APPRECIATE A TEACHER

It's teacher appreciation week, and if anyone deserves to be appreciated, it's the people who spend all day with my children.  Times twenty.  I volunteer at school twice a week for an hour.  I can't imagine doing it for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.  Never mind that you get summers off.  I'd end up in the looney bin long before summer rolled around.  I simply do not have the patience.  And I am very thankful for the people who do.

Not only do teachers teach (and sometimes I wonder how they manage to do that), they act as counselors and mentors.  They deal with family problems, emotional problems, hunger, and homelessness.  I've known teachers over the years who keep a drawer of food in their classrooms for the kids who don't get breakfast.  I've seen teachers go out and get library cards or purchase books for kids who don't have any books at home.  I've seen teachers do everything they could to give a kid a chance, because it was obvious that every other adult in that child's life was robbing them of any chance they ever had.

My kids have had some amazing teachers over the years.  A handful have made a huge difference in their lives and taught them things I never could have.  Mostly because they don't listen to me.  I'm so glad there are teachers to give the same advice and teach the same lessons that were ignored and scoffed at when they came from me.  At least my kids listened when I taught them not to scoff at their teachers.

So I've scoured the Internet Pinterest to bring you some fun ideas for saying thank you to all of the wonderful teachers out there.

If you're going to go with the traditional apple may I suggest including some caramel dip to go with it.  You could even get the apple with the caramel already on it.  Because who doesn't love a caramel apple?

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If there is one thing teachers are always running out of, it's pencils.  They're always happy to have more.  They wouldn't even care if you made them into a cute little flower vase, like this......

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but I'm sure they would love it if you did.  What they would really love is if you sharpened the pencils for them.  Approximately 2.5 million hours are spent sharpening pencils each week in classrooms across America.  Okay, I totally made that up, but I bet I'm not far off.

Here's an even easier way to give a supply of pencils, using this free printable.  However, you will seem much more clever using the phrase "you're so sharp" if you actually sharpen the pencils.  Do I make my point?  Haha!  Pun intended.  

I'm sure teachers run out of most classroom supplies well before teacher appreciation week rolls around, so don't wait until May to send in a supply of glue sticks, tissues, pencils, or whatever is needed most.

This is a great idea if you have a lot of teachers to appreciate.  A chocolate bar with a cute wrapper.  If you have a child in junior high or high school, it's a safe bet they won't be getting much in the way of appreciation this week.  Because people don't want to buy gifts for 8 different teachers.  But this, I think, would be doable.

I found this idea on Pinterest,  but there was no legitimate link association with it. 
So whoever came up with this cute idea, thank you!

 

For older kids with multiple teachers, a simple thank you note will do. As a matter of fact, thank you notes will also do for younger kids with a single teacher. Often, these are the most cherished gifts of all. The teachers really do appreciate it, and writing a thank you note is a good exercise for kids too.

Speaking from experience, I can tell you that teachers love homemade treats.  Cookies and brownies and such go over especially well with male teachers.  And if you want to go all out, you can put them in a cute package with like this one from Eighteen25.  It even comes with a free printable.

One of our favorite teacher gifts is a photo book or DVD slide show full of memories from the year.  I take my camera to every class party and on every field trip so I have plenty of pictures to work with.  You could also collect pictures from other parents.  I cannot tell you how much teachers love this! 

If you know your child's teacher well enough, you can do something even more personal.  This year for Christmas we gave C's teacher, who loves to cook, a cookbook with our favorite family recipes.  We're still hearing about how much her and her family love trying the recipes. 

One year, on behalf of E's teacher, we donated to a school fund that helps send kids on a yearly Eco Education trip.  This particular teacher was one who always helped plan and chaperone the trip, and loved the outdoors.  He's also not the type who likes a lot of attention.  We wrote him a little note letting him know what we'd done.  He was delighted, and told us, "Now that's the kind of gift I like."

Books for the classroom library, or a gift card to the local bookstore are always welcome gifts too.  The most important thing though, is to say thank you in some way.  It doesn't have to be expensive or elaborate.  They say it's the thought that counts, and that's never more true than during teacher appreciation week.