Editor’s Note: It’s that time of year again. I wrote the original version of this post about a year ago. Here is the new and improved version.
Over the course of my 15 year teaching career, I received many gifts from students.
To be perfectly honest, most of the gifts I got were either regifted or,
gulp,
thrown into the garbage.
And this isn’t to say your thoughtfulness isn’t appreciated.
It’s just that 20 students x Christmas and teacher appreciation and end-of-the-year gifts x 5 or 10 or 20 years of teaching =
well,
a lot of crap and nowhere to put it.
So, my advice is to avoid the following gifts in order to save your time and money:
1. Anything that has the word teacher printed on it
Okay, maybe if you are a first year teacher you get excited by a world’s best teacher mug. But there is only so much coffee the world’s best teacher can drink.
And speaking of mugs,
skip those too.
2. Baked goods
Most teachers won’t eat the stuff you spend hours baking for them. Many teachers are trying to watch what they eat. And if the teacher has seen your child pick his or her nose or do anything else unsanitary, those cookies are going right into the garbage.
3. Jewelry
I can safely say when your teacher opens that box of swan origami earrings you got for her, they will most likely never make it out of the box.
Unless she has a wardrobe full of sweaters like this (from theuglysweatershop.com if you want one…):
Then give her the origami earrings.
She’ll probably wear them.
4. Anything handmade, especially if it has your kid’s name on it.
These things are great to receive from your own kid.
But teachers don’t want a picture frame with your kid’s name printed on it, and his picture inside of it.
The teacher’s desk already has enough crap on it.
All that being said, as a teacher, I never expected a gift.
And I know this sounds cliche, but a handwritten note about what you really appreciated about the teacher and how he or she specifically made a difference in the child’s life is the best gift, in my opinion, that you can give.
Of all the gifts I ever received, the only ones I have left are a small box of handwritten notes I received from parents over the years.
Throw in a gift card for a couple free cups of coffee and you will make that teacher’s day.
Better yet, give a gift card to the parent-teacher store.
The allowance for classroom supplies in most school budgets is at an all-time low these days.
Teachers can save those suckers for the end of the year when they are running out of , well,
everything.
Then maybe they won’t have to send home a note sometime in the middle of April, begging you for pencils and glue sticks.
And that leads me to one little story.
I’ve mentioned before that I used to teach in an affluent school district.
The parents there could often be brutal.
Open House at the beginning of the year was never fun, and it pretty much turned into an opportunity for the teacher to be grilled.
My school district had adopted a math curriculum that was a complete paradigm shift from the way most of us had learned math when we were kids, and the parents were kind of in an uproar over it.
One mother in particular gave me a really hard time.
I knew she was going to be on me for the entire year.
Most of these moms I would ignore or dismiss.
But I was determined to break this one.
And I did.
By the end of the year, I had managed to completely turn this mom around, and in her eyes, I was pretty much the
Best.
Teacher.
Ever.
So on the last day of school her son gives me an envelope and wishes me a happy summer. I waited until all the kids were gone to open it.
Some of the kindest words a parent had ever written to me were in that card. It went something like this…
Dear Miss J,
Thank you for a wonderful 4th grade year. Paul loved being in your class. At the beginning of the year I had my doubts, but you really challenged him and you were right about the math curriculum. We feel he is incredibly prepared for 5th grade, and want you to know we think you are the best teacher he has ever had. Thank you for everything you have done for him. Have a great summer.
Mrs. J
And if that were it, it would have been probably the best gift I had ever received. But she included something else in the card…
A crumpled, dirty $10 bill.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
I know she meant well, but come on.
I am one of the most influential teachers this kid will ever have, and I have perhaps altered the course of his life, and that is worth…
ten dollars???
I guess the fact that it was cash, in my mind, attached a dollar value to all the hard work I had done — an entire year, and that amounted to $10…
So like I said, if you want to give your teacher something they will appreciate, let them know the ways they positively impacted your child.
And if you really want to include something else — a gift they will use — I say go with the gift card.
Or alcohol 😉
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Susie, you are hilarious! Two years ago I actually got a six pack of corona from one of my student’s mothers. It came cold in a gift bag wirh limes. Obviously since I was in school and now in possession of alcohol this was kind of awkward…so I put it in the trunk of my car. Still the most memorable teacher gift ever.
After being a teacher for 40 years now, I find your attempt at humor a bit sarcastic, unthankful, and not so much humorous. Not all people have the money to buy gifts for their teacher, therefore they make one, or take the last $1 to buy something at the local dollar store to let the children feel they have purchased a million dollar gift. Be thankful for what you are given. Yes, I too, love those warm notes of appreciation. A hug from the kid or parent is also a nice gift. Better still, the parent and child behaving appropriately through out the year is the best gift. Given all along and not costing a thing except a little respect and appreciation. I have had my fill of cups, cheap gifts, etc. but I valued each one as a special gift from the heart of the child. That $10, crumpled up bill, might have bought that child another birthday gift or a couple of happy meals. Perhaps that was a gift directly from the child’s own piggy bank. It is one’s personal obligation as a teacher to accept each child and each gift, or no gift with appreciation. When I am given a gift, I thank them, make some really nice remark about how special it is, how it must have taken a long time to make, showed he/she really put effort into it. For the one who has no gift, I would always say gifts are nice but the best gift is behaving and a hug if they want to give one. Maybe take those gifts of mugs and make hot chocolate with them sometime in your class, or take them to the faculty room for coffee. Use their gifts to decorate the classroom the next year. It will show the class that you care enough about your former classes that you keep what they give you. It also reminds you to be thankful for what you have, the opportunity to influence lives for the better. Even if it is only to accept and display their gift of love for all the world to see. As a song I know goes,…”Be thankful for the good things that you’ve got, for the good things that you’ve got are for others just a dream, so be thankful for the good things that you’ve got.” Sure, we all get some odd gifts but I wouldn’t go about making it into humor. It cuts at the giver and can be very hurtful. I just hope your former students or parents do not read this, it will only hurt them and cut you down as well.
Come on…give the girl a break. I seriously doubt Susie laughed at the kids faces and told them that they are crappy presents. I bet it we asked her or any of her kids, they would tell us that she LOVED that special gift. You have got to agree that a dirty crumpled $10 bill is a little insulting. If I were a teacher it would have made me feel like a $10 hooker. Honestly….just give her the card with the kind words.
This is a humor blog…you have made an effort to come to this website to read the humorous stories that this author is sharing with us. The great thing about this country is that we all have choices…we can choose to read a humor blog and laugh our asses off on a daily basis, or if we read something we don’t like then we can choose to STOP READING said humor blog. This chick (Susie) and a ton of guts to put herself out there and write this. Don’t JUDGE, don’t CRITICIZE…just enjoy it. If you don’t like it then don’t read it.
Thank you for your comment. Being a mom who takes huge sacrifices to be able to stay at home with my kids. I rarely spend $10 on myself. My son has had a great teacher and I want to give her a gift showing how much we appreciate her. But money is very right. After ready this blog post I was rather sad that even if I do something from the heart teachers out there might just throw it in the trash. Your comment gave me a little hope in humanity. So thank you!
Oooh, Idk, Susie, this one was hard for me to read. I completely agree with you that people need to know to avoid certain kinds of gifts, b/c, come on, do the math. But to dis the $10 was a bit harsh. Yeah, it would have been better form to put that 10 in the form of a gift card, but could be she never got around to getting one and didn’t want to send the note without a little something to accompany it. For a long time I sent the teachers homemade bookmarks (with individual pics of the kids and words of thanks) with a $5 gift card to a book store. I remember hoping they wouldn’t be offended at the paltry amount, but with six kids and multiple teachers for each of them, it was all I could swing. Now I feel uneasy, thinking they were offended at the amount.
Love it!
PS I don’t mind you using our image of one of our teacher sweaters we had for sale (because, it is perfect!) but please give credit back to our shop theuglysweatershop.com when doing so. Thanks! 🙂
Sorry! I just googled “ugly Christmas sweaters.” I didn’t know it was from your site! I added that in there 😉