Teacher Gift Ideas

[BetteDavisEyes]

It's an elementary school thing. As a teacher, IF my students and their parents wanted to be generous and buy me a gift, I'd appreciate the fact that they even thought of me in the first place. If I had a choice, I'd definitely go for the gift cards.

My mother-in-law, also a teacher, said the strangest gift she ever received was a ham.

[UGAalum94]

I suspect that the more teachers a kid has, like in middle school and high school, the less likely they are to get gifts.

I have received gifts over the years, and they all seemed really sweet. It really strikes me as so thoughtful and gracious that I think it's hard to go wrong with any idea.

One really memorable one was from an artistically talented student who made an arrangement of candy by gluing snack sized candy bars onto floral stems and arranging them like flowers. I know it sounds kind of weird, but it was cool because it was both a holiday decoration on my desk and a food treat since you just unwrapped them to eat. If you are kind of a craft person, you could probably do a cool one with materials from a craft store and hot glue. I don't think it would really take long once you had all your supplies.

Another kind of similar thing involves using floral tape to cover pens or pencils and attach artificial flowers to them and then present them in a flower pot with kind of craft gravel-ly stuff instead of dirt. One of my colleagues has one, and it's great because when the kids have to borrow pens in class, she can easily keep track of hers since they are the ones that look like daisies.

I'm a teacher and would enjoy a liter of Crown Royal

Kitso
KS 361 times I approve this message

[LeslieAGD]

I always love it when my students give me gift cards. Borders/Barnes and Noble, Starbucks/Caribou Coffee, and Target are THE BEST!

[ForeverRoses]

Thanks for all of the ideas. I will probably go with a gift card for each of them- my son's school sells "script" which as I understand it, you buy the gift cards and a portion of the money is given back to the school.

I feared that gift cards would be inpersonal, but it seems to be the winner!

Oh, and I live in Indiana, so teacher gifts are not just an East Coast or Southern thing!

[AGDee]

Teacher gifts are definitely not just an East Coast or Southern thing. I think it is an elementary school thing though. That elementary teacher spends more time in direct contact with my child than I do a lot of the time. The teachers and I are working together to raise independent, intelligent, and responsible children, so of course I will get them a gift! I really appreciated all they did and that they dedicated their career to bettering our world by choosing to teach our kids.

[EtaPhiZTA]

I teach second grade in Illinois, and this year our PTO has requested that each teacher create a "wish list" which can be shared with parents who indicate an interest.

I felt very awkward creating a wish list because I felt like I was begging for a gift.

My favorite gifts have always been when a parent (or student) sits down and writes a heartfelt card. I have a collection of these in my desk drawer that I will often pull out when I am having a bad day