Teacher Christmas Card from Em

Oh What Fun Christmas Card

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What will your child give their teacher for Christmas this year? Remember the best way to show appreciation for your teachers is to give them what they want and will use versus what you want to give them.

A homemade ornament?  The get 10 each year x 10 years of teaching...no tree is that big.  Save the love for a homemade card that can be saved easily by the teacher with a personal note from you and your child--depending on age, they can at least write their name or how they write their name right now at this age.  That may be an A for Alex or whatever mark they're able to make on the card.

It's all about telling the teacher you wish them a wonderful Christmas. Save the cookie mixes (unless you know what their favorite cookie is and know they'll use it. Same with soup mixes, hot chocolate in a mug (your mug will be the 20th one they've received this year.)

What are some good ideas if you don't really know your child's teacher but you want to buy them something special?  Watch for tomorrow's post for ideas.  What are your ideas?

Free Gift

Just in case your family isn't able to do anything more than a thank you, you can see below...or should I say feel below that this these are the things that really let a teacher know they are appreciated.

This is a sampling of the notes I have collected this week from families in our school (excuse the quality, please). I put a lot of work into planning to make next week-Teacher Appreciation Week-special at our school, just reading these notes and hearing the difference our teacher make makes it all worth while.

Each note starts with I, (mom, dad, student) appreciate Mrs. Smith because:This one is from a mom with two boys with special needs and she addressed it to all of the teachers and aides individually.

Sweet Irony

Have I mentioned that the runner up in my long list of blog names was "Not One More Apple"? But I have a special love for a nice, crisp Granny Smith, so I went with my sunshiney name that I loved!

Living in a smaller community (population of 3,500 population), it's normal to run into people you know. However, today I was running errands with my two daughters 45 minutes away at the closest WalMart so I was expecting to see a lot less familiar faces. It was a fun surprise to run into my eldest daughter's teacher right as we were finishing up in the produce section. I was letting the girls choose a few of the varieties of apples they wanted to sample and her wonderful teacher leaned over to get her own...juicy red apple. She said they're her favorite snack!

I guess it was just a little reminder to me that it really is all about finding out what it is your own child's teacher likes and not what you think they would like. Because if you bet $1 million that this mom was definitely not going to get her child's teacher an apple for a treat, you'd be one happy person this afternoon.

Mental note, it was a Braeburn that she said was her favorite. Okay, who am I kidding, there's not such thing as a mental note after two children...I'm off to find a pen. Then I need to get some pictures taken of my finds and progress of my gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week. Twenty-five cents and thirty-seven cents, which was the price for the pack of gum I got each teacher and which was the price of the adorable, little blue metal buckets that hold two cups of goodies???

Gardening Teacher Gift Ideas

You've done your homework and you know your child's got a real green thumb of a teacher--or at least a definite green thumb wannabe. :) Here are some good no-clutter gardener gifts:

Burt's Bees Gardener's Kit



Dish Garden



Dish Garden with Pinks



European Dish Garden




A Borders Gift Certificate for them to buy one of their gardening books on their wishlist.



A Yardiac Gift Certificate for them to pick out some fun new gardening toys from one of my personal favorite gardening catalogs. I love them because they will price match anyone. They have everything starting with organic fertilizers all the way up to decorative trellises.

Don't forget--A gift certificate right there in your neighborhood for your local green house or nursery.

What ideas do you have for the gardening teacher? Are you the gardening teacher? What would you like?

Teacher Gifts and Chocolate Covered Spaghetti

I had to share some research with you that I was doing earlier today. The chocolate covered spaghetti was just a "control" in my test...okay, it's the day after Easter so cut me some slack. :)

Google Results:
"chocolate-covered spaghetti"=513
"gifts teachers really want"=11
"gifts teachers want"=



That number was 3. T-h-r-e-e, three, 3. Seriously? Do we put so little thought into the people who are influencing our children for seven hours a day?






You could always google "gifts for teachers" and then you could get a wonderful list of items you could personalize with the teacher's name like a mini-chalkboard, a coffee mug or a silver apple (add dripping sarcasm). Let me tell you what google won't...that will be the fifth mug they've received this year. However heartfelt and well-thought-out that gift may seem, it is what you want to get them and not what they want.

What does research say teachers really want?

1) A thank you note.
I have been out of the teaching profession for over 8 years now and I still have a box that we called our Happy Boxes at my school. It has notes in it from the parents of children that were a joy to teach and children that were a daily challenge to teach. The ones that touched me most were the ones from the parents thanking me for my patiences and love for the children that challenged me. I hear story after story from teachers who have a box, a bag or a Rubbermaid container filled with these notes. They are notes they read over and over again. That is not to say that we don't treasure wonderful handmade items, it's just that over the years things break and your "Happy Box" starts to turn into a "Happy Storage Rental Container" and you have to pick and choose what is most meaningful. I've only been able to save two small ones: From Mitchell M in 1996, an angel sun catcher and from Katie L in 1997, a red bird mini-statue. Trust me that the most meaningful thing to your child's teacher will be your words.

So write a note and make it specific. Ask your child some questions to get you writing:
-What do you like most about Mrs. Smith?
-What was something that was tricky for you to learn that Mrs. Smith helped you with?
-What was the best thing Mrs. Smith taught you this year?
-What will you miss most about Mrs. Smith next year?

As a parent jot some notes:
-Was there anything Mrs. Smith did for your child that really touched you?
-Did she help your child in a subject that was really frustrating for them?
-Did she see a strength or weakness in your child that you had not seen at home?
-Did she support their giftedness in an area by giving them more challenging work?
-Did she help your child's confidence in a certain area?

Your child's teacher will appreciate it, not just this year, but for many years to come.

2) A gift card for classroom supplies.
Where do teachers buy their supplies? Two of the most popular educational stores because of quality and cost:
I'll have some coupon codes for both coming up next week, but a gift certificate is really your best choice unless you know something your child has mentioned they need or the teacher has told you something they've been wanting. The teacher in the classroom right next door to them might have some good ideas too!

3) Ask me!
Hand this form out to your child's teacher and tell her you'd like to find out a little bit more about her for a surprise.

If they've always wanted to go to new fancy restaurant in town, but cannot afford it, a simple chipping in of five or ten dollars by you and few other parents can make that happen.

And if you're the teacher, what do you wish we knew about what you REALLY want? If you're the parent, what do you give for a gift that you know your child's teacher REALLY wants? I love your comments! Keep on sharing :)