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?

Welcome Back to School!

It's time again to start coming up with fun ideas to appreciate our teachers. Here's a free one. Pass this on to your school's teachers and parents for some great discounts at places we already shop.

Borders. The bookstore is now offering educators 25 percent off the list price of books, music, CDs, toys and games for classroom use (up from the previous 20 percent off offer). During Educator Appreciation Week (Sept. 29 - Oct. 7) the discount increases to 30 percent.

Students and parents can get an additional discount on items at Target, Dell, J.C. Penney and other stores by shopping through the Borders Perks portal.

Boston Market. From now until the end of September, all teachers and school staff can receive 20 percent off of their restaurant or catering purchase. The discount is valid Monday through Friday.

On the weekends, teachers and staff will receive a free individual meal with the purchase of an equal-value meal.

Office Depot. The Star Teacher program allows educators to receive discounts on supplies all year.

For more information on teacher discounts (most teachers can get a percentage taken off of their monthly Verizon phone bill, for example), visit the Web site www.myeducationdiscount.com

Source: SunHerald http://www.sunherald.com/outdoors/story/1571584.html

Chocolate-Lovin' Teachers

If you have a chocolate loving teacher on your shopping list, here are some great ideas that can be shipped fast in time for next week, Teacher Appreciation Week.


Mrs. Beasley's Pearl Basket, Filled with cookies with Ghiradelli chocolate, brownies and truffles.


Chocolate Lover's Gift Basket, Filled with chocolate chip cookies, chocolate espresso beans, chocolate-covered sandwich cookies, a chocolate-covered graham dunk, English toffee, Ghirardelli cocoa and an assortment of Ghirardelli chocolates.





Double Chocolate Layered Towel Cake, Relax and eat chocolate...does it get better?


Give Chocolate and Make a Difference!


Set Includes:*Women's Bean Project's assorted Jelly Beans *Dark chocolate covered espresso beans *Cindy's Sinfully Chocolate Brownies.
The Story Behind the Art: Women's Bean Project is a Worldstock partner and a nonprofit organization that teaches job readiness and life skills for entry-level jobs through employment in our gourmet food production business.


Quick and easy? King Size Hershey's Bar with a handwritten appreciation note. Cost, priceless.

What not to buy? I Love Chocolate t-shirt, Make Mine Hot Cocoa mug, etc. Go with the real thing and a note. There's nothing more fun than receiving a delivery at work. Stop by the local flower shop and order a bouquet to be sent to the school and give them the teacher's favorite candy bar to stick inside the bouquet.

All right, all of you chocolate lovers...what would you like if you were the recipient?

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.

Group Gifts for Classroom Teachers

I'm turning on the broken record for one quick moment and then we'll be back to our regularly scheduled program...one of the most appreciated things you can do for your teachers is a heartfelt, specific thank you note. That being said, here are a few group gift ideas for the special teacher in your life.

A book with a special surprise inside...Kristin at Everything Pink does this wonderful classroom gift for her children's teacher each year. She sends home a note to the families in her child's class and collects quotes about their teacher and a small cash donation. What do a few quotes and a few small donations equal? A gift to bring a teacher to tears, that's for sure! You have to visit her site to see just how easy this is. She has a step-by step tutorial, plus a great gallery of photos showing each step.

Are you thinking about collecting a small donation from families to buy your teacher a gift card? Dawn at Dawn's Stamping Thoughts has a great homemade gift card holder. She takes you through each step with her very own YouTube video, making this a fast and easy way to make a gift card a little more special. Your note of appreciation inside the card will be icing on the cake!


A homemade meal for the teacher at the end of a long day teaching, grading, counseling, etc is a wonderful idea for all of the classes families to participate in. Some parents can make the main dish, a few some side dishes, a few some bread, and a few could make some baked goods for desert. Some parents won't have the time, but might be able to donate a couple of dollars towards purchasing the food. What are some of your families favorite dishes? Make enough for leftovers and make your teacher happy for two nights!

What group ideas have you given your teachers in the past? What do you plan to do this year with a group to appreciate a teacher?

Fun Way to Make a Thank You Note for the Teacher

Do you know what a Wordle is? Neither did I before today!

Wordle= A toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes.

Visit this great tutorial on how to create a Wordle for the front of a thank you note for a teacher.

Decorate Your Teacher's Door

Aren't these just the neatest idea ever?



Cindy, from Skip to my Lou, has a tradition at her school where they decorate the teacher's classroom door. What a great surprise to come into work and see? My favorites are the "Recipe for Success" and "Give Mrs. Moody a hand." What is your favorite? Does your parent group do this at your school?

And Our Theme This Year Is...

"You Make a Difference!" from The Star Thrower Story, written by Joel Barker who was inspired by the writing of Loren Eiseley.

I'll decorate the staff lounge with shells and candles to set the mood for relaxation. I will also do a display in the main hallway with each teacher's name on a star with a display title of "Forget Hollywood...The Real Stars Work Right Here at Our School!"

Throughout the year I've used this theme for one of my favorite thrifty teacher appreciation gifts, Wilton Lollipop Molds! You can use them again and again and all you have to buy are new lollipop sticks and new chocolate. I've even done butterscotch chips and peanut butter chocolate chips. I use the Sea Creatures molds for some starfish and other fishy lollipops, but I also the Smiley Faces. Because who can resist a smiling chocolate lollipop??? Certainly, not I. I like to tie on a small bag of almonds to for a few of our teachers who are on restricted diets. You can't please everyone all of the time, but I sure do try!

What theme is your school using this year for Teacher Appreciation Week? What themes have you used in the past?

Personalized Pens...the homemade way!

I've been on the hunt looking for something cheap and non-cluttery (yes, I just made that a word--see the link in the left column to find out more about these types of gifts) to give out with the teachers' sweets. I came across this great tutorial on making very economical personalized pens for the teachers and staff. I just happen to have some cute scrapbook paper leftover from our Christmas notes to the teachers. I think it will work out great and I'm off to shop for some of these pens tomorrow. Personalized Pens

St. Patrick's Day Appreciation Ideas

Last year for St Patrick's Day, our staff received a note with a $1 gift certificate attached to the back that said the following:

We are lucky to have you helping our children learn and grow each day! All of the hard work and love you put into your work is very appreciated.

Lucky to be partners in education with you,

(Signed your group or committee's name)

I used the rainbow graphic to the left on the front of the note and stapled the small gift certificate to the back.

Our gift certificate was for the local bakery and $1 was just right because we have a staff of 69. That includes teachers, teacher aides, support staff (secretaries), physical education teacher, art teacher, school psychologist, crossing guards, etc. That means with paper to print the notes on and the gift certificates, I stayed right under my budget of $75.

Sometimes the monthly or bi-monthly surprise is as simple as a note with a piece of candy and others it's a $3 gift certificate when I've pinched pennies (even more than I already do!) the previous month.

What ideas do you have for St Patrick's Day? Or March? Or even creeping into Spring?