Teacher Gifts - Help?
 

GreekChat teachers - what do you like receiving as a gift from a student? I don't want to go the mug/ornament/knicknack route because I know they probably have tons of that sort of thing.

I was thinking a gift certificate to our local carwash. Is that insulting or dumb? lol

Any other suggestions?

Re: Teacher Gifts - Help?
 

The best gifts I got as a teacher were gift certificates.
What about candles or bath products?

I suggest gift certificates to restaurants, book stores, Yankee Candle, Bath and Body Works, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc. or even teacher supply stores.

Apples

Gift certificates are AWESOME!!! You know us teachers have NO MONEY. The candles and smell good lotion idea is good too.............

gift certif. are great. Last year, i got a $5 and a stainless steel travel mug to our local coffee shop and i thought it was the greatest thing because I didn't have to pay for coffee for a week and with your own mug, your coffee is only a $1! I have also gotten ones for car washes, blockbuster, the mall , etc. Also, homemade breads, candies, and muffins are good.

The best gift ever was last year at the end of the year...one of my favorite students (she is like a little sister to me) and her mom gave me a set of wine glasses and a bottle of wine. It was funny a kid was giving it to me but her mom knew me oh so well. :D

Oh I forgot another great gift. My kids knew how special Delta is to me, so some found elephant magnets for the big storage closet in my room. Others got me cute little Delta trinkets or red trinkets.

If you know your kids' classroom color scheme or their teachers' favorites (colors, animals, sports teams, etc.) get gifts or gift certificates related to that.

Maybe your kids' teacher needs an Extreme Makeover, nominate them, lol.

My mom is a retired teacher and always got ornaments and bath products which she either gave away or threw out. I think that gift certificates are the best way to go.

Maybe to some place like a teacher's store or Barnes & Noble. I know some teachers that complain they have to buy all of their books and supplies out of pocket so something like this could be really useful.

Prozac.

yeah, i can always use drugs...;) i think i was on crack when i decided to major in middle school education...now i need drugs to deal with it

Gift certificates are great.. my best friend is a teacher and i am studying to be an elementary teacher and with the lack of money out there for teachers gift certificates do wonders...

my best friend actually REQUESTED that i not give her a birthday present (we usually make each other something) and to give her a gift certificate to either Target or Walmart.

I ended up getting her one to Walmart which sometimes has better deals. With that she can pick up extra pencils and folders and any misc supplies like tissues and hand sanitizer.

For the teachers I am working with for my field internship (part of my program) i got them cute mugs and stuck a candy cane and a gift certificate. then i wrapped it in celophane with some pretty holly leaves and berries stuck into the mugs and pretty ribbon on the outside.. they looked expensive and cute but they were all homemade :)

I'm ALLLLLL about the gift cards! If you have a Safeway (or Genaurdi's, Von's, etc) near you, they have these great gift cards at the checkout stand...Load one up and hand it over! They have Nordstrom's, Marriott, things like that. Target always a good one, B&N, hell, even a general mall certificate....My mother gets a crap load of, well, crap every year from her students. The worst is food or bath stuff.....Don't guess, just give 'em the freedom to buy their own stuff!

:D

Nominate the worst dress one to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

My mom is a teacher so I'm going to echo everyone else and say gift certificates. Those are definitely her favorite out of all the student gifts.

I used to give my teachers Charlie or Jean Nate perfume or cologne. They probably hated it, but I thought it smelled nice.

I think that you should give your children's teachers a gift certificate for a spa or hair salon. Or maybe those American Express gift cards.

Thanks to all of you for your great suggestions! I think I'll definitely go with the gift certificates but now I need to decide which stores.

Target sounds good. Everyone loves Target. Or at least I do :)

I LOVE TARGET!!!!

:) i spend lots of money there. i think by now with all the money i have spent there i can afford a share into the company ;) lol

Since this is my first year with my own class I hope hope hope to get ornaments! My mom taught for years and has a few of her own. She looks at them every year when tree trimming and always thinks of the kids.

Other than that I would love to get candles or bubble bath, as both help me relax after a long day with the little darlings! Gift certif. Very nice too...we have a new Target in our area and that would really be nice store for one :)

things to NOT get a teacher: candles, mugs, ornaments (she could be jewish and then where would she hang her santa ornament), bath and body stuff.

unless you know for sure that the teacher has a favorite scent, please don't buy anything smelly. there's nothing worse than getting a basket of bbw stuff in a scent that makes you get a sore throat. it happens to me every year and i wind up bringing it back or giving it to someone.

the best stuff to get: supplies for the class (pens, stickers, cute notepade, etc. wrapped up really nice) and of course, gift certificates.

don't get me wrong, teachers are always appreciative of their gifts. but there's nothing worse than 20 different smelly candles/ornaments/lotions/mugs, etc every year. honestly, there's no place to put these things! go the practical routs--even if it's a $10 certificate, it's better than another mug to add to the collection or regift.

hope that helps!

If you do go the gift cert route what is a good amount? I am thinking about doing this for my daughters preschool teachers but I don't want to insult her by giving her one that is to low.

honestly whatever you can afford.

for the most part I get $20, 25 and even $50 from some parents. i've also gotten cash ($50 bills) which is GREAT!!

Our school district allows Gift Certificates, but teachers are prohibited from accepting cash.

When I was in HS I spent Christmas with my aunt who was a 1st grade teacher. After the party her class had, she came home and promptly sorted everything and threw out most of it. I was crushed at the thought of my old teachers doing that.

Since that I have given consumables....food, candy, coffees, etc cause I know they will use it.

I always love gift certificates from my kids. I've gotten certificates from: Victoria's Secret, a nice mall, Barnes & Noble, Blockbuster, and even Honey Baked Ham. I once recieved a real silver plated pen from Tiffany & Co. Also food is great, there have been homemade items such as cakes, cookies, candied nuts etc....., that I have been able to share with my whole family. Also, chocolates are always a favorite!!!!!!!

We need to talk...I came back to middle school this year..

Gift certificates are great...also, if you know the teacher really well and she has a family, babysitter service!!!

When I was in high school, I got a box of Godiva truffles for the teacher who wrote me a rec for college. I figured if he didn't like it, he probably was going to a holiday party and could bring it to the party.

)came back?!? i think you need the drugs too...i'll share with you! (but I get the better ones since I am stressed out over my national boards ;) )

All of my father's aunts were teachers. The week after Christmas, two of them (neither of whom should have been teachers in the first place!) held a "Nieces' Party". They would regift all the items that "the little snips" gave them. blech.

Viva la gift certificate!!!

Don't get mugs! As teachers, my husband and I have received, no lie, about 50 between us.

I vote for gift certificates or ornaments.

My favorite teacher gifts I've gotten: (I teach preschool)

Cashmere gloves (I'm not kidding. This woman was amazing if somewhat overboard in the gift giving category.)

A mug with hot chocolate mix, a candy cane and marshmallows.

Gift certificate to get my nails done.

The same lady that bought the cashmere gloves gave me this really nice foot lotion and those spa socks that you wear to bed.

Gift certificate to Old Navy and Target.

And the best: One of my moms apparently had a lot of time on her hands and made me a book of pictures her daughter had colored for me and a picture of every kid in the class. She also put a note in there where she wrote down all the sweet things her daughter had said when she asked her to tell her about Miss Crystal. It was adorable.

More reasons to love my job.

My co-worker always gives gift certificates to the movies. That seems cool.. a night out for teacher to relax!

I have given different things based on the teacher. My daughter's 2nd grade teacher sent home a note before Christmas saying "If you plan to send a gift, please make it a gift certificate to Borders or Barnes and Noble so that I can purchase books for the classroom". Of course, it was her 32nd year of teaching and I'm sure she had a zillion ornaments, mugs, etc.

Man, i wanna work at your school!

Maybe all of us teachers should post our best and worst gifts we recieve in the next few weeks.

at high school, i dont see much so anything is fine. i use mugs for markers and ditto others on bubble bath. regifting is also a possibility if it's really questionable. also in terms of food, feed the masses or the last class before the vacation starts.

One gift I think is great for teachers are gift certificates to office supply stores like staples-that way they can buy the things they need to for themselves or the classroom (let's face it these days teachers have a tough time with getting supplies covered by the schools). Definitely better to get a gift they can use.

One of my friends has a teacher/principal mom, and her mom does something really cute with the extra frames/mugs that she gets but no longer wants - she gives them to a school in the inner city for their teachers, who tend not to get any gifts at all this time of year. :D

what a great idea with the mugs geeky!

I agree with forever that the gift certificates will most likely get the use-and especially if its money towards supplies for the classroom like the ones from staples-I think they'll get more immediate use out of them.

A gift certificate to a spa would be a great papering present.

I know this is kinda late...but my roomie who is a teacher...gets the most use out of the gift cards, etc. we had dinner for the month of january paid for last year. it was great.

LOL, I got 2 more mugs among my gifts from students! But I also got some amazing stuff, including some Burts' Bees items--thanks to AlphaGam 1019 for turning me onto that!

Now my husband, who teaches at a private school, really brings home some major gifts! Gourmet candy and cookies, gift certificates to restaurants and department stores, classy items for the garden--

This is late but as a teacher I would love Gift certificates to restaraunts or to places like Report Card, Office Max, Office Depot, etc. (copying handouts and supplementary materials add up quickly).

You guys are forgetting the GREATEST gift EVER (well, at least IMHO from the year I taught)

A STARBUCKS/DUNKIN DONUTS GIFT CERTIFICATE.

As a teacher, especially a young one, I found I needed all the caffinee possible for 8am class.And the coffee from the cafe/teachers lounge left alot to be desired.


ETA: I'm sure this doesn't apply to anyone on this board, but- my mom is a teacher, and for the most part of all teacher I know, unless the family is known well 95% of the homemade cookies and stuff went in the garbage. Honestly, it kinda skeves me too...looking back on some of the students I had.