Question About Christmas & Teachers

I've done it a few times, espcially if the teacher has been very helpful for my daughter (unlike her 3rd grade teacher GRR!). I've done gift cards to starbucks, Burts Bees gift packs, bath & body baskets, candles, and food certificates. It just depends on the teacher and what they seem to like.

A few of my friends are teachers and I know how difficult a job it is, so giving them a little something to show my gratitude for them is always nice.

:blushing:

I don't know if ALL teachers do this, but my sister in law is a teacher and says she throws away any home made goods the kids give her.

I didn't ask her why, but I'm not sure if this is a common practice among teachers.

FYI: she's a total b**** so I do not hold her practices to be any kind of standard among teachers.

Charmagne

LMAO!! as I mentioned, some of my friends are teachers, and I kinda don't blame her. :blushing:

i am a speech-language pathologist working in an elementary school and my fiance is a teacher and homemade gifts are appreciated however, to be truthful, it depends on the family whether they are eaten or just appreciated any of the things on the list you mentioned sounded great to me though yum!!!! gift cards for coffee, panera, etc are always good gifts as well...or gifts for the classroom...so are homemade cards decorated by the student...i have a collection of cards signed by kids that i have worked with in the past that i have kept

I will be sending a card with a $10 gift card for each teacher and a card with a lotto ticket for each aide in their class. ALSO please don't forget the bus driver! :n) I totally my kids' bus driver. She's just the best! I'll be giving her a gift card.

The one thing I can say is that I have a friend who is a teacher and when I mentioned this to her before, she asked me PLEASE not to give their teachers any mugs, because they always get like a zillion of them. lol

I am a school psychologist who works with preschoolers, and I know that the classroom teams very much appreciate gifts, especially just thank you cards! It's so nice to feel the love. I do know some teachers that won't eat home-baked goods because they are worried about food poisoning or something, but when one of the kids' parents gave me cookies last year, I ate them! I also think gift cards for coffee are just about the best things ever...

Every single year my mom and I baked homemade candies, fudge, pinwheels, etc and put them in decorative tins. I then handed them out to my teachers. One of them was a chocolate fiend, and one of the best teachers I ever had, so she got a bigger tin than the rest....even when she was no longer my teacher.

I'm a teacher and I agree with the sentiment that cutesy decorative (especially apple themed) knick knacks do tend to pile up. A sweet card hand written by the student is much more treasured than an apple shaped...whatever.

Gift cards to anyplace are a very nice gift, too.

One year I had a mom write me $50 check...I was very thankful and very surprised!! The kid already had straight A's so it def. wasn't a bribery thing. She told me later that teachers are underpaid so she wanted to give me $$. That is definitely not expected though.

It's just very nice that you would want to do something for her, so many don't....

My daughter is a teacher to be (3 more semesters!) but she's already working in some classrooms. She has already thought about Christmas gifts because she is currently seeing kids bringing in gifts to the teachers she works with.

1) home baked goods are nice, but you never know about the hygiene of the person doing the baking, so she will be very leery of any home baked goods brought in (she also wont eat at potlucks or buffets). and some teachers are on special diets to consider too
2) knick knacks from some 30 kids per year can pile up
3) a lot of the classroom supplies have to be purchased by the teachers. with their already low salaries, this doesn't help. so a gift card to a teacher supply store or website would be great
4) the teachers in our schools put up a wishing tree. it's a tree with paper ornaments on it that the teacher puts her "wishes" on and the parents take the ornament and fulfill the wish. It's encouraged by the PTA, not by greedy teachers btw. it works similar to the angel tree. the teacher gets what she needs and you know your gift will be used and appreciated

Oh my goodness! My oldest is in middle school this year and I know all the teachers gather for a team meeting in the afternoon. So today I've been working on my cake pops (you've seen pics of them and know how I work, Tara). Half of them are for a party tomorrow and the other half I planned to deliver myself to the team meeting on Monday with a hand written note from Austin. But now I'm a little worried! Cake pops are time consuming and tedious to make. Not to mention they certainly aren't cheap to make. I am doing it because I want to show appreciation and because people always tend to LOVE how cute and yummy they are. But I would be devastated to think they were thrown away. So after seeing some of the comments about home baked goods being tossed, I'm not so sure anymore. Hmmmmmmmmm......... I'll have to consider.

On a side note, a few years ago I had a teacher friend tell me that teachers of young kids enjoy getting gift bags with supplies they can use in the classroom. So one year I sent my son's teacher a cute gift bag full of goodies she could use and she LOVED it!

The younger the children, the more likely I would enjoy the home made goodies. If it's 6th grade or above, I'm not gonna chance that I'm getting ex-lax brownies. Especially if it comes from the kid. But if Mom delivered it to me, I'd know that it was likely fine.

I understand completely! I just never thought about it that way before. But yes, my plan was to deliver it myself. I actually wanted to pop in and thank them myself as well......they all met with me on Monday to help me with my son (he's slacking this year) and I sincerely appreciate them.

Also, my work is very professional. I make cake balls to deliver to parties as well. Still, I do understand the points I've read here. I'm just considering........

As a special education teacher at an elementary school, I often have students and parents that want to show their appreciation. I find that the things I enjoy the most are pictures or letters from my students, and thank you cards from the parents. These are easily kept, and don't take up much space. Also, when I do have a rough day, it is nice to pull them out and reread them to get that boost that I need to make it through the rough patch.

If you are sure you want to buy something, then I recommend doing things for the classrom. A donated book, supplies like erasers, and pencils, or tissues and hand sanitizer. Teachers often have to purchase these things with their own money and it is helpful.

I agree, if you brought the treats in, I'm sure it would be fine. I, myself, wouldn't have a probablem receiving a gift like that from a parent or a student that I've gotten to know really well. It's not that teachers think the worst of students, it's just a matter of self-preservation. I know when my dad was in high school a whole group of his friends put ex-lax in the teachers' cookies. One faculty member got so sick she had to be hospitalized. True story! Of course, on the whole, I'm sure the students are honest, it's just you have to be on the lookout for that one that just might not like you...;-) I wouldn't toss our your goodies if you're going to deliver them.

Shannon

I have never heard of something like that before. I'm not shocked really (some kids are just so bad) but I AM horrified. Scary stuff. This is why I need not be a teacher....not to middle school or high school aged kids at least....I'm far too gullible. :P

Well I made the Christmas tree cake pops tonight. Its my first try at this particular shape and style. These are for a party I'm attending tomorrow. They were so time consuming that I've decided that for my group of teachers I will stick with cake balls. And YES..... they will be hand delivered.

Kudos to all you teachers out there! Teachers and nurses bear their own set of wings.......no doubt!