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I would love to be on the receiving end of any of these gifts!! And maybe I'm biased, but I say keep giving teachers gifts until your kids graduate high school! They don't have to be big....like another teacher mentioned, a beautiful card with a thank you written by the student would be treasured.
Also, you may want to keep in mind that many schools are cutting back classroom supply money, so any consumable supplies to use the following year would be awesome...like marking pens, dry erase markers, a pack of file folders, or those snazzy dry erase erasers with refillable pads. And just think of what a great impression you would make on the first day of school if you send your kid in with extra supplies for the teacher (again, not that I'm biased in any way!).
Thank you to Alma for sharing!! It brought tears to my eyes {yes I am a little sappy sometimes!}. I can't wait to give it to my son's pre-school teachers - they really do so much!
Julie
Quote:
Originally Posted by a1r601
I don't know what your children's ages are, but I just made three of these frames and matching cards for my son's preschool teachers. You can find and use any kind of poem in the frame and makes a quick, easy and affordable gift. I found the poem from someone here on SCS...link is in my gallery. The frames were the $1 autograph frames from Target dollar spot. I liked them so much I went back and bought the rest of the frames. The frames have a square opening that you can use for a sentiment or you can just trace the cardboard matting that comes with the frame on cardstock and line with patterned paper like I did on the frames. The apple embellies are made out of felt backed with cardstock for stability and hand stitched.
Some of the gals who have replied have come up with some great ideas as well...this was just the easiest thing for me to do this year. I think this poem would go well with for teachers with the much younger kids (preschool-kindergarten).
The first pic is what the frames look like if you use the cardboard matting with the square in the middle. The other pics are the frames I made for the preschool teachers.
This idea is probably better for Christmas than end of school year.
One of the gifts we did that I know actually got used was a mini desk calendar in a 3 x 5acrylic frame (kind of like the CD calendars but they take up a little less space). Each month was printed out on cardstock using little tables in MS Word, then I stamped in the space above and matted the page on coordinating CS. When I gave them, I tied all the pages except January behind the back of the frame with a piece of ribbon and I noticed that most people left the ribbon on and used it to keep the pages handy. Sorry -- I don't have any pictures.
I made altered clipboards for our children's teachers this year and sent them to school this morning. You can find a tutorial on how to make this under resources here at SCS. I painted mine with acryllic paint in a light green. I've found this to be the longest step because it takes several coats to get good coverage. Next, I stamped a floral garland diagonally across the front using stamps from some SU fav's--Heartfelt Thanks and Paint Prints. I stamped with acryllic paint (a rose/Purely Pomegranite color for the flowers, yellow for the flower centers and olive green for the leaves) using a foam brush to "ink" the stamp. (Tip--keep a wet papertowel on a dish beside you and place the stamp rubber-side down on it in between stamping images to keep the paint from drying on your stamp.) Once the paint dried, I stamped the "outline" image over the flowers with SU's Basic Brown. I cut out the teacher's name in Purely Pomegranite cardstock using my cuttlebug and then used ModgePodge (matt version) to adhere it to the clipboard and to seal the entire front. Finally, I tied an olive green bow around the metal clip to finish it off. I tucked a gift card (to Sonic or Barnes and Noble) into an envelop and clipped it to the clipboard, writing a short note of thanks for a great year on the outside of the envelop. I would have made a coordinating giftcard holder if I'd had more time.
__________________ Michelle G.
Peace and Inky Blessings to You
Great ideas! I'm trying to decide what to do for this year. My daughter is only in a 3 day/week morning program, so I do a small gift. Here is what I did last year, for her two day/week program. It is the same school, so I want to do something different.
I work in a middle school -- as a computer tech, not a teacher -- and I can tell you the teachers and staff here are THRILLED to get any little thing. As you can imagine, teaching kiddos in the throes of teen-age angst can be emotionally draining, so any act of support is hugely appreciated. It's sad that so many of us parents are "moving on" from the things that we did for our children's elementary school teachers. What some parents do is just bring a plate of goodies, small school supplies, or a crock-pot of soup to the teachers' lounge. A paper crafter could easily put her spin on these ideas. Although it may not feel as personal to the gift giver, it is VERY personally appreciated by all the recipients.
I am a 7th grade math teacher and every year I get a few things from the kids. Most of the gifts come at Christmas time but this year we had that awful ice storm, missed 20+ days of school, etc so we never got anything. No biggie, but the kids keep telling me how excited they are to make/give me something in June. I think it is so sweet that they think highly enough of me to do that. There are 5 teachers on our team and most kids give us each something. I would love note cards though
My favorite and cherished gift was a book my class made titled "The Important Thing About Mrs._____". I was the teacher's aid and I loved it more than anything!
I just finished making one of the four gift sets for the girls' teachers. I went with a summertime theme and made a gift basket with some goodies in them.
I teach high school. I just recieved a cookie on a stick, with a note from a student who has learning issue that said, "thank you for treating me the same" I may cry for a while.
__________________ "Teaching. Real Teaching, is-or ought to be a messy business" -Harry Crews
I teach high school. I just recieved a cookie on a stick, with a note from a student who has learning issue that said, "thank you for treating me the same" I may cry for a while.
That is so beautiful!! Hugs for being such a great teacher!
For teachers day (I think the first or second Tues in May) I try to give the teacher a scrapbook that I have all the kids add pages to - we made if for the 1st grader but I still am working on the 5th grade one. I tell the kids what size to make the pages and how many they can add and they send back poems, photos, why my teacher is great, pictures and they are anywhere from award winning scrapbook pages to something done on the back on an envelope. The teachers have loved them because the kids each personalize the pages. It takes a bit of work to get them all back but the smiles at the end are worth it. The 2-3 grade teacher kept the books on the book shelf in her room and the kids would go and look through it all the time, even the next year it was one of the favorites.
__________________ Kyloe
The lesson from Charlie Brown: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.
Wonderful and lovely ideas, but none of them were really sending me. It has to look really good, so it has to be simple. I am just not that coordinated.
Plus I am looking for something for our College Algebra instructor. He teaches Junior and High school students all day, then after 10 years of begging agreed to stay late to teach us. He never seems to touch coffee, the nearest movie theater is 50 miles away, doesn't eat chocolate and one of the other students is a professional cook, who can wow him with pies and jellies. Another owns a grocery store, so he has the beer and that awful health food thing he drinks covered. I was so lost. :confused:
Then I saw the great "from the desk of" and realized that I know the man loves to fish. Aha, I have a fish stamp! Thanks for pointing me in the right direction folks.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned these yet, but I love these pencil holders created by Laurie Schmidlin. They are really quick and easy! I definitely recommend them As you can see from the last picture I wrapped them individually in clear SU! bags.
This is such a great thread with so many good ideas! This year I just ended up doing lots of teacher cards with some gift cards. I had this really great idea for the kindergarten teacher. I have been taking photos all year, and not just of my child, and my plan was to make her a slideshow in iPhoto set to music and burn it onto a DVD for her. Then I found out yesterday that she is doing the SAME thing and burning copies to send home with all the kids on the last day of school. So that kinds of kills my idea! She's getting a giftcard instead.
__________________ Aimee mom to two girls & one cool dog! My blog
My son started middle school this year. I had already planned on sending in Christmas gifts for all his teachers. The hardest part wasn't doing the gifts as it was getting my son to actually take them in! I told him to tell his friends who were giving him a hard time about him "trying to get on the teacher's good side" that I did this all the time and I was making him do it (which was really the truth). I keep my eyes out especially for school colors items such as the blank notebook/pads with matching cards Michael's tends to carry. Luckily, my kids' elementary, middle and high school all have the same colors, so what I get for one I can use for any. Even if the notebook or cards have a monogram already printed on them, I just cover that up with some punched out design or my own and glue it on. Last year I did simple "from the desk of" with the teacher's name using my JustRite stamps notecards with matching notebooks and a personalized RSVP pen for all the teachers. I had gotten the notecards and notebooks on clearance for half price, so for roughly less than $2 per teacher, they got a personalized matching set of stuff. Every teacher I heard from loved them and have used them.
I have a stash of supplies in my basement that I add to when I see clearance stuff. Just a little altering and you have a great gift. Even if my son doesn't want to take them in, I'll take them in myself. If the teachers can put up with all those kids, they deserve a little extra treat now and then. I know I wouldn't want their jobs.
My son started middle school this year. I had already planned on sending in Christmas gifts for all his teachers. The hardest part wasn't doing the gifts as it was getting my son to actually take them in! I told him to tell his friends who were giving him a hard time about him "trying to get on the teacher's good side" that I did this all the time and I was making him do it (which was really the truth). I keep my eyes out especially for school colors items such as the blank notebook/pads with matching cards Michael's tends to carry. Luckily, my kids' elementary, middle and high school all have the same colors, so what I get for one I can use for any. Even if the notebook or cards have a monogram already printed on them, I just cover that up with some punched out design or my own and glue it on. Last year I did simple "from the desk of" with the teacher's name using my JustRite stamps notecards with matching notebooks and a personalized RSVP pen for all the teachers. I had gotten the notecards and notebooks on clearance for half price, so for roughly less than $2 per teacher, they got a personalized matching set of stuff. Every teacher I heard from loved them and have used them.
I have a stash of supplies in my basement that I add to when I see clearance stuff. Just a little altering and you have a great gift. Even if my son doesn't want to take them in, I'll take them in myself. If the teachers can put up with all those kids, they deserve a little extra treat now and then. I know I wouldn't want their jobs.
I think that is the key with middle school kids and beyond to just take it in yourself and leave it in the office and maybe try to do something small for the office staff.... but I never get organized enough to get the teacher stuff done, so the office staff lose out too.
I teach high school. I just recieved a cookie on a stick, with a note from a student who has learning issue that said, "thank you for treating me the same" I may cry for a while.
I am a paraeducator and I work with high school students like you mentioned above and this brought tears to my eyes!
Many of you mentioned you quit giving after grade school or middle school age. I would like to encourage you to give all the way thru school. The teachers put up with so much stuff and I think it's important to show appreciation for what they do at all ages. It can be something as simple as a large cookie!
I gave gifts all year long to the teacher's whose rooms I was in with my students. For the guys it was a Snickers, homemade cinnamon roll, and/or On the Go flavored packets for bottled water (I found out easily what their fav's were) and they were shocked the first time that someone would give them something and so appreciative. For the gals it was altered $1 candle jars like this Altered Candy Cane Candle by debbiedee at Splitcoaststampers
altered toilet paper tubes with their favorite candy like this Cupcake treat holder by debbiedee at Splitcoaststampers
and at Easter (Inky bunny by debbiedee at Splitcoaststampers)
You don't have to do something for every occasion, but the teacher's are so appreciative of little things. I rec'd cookies, candies and pictures with personal notes and treasured each one of them.
Jellychick, I haven't read all the posts, but this year I made the jr. notepads (cut in half) and gave some as gifts and got multiple orders as they wanted them for their kid's teachers. I made matching pens (RSVP ones) to go with them. I sold about 60 of them.
