we do what we think the teacher would like the most, ourselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, so this is teacher appreciation WEEK!

Why are the kids/families extorted into bringing in gifts?

Isn't their gift their weekly paychecks and/or every holiday off including the entire summer?

Enough already.

Wow, such a nasty individual. I dare you to say that publicly.

I have said this publicly - minus the weekly paychecks/holiday/summer comment because I know they only get paid for the school year. Think about it - how many do most families acknowledge teachers already on their own? holidays, end of year. Now they're adding birthdays and an entire week. This is getting a little out of control. No adult really needs to be "acknowledged" at work 8 times in a year.

So, I am choosing to not participate this year. We gave a nice gift and a card for the holidays and will do the same at the end of the year. We did not contribute for the teacher's birthday and we will not be contributing this week.

This is my 20th year teaching elementary students in FCPS. I have never known classes to celebrate teachers' birthdays beyond the "happy birthday" wish and maybe some cards, and that's fine. Teacher Appreciation week is fairly low key. I hope nobody feels they have to bring in something. We are having a lunch at 1:00 which is provided by our PTA. Honestly, some of the best ways to show appreciation is to send a letter. Be specific about how the teacher has helped your child. We can add those to our local files or you can copy the principal in an email.

I confused about the "weekly paychecks" part of your statement. We get paid once a month, but either way, why does it matter?

As a former teacher and post grad parent, I thought the "themes" along with marching orders from the PTA were a little tiresome.

Anonymous wrote:Oh darn, I thought this was going to be about when you stop the madness of AAP discussions here on DCUM. Should have known better.

Kudos to the teacher posting above. No one forces anyone to appreciate another, but hand sanitizer and Kleenex go a long way, almost as much as a thoughtful hand written note from a child or parent does.

Same here!

I thought this was STAFF appreciation week, not just teacher appreciation - at least it is at our school. I'm happy to participate because even though we routine express our appreciation to our kids' teachers, send in supplies, etc., we owe them a lot. Teachers make such in incredible difference in the lives of so many kids and they get paid so little. Money is not the motivating factor when it comes to the teaching profession and I want to do whatever I can to encourange them to continue in the profession. I grew up in an abusive family and teachers were my lifeline. My kids have a much different enviornment but I have no doubt they're still performing that service for some kid in class.

I'm also appreciative of what the support staff do. Each and every one of them touch my kids' day and help make school a positive place for them. They also do many things for the teachers that free the teachers to focus on what they're primary function is. They deserve recognnition and appreciation as well.

Don't blame the teachers. They don't ask for or expect this stuff.

Also, you sound like a selfish grinch when you complain that your profession doesn't have appreciation week. Wouldn't you like one? Just because you don't get appreciated, that means other people shouldn't be either?

"madness" is a pretty strong word. I thought you were talking about all the AAP appeals threads, when doe sthe letter come etc.
Why get so worked up over the small stuff?

Anonymous wrote:Almost all of my friends are FCPS teachers. All of them hate this whole flower day/breakfast treat/etc. crap (one of my friends ended up with an ant infestation in her desk thanks to a bouquet of backyard flowers). So for the third year in a row I sent each of my kids to school today with a card they wrote, with gift cards to Staples and Starbucks tucked inside. I suggested something class-wide to the PTA years ago but got shot down because it wasn't special enough. So fine. We won't be special. We'll just be the people who appreciate our teachers enough to give them something they can actually use.

+1 If you add up all the money you spend on the daily gifts that they don't really want, you can get them a gift card they can use.

Thankfully, my kids' school is pretty low key about this. There's a luncheon for all of the teachers to which our family contributed food. As for the classroom teachers, we express our appreciation individually at the holidays and at the end of the school year.

Almost all of my friends are FCPS teachers. All of them hate this whole flower day/breakfast treat/etc. crap (one of my friends ended up with an ant infestation in her desk thanks to a bouquet of backyard flowers). So for the third year in a row I sent each of my kids to school today with a card they wrote, with gift cards to Staples and Starbucks tucked inside. I suggested something class-wide to the PTA years ago but got shot down because it wasn't special enough. So fine. We won't be special. We'll just be the people who appreciate our teachers enough to give them something they can actually use.

Anonymous wrote:I personally think teachers are nothing short of heroes, but I choose not to participate in the PTA run "this is how we are showing appreciation" actvities. I opt to find my own ways to express appreciation, and also make sure that my children do as well. Nothing against the PTA run stuff, its just not our thing.

I agree with this (and thanks for the idea of just doing our own thing- still new to ES). The room mother has turned all events/presents into something she personally did (i.e. presenting Xmas gift from class but talking about herself and appreciating teacher). I went by the school during the same week last year and saw huge bouquets of flowers, cupcakes etc. for the staff and teachers. Some parents do go overboard.

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a Tea Party thread (iow, a bunch of whiny haters).

Most of us like teachers. Teachers are great!! Go back to home-schooling if you dislike public education so much!!

Pretty much this.

I personally think teachers are nothing short of heroes, but I choose not to participate in the PTA run "this is how we are showing appreciation" actvities. I opt to find my own ways to express appreciation, and also make sure that my children do as well. Nothing against the PTA run stuff, its just not our thing.

It stops in Middle School.

It is the out of control PTA moms who think of these little tortures. Something different every day. Do the teachers evern care? The one I like is the great big notebooks of my special snowflake. What do you think the teachers do with those?