PS Moms and PS teachers - what do you get for your kidlet''s teachers at the end of the year or teac

[pixley]

So my DD goes to a small, private Montessori school for 3s, 4s and K''s and this will be her last year. Some of the mums (myself included) are thinking about joining forces and getting mani/pedi spa gift certificates to Willow Stream Spa at the Fairmont Empress and an additional gift certificate to the fancy neighborhood patisserie.

What do you get for your teachers at the end of the year?

And teachers, what would you LOVE to get?

We adore our teachers (there are about 12 including music teacher, principal and TAs) and want to get them something they can use - not mugs that say "#1 teacher"). Likewise, they have cared for our kids for three wonderful years straight and have provided such a warm and enagaging learning community for them as they''ve grown up. I would love to hear your suggestions.

Thanks,

Pixley

 

[ahappygirl]

I try to get something personal - this year both of DS teachers collect children''s books so we got them each a new favorite of ours and wrote a message in the front. Sometimes gift cards/certificates. Always a homemade card from my son and note from DH and me. Also this year one teacher was moving after 20 (!) years at his school so we organized a group gift that involved the thumbprints of all her current students and as many former ones as we could find. We had several put their thumbprint on who are now 14, 16, 17 yrs old. She teaches 3-4 yr olds!! She was really touched. She also completely deserved the effort.

 

[pixley]

Date: 5/30/2008 7:23:21 PM
Author: ahappygirl
I try to get something personal - this year both of DS teachers collect children''s books so we got them each a new favorite of ours and wrote a message in the front. Sometimes gift cards/certificates. Always a homemade card from my son and note from DH and me. Also this year one teacher was moving after 20 (!) years at his school so we organized a group gift that involved the thumbprints of all her current students and as many former ones as we could find. We had several put their thumbprint on who are now 14, 16, 17 yrs old. She teaches 3-4 yr olds!! She was really touched. She also completely deserved the effort.

Oooh, I loooove your thumbprint idea. What a sweet and thoughtful thing to do! 20 years is a long time - I bet that was a tough farewell.

We will definitely do our own cards thanking each one for her personal contribution to our DD''s care along the way. Thanks!

 

[zoebartlett]

ahappygirl -- that''s a great idea!

I''m a teacher (elementary level) and the best gifts are hand made (drawn and/or written) cards from the kids. I definitely keep those. Baked goods are always a hit, although you never know what someone''s dietary restrictions could be. The ideas you mentioned sound fabulous!

 

[pixley]

Date: 5/30/2008 7:39:02 PM
Author: ZoeBartlett
ahappygirl -- that's a great idea!

I'm a teacher (elementary level) and the best gifts are hand made (drawn and/or written) cards from the kids. I definitely keep those. Baked goods are always a hit, although you never know what someone's dietary restrictions could be. The ideas you mentioned sound fabulous!

What a nice teacher you are to keep alllll those handmade cards! I would do baking, but lately, it's been such a disasterous endeavor, I'm a bit gun-shy to try my hand at it again. What kinds of baked goodies do you prefer? I wonder if anyone here has tried to bake homemade macarons (the pretty, colourful, french kind, not macaroons with coconut - although i do have a good recipe for those). I could eat hundreds of those and never feel guilty...

 

[MichelleCarmen]

For the past two years, the teachers in my son's class have been presented with a bound book.

Each child is given a template where they draw a picture and then below write out stuff, like what their favorite subjects are and why they love their teachers so much. Those template pages are taken to a printer and bounded into a book for the teacher to keep. This year, in addition to the drawn picture, a class photo was included.

Last year, we also got my son's Kindergarten teacher a gift card to REI because it was her first year of teaching and seemed appropriate. This year, we gave his 1st grade teacher a card and flower.

ETA - and yep, about the dietary restrictions. The Kindergarten teacher has celiac, so I felt bad when she was given food she could not eat.

I think she only told a few parents about that, so others were so thoughtful to give her food, but didn't know.

 

[pixley]

Date: 5/30/2008 8:20:21 PM
Author: MC
For the past two years, the teachers in my son''s class have been presented with a bound book.


Each child is given a template where they draw a picture and then below write out stuff, like what their favorite subjects are and why they love their teachers so much. Those template pages are taken to a printer and bounded into a book for the teacher to keep. This year, in addition to the drawn picture, a class photo was included.


Last year, we also got my son''s Kindergarten teacher a gift card to REI because it was her first year of teaching and seemed appropriate. This year, we gave his 1st grade teacher a card and flower.


ETA - and yep, about the dietary restrictions. The Kindergarten teacher has celiac, so I felt bad when she was given food she could not eat.

I think she only told a few parents about that, so others were so thoughtful to give her food, but didn''t know.

Wow, you are a PRO, MC! Some friends of ours do bound books for nearly every exciting event and they are so magical. I could look at them for hours! That is a really great idea, and for some of the parents who aren''t able to donate $, it''s great because it doesn''t cost anything.

I also love the REI gift cert. Who couldn''t find something there? One of her teachers is more outdoorsy and is an avid sailor - and SOOOO not a mani/pedi type, and I suggested we go MEC (the Canadian equivalent of REI) for her gift cert. I have teachers in my family and they always seem to enjoy their gift certificates as well, especially when they''re from someplace fun or someplace that reflects their personal tastes.

Re: food - I''ve never seen any of her teachers turn down a cupcake, so perhaps I''m safe to toss in a baked sweet or two while I''m at it. Last year, all the mums pitched with a potluck picnic at which we presented them with their card and gifts, so that may cover the food route.

 

[gwendolyn]

I now teach the little guys (5 & 6 years olds, mostly) and my favourite gifts have been the books made of their letters to me. Not 'book' as in anything fancy--just a stack of letters with drawings on the back stuffed between two pieces of construction paper. So cute! And they say the funniest things.

With my older students (high school music), I think the nicest gift I got was a scrapbook made by the parent of the whole music season. She'd taken tons of photos throughout the year, and then put them all together for me in a lovely scrapbook and had the students that I taught write me messages next to their pictures. I loved that too! But that took some major planning on her part, so wouldn't probably be that feasible to do now.

I LOVE the idea of the gift certificate for a mani/pedi, though! So thoughtful since the teachers will soon be free to relax this summer and show off their nails, and a nice little treat for those of us (like me!) who never go to the salon to get our nails done. I always do mine at home to save a bit of cash and so I can multitask at the same time.

Whatever you decide to do, pixley my dear, I am sure it will be perfect. You are already putting so much thought into it that it will definitely be a winner!

 

[pixley]

Hi gwen!
OK, so I''m sensing the trend towards a good gift cert and a heartfelt scrapbook! I''m on it!

Thanks so much for the great advice!

 

[mom2twogirls]

Date: 5/30/2008 7:17:21 PM
Author:pixley
So my DD goes to a small, private Montessori school for 3s, 4s and K''s and this will be her last year. Some of the mums (myself included) are thinking about joining forces and getting mani/pedi spa gift certificates to Willow Stream Spa at the Fairmont Empress and an additional gift certificate to the fancy neighborhood patisserie.

What do you get for your teachers at the end of the year?

And teachers, what would you LOVE to get?

We adore our teachers (there are about 12 including music teacher, principal and TAs) and want to get them something they can use - not mugs that say ''#1 teacher''). Likewise, they have cared for our kids for three wonderful years straight and have provided such a warm and enagaging learning community for them as they''ve grown up. I would love to hear your suggestions.

Thanks,

Pixley

Funny that you post this, I was out looking for teacher gifts for my older DD''s teachers this morning! I found some pretty can holders (can koozies?) at a little boutique. They were black, with big white polka dots and a letter initial on it. They each had a pretty grosgrain ribbon tied on it, too. (Hopefully that description didn''t make them sound cheesey, because they were really pretty!) I was thinking of one of those (with the teacher''s initial), a pretty beach towel and some fun magazines (InStyle, People, etc..) all wrapped together in a pretty ribbon so they could take everything to the pool over the summer?

For my younger DD, I put together a scrapbook for each teacher with the help of the children (they each provided a page of artwork) and the teachers flipped out over them.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Seriously, teachers get so much "stuff" that I only recommend gift cards other than some kind of card or picture from the child. I don''t get many gifts as a special ed. teacher, but food treats such as chocolate are common gifts. I''d rather have a restaurant gift card over anything else, though.

 

[777_LDY]

At the end of the year I usually send out a letter to take up a collection for the class as a whole and get a Visa or Amex gift card. This way if their teacher is going on vacation, or have had their eye on something special, they can get exactly what they want. I wrap it up nicely (last year I was able to collect $300. and put it in a box that I filled with scented silk rose petals and wrapped it in her favorite colors, she was happy!) and have the children give it during a party.

I usually have the children do something more personal for Teacher Appreciation Day which is in early May. This year I asked the children to either write a letter, poem, or drawing on an 8x11 sheet of paper and I put together in an album. Some of the drawings were hysterical because it was 4th grade, very cute!! This way she has something to keep and easily store away.

Another idea that I may use next year for TAD is collect used pencils from the children and use them to decorate the edge of a small chalkboard or frame. This way it is still something that comes from the children. I know one teacher received this for her retirement this year and she absolutely loved it. She said she remembered so many of the different pencils. It was really neat when it was all put together.

 

[pixley]

mom2twogirls - your can openers don''t sound cheesy at all - I LOVE kitchen stuff! And, I would be giddy over anything tied with grosgrain. My DD just brought home some origami paper and I mentioned that it would be nice to write some thank you notes to her teachers on the paper and she looked at me like I was from another planet. I may have to transcribe for her since she''s not to jazzed about slogging through 6+ notes.

diamondseeker - gotcha! Easy on the stuff. I agree. No more candles, mugs, etc. We did manage to take up a nice collection last year and even got the restaurant to top up the gift certificates for our teachers, so perhaps we can saddle up to them again to see if they''ll oblige.


777_LDY - That Visa/Amex gift card is such a cool idea - then they could use it anywhere! I don''t think I''ve ever heard of those before. I wonder if those are available in Canada. I''ll have to check that out... Nevertheless, $300 is a fantastic amount! Nice!

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 5/30/2008 8:00:43 PM
Author: pixley

Date: 5/30/2008 7:39:02 PM
Author: ZoeBartlett
ahappygirl -- that''s a great idea!

I''m a teacher (elementary level) and the best gifts are hand made (drawn and/or written) cards from the kids. I definitely keep those. Baked goods are always a hit, although you never know what someone''s dietary restrictions could be. The ideas you mentioned sound fabulous!

What a nice teacher you are to keep alllll those handmade cards! I would do baking, but lately, it''s been such a disasterous endeavor, I''m a bit gun-shy to try my hand at it again. What kinds of baked goodies do you prefer? I wonder if anyone here has tried to bake homemade macarons (the pretty, colourful, french kind, not macaroons with coconut - although i do have a good recipe for those). I could eat hundreds of those and never feel guilty...

Thanks Pixley! What kind of baked goods do I prefer? Hmmm, let''s see...

I''m not picky. Really, anything sweet is right up my alley, but if I HAD to choose, I''d go with Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. But honestly, I''m sure anything would be appreciated -- home baked or not.

One of my favorites was when the parent of a rather difficult child wrote me a nice note at the end of the year, telling me some very kind things. THAT meant the world to me, because it''s often hard to know when you''re in the middle of the year how the parents perceive you as their child''s teacher.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Yes, the VISA gift card idea is terrific! Only in my dreams would I ever get one for $300! I don''t mind, though. I have sweet little kids and my reward is seeing them learn to read!

 

[pixley]

Ok, cookies, gift card and hand notes. See, I knew I could count on the PS ladies to have all the good answers. Thanks, all!

Mmmmm, Tollhouse.

 

[777_LDY]

Date: 5/31/2008 8:42:27 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
Yes, the VISA gift card idea is terrific! Only in my dreams would I ever get one for $300! I don''t mind, though. I have sweet little kids and my reward is seeing them learn to read!

It was definitely the most I''ve ever been able to collect! The parents just happened to be more inclined to donate I guess!?! There was also one step-mom that gave $100 too though so it would have been less. I told her that we were just "putting it in a pot" and maybe she would want to give it to the teacher personally, but she insisted. It was very nice of her!