teacher gift

M

mlchorn

25+ Posts
Our oldest daughter "graduates" from kindergarten this week.
This is obviously new to us.
Is it proper / expected to give the teacher a gift on the last day of school?
If so, any suggestions?
Any feedback would be appreciated.
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My wife goes apeshit over Starbucks gift cards from her students. Little things are nice. Don't need to go overboard. Teachers appreciate the gesture.
 
I teach 8th grade at a fairly poor school and I'll usually get end of the year gifts from a couple of students. When I worked at a preschool in Westlake, I got gifts from every student (and there were some nice ones in there).
So to continue the advice already given, a $10 gift card would be perfect. Every teacher loves Starbucks or Barnes and Nobles.
 
This year, my wife and her assistant split $660 from her 1-year-old preschool class. I guess they supervise a dozen kids, so you do the math. They scored a similar haul at Christmas, and of course were the beneficiaries of a few "teacher appreciation" lunches throughout the year.

Personally, I find it a mind-boggling, silly practice, akin to the trend in which every kid hosts a $250 birthday party at LaserTag or ChuckECheese on an annual basis. I have an idea -- don't buy my wife year-end gifts, I won't buy my kids' teachers year-end gifts, and every birthday party will be cake and ice cream at the birthday kid's house, perhaps with a Slip 'n Slide.

Rant over.
 
It's silly for people to want to thank their kids' teachers for doing a good job educating their kids? Here's an idea, don't do it if you don't agree with it. It's not mandatory and it's a simple gesture. Be thankful your wife gets some perks for the sometimes thankless job of being a school teacher. Or better yet, take some comfort in the fact that people out there recognize she's doing a good job. Geez.
 
What about something the teacher can use in class? I always liked buying books for the school library and placing a bookplate in the book in honor of that teacher. Maybe there was something they studied that year that your child really liked or that meant something, like penguins or immigration.

Ask your child what the teacher likes, does she drink coffee? Does he/she have candy or little stuff like that for the students in class? I spent a small fortune in the Oriental Trading catalog when I taught the lower grades. A gift cert from there would be great.

I also have a file of letters from parents and kids that I have saved over the years. I take them out and reread them when I am frustrated over things in my classroom, school, district, state. It renews my passion for my job and reminds me who I am REALLY working for. A sincere letter of appreciation is worth 100 times more than a Starbucks card to me. That is why I am teaching!
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My wife teaches in Tarrytown, so it's definitely a tony demographic. As far as classroom supplies go, she is given a budget and gets reimbursed for receipts she turns in below that budget amount.

Getting her to turn in her receipts is the tricky part . . .
 
I work for Starbucks and the expectation from the teacher is that they'll get something. Unfortunately, I don't get a discount on gift cards and I'm cheap. So, I usually give them a pound or 2 of coffee with a small ornament ($3 with a 40% discount) at Xmas and another pound at the end of school. I have 3 sons though and all 3 of them will finish the year with at least 2 teachers (more if my wife includes the "aid" and "specialty teachers"). Starbucks gives me a free pound of coffee per week so I save that **** up to give to the teachers and my wife's friends.
 
I too appriciate a "Thank you card" it's the least someone can do after teaching a child all year.

did'nt get a lot of "thank yous" this year.. sucked.. did get some nice gift cards.
 
jimmy, again, no one is forcing you to do this. Why do you take exception to it? Again, people want to do something nice for someone. Why is that so hard to understand?

And I call ******** on you not getting the same in return. It's not unheard of people to get bonuses at their work. Well, school teachers don't get bonuses (generally). Consider this their bonus. If a $10 Starbucks card is really that offensive I'd suggest you realign your priority system.
 
We generally get something small. This year, my daughter's two teachers were fantastic. I was going to get them $100 gift cards at Academy until I read that teachers routinely spend a bunch of their own money on supplies, so I got them gift cards from an office supply store.

Given that the snot-nosed high-schoolers working at the local Subway put out a tip jar, I have no problem giving something to a couple of people who have done an awesome job of educating my kid.
 
Like I said, cash or equivalent actually addresses the problem -- less than adequate pay for the job performed. Starbucks cards and candles and all the other ******** which DOESN'T do anything but say "thank you" when a simple "thank you" would suffice are just abject silliness. Items aren't gratitude, but perhaps they're a good substitute for those who lack the skills to actually convey gratitude verbally?

Stock options are nothing more than part of my compensation, and they may or may not have value. At one point I cut my pay 40% for over a year to help my company keep its doors open. At the time, I was making less than the average AISD teacher makes now, BEFORE I voluntarily cut my pay. Show me a teacher who would do that.
 
ya know... lots of people throw a buck or two at every schmuck who has a tip jar out anymore. But yet a lot of people don't think twice about thanking their kid's teachers in some small way for all they've done for your kid over the last 9 months.

Ya don't have to spend a lot of money. A card or a nice email means just as much as a gift card.

Teachers don't get thanked nearly as much as you might think.
 
My wife is the secretary/receptionist at a nice elementry school in western Travis County. Today she brought home a ton of swag from parents. Coffemaker. Wine accessories. Candies and cookies. Starbucks gift cards. Coffee mugs. Gift card for Hudson's on the Bend. She is going to probably rake in a ton more the rest of the week.
 
I think a small gift at the end of the year or for favorite teachers is a nice thing, but for Christmas? That implies, perhaps wrongly, a quid-pro-quo bribe situation. A parent may not intend that but that's what the teacher might interpret and could create an awkward situation.
 
This year was a turning point for our 10 year old grandson. He is reading well above his 4th year grade level, and loves school. Most of the credit goes to his teacher. He is a UT grad who was teaching in China for the past few years, came back to Leander ISD. For Christmas, I was able to get a signed photo of Mack Brown holding the National Title trophy, gave it to him and you would have thought I gave him a big check. Unfortunately, LISD is losing him to Dallas next year. I have a standing lunch date with our grandson each Wednesday and want to take a gift for his teacher, but gift cards, candles, etc. just don't seem enough to express my thanks for the great job he has done. He told me at lunch the other day that he saw himself in our grandson in that he was left behind by teachers throughout elementary school. He said he was determined that would not happen to our child, so he took a personal interest to make sure it didn't happen this year.
Other suggestions?
 
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