Thoughtful Ways to Thank a Teacher


When I first started this blog, people would always ask if it were going to be about my classroom, and oddly enough, that's the one thing I've never written about. But as we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week and gear up for the end of the year, I thought I'd tackle the yearly conundrum of teacher gifts. As a parent, I seem to spin my wheels every year trying to think of just the right gift.

I know you may think I'm biased since I am a teacher, but really, I don't have much skin in this game. High school teachers kinda get the shaft in terms of gifts, and I get it. You go from having to buy one gift to eight, which can definitely impact your shopping budget. If you have three kids in elementary school at the same time, you're buying three gifts, but fast forward to high school, and you're talking 24! Ain't nobody got time for that.

So, taking what I've learned over the years as a gifter and a giftee into consideration, I brainstormed a few teacher gifts that won't break the budget.

1. Gift Cards

To get this whole post started, I decided to gather some data. I would like to say I did this in a very scientific fashion, complete with a hypothesis, a control group, and a double-blind experiment, but the truth is I just texted a bunch of fellow teachers and asked them what their favorite treat is. Hands down, gift cards were number one.

It doesn't seem to matter what the gift card is for--food, books, jewelry, anything is exciting and appreciated. Just having that little plastic card in our hands can take our day from a 2 to a 10 in no time flat.

And before you start worrying that if you give a gift card, we will know how much you spent, please know we welcome any token of kindness. Day in and day out, I make my coffee in my handy dandy Keurig and pour it into a beat up Yeti, so even a $5 gift card to Starbucks where I can get a specialty coffee in a cup with a fancy sleeve is a fun splurge that makes me feel like I'm living the dream in NYC.


2. Theme Snack

Last year, I joined a new Bible study group, and as part of the get-to-know-you process, we had to share our talents. After giving it a great deal of thought, I shared that I have a talent for making theme snacks. This is a hereditary passion (some would say obsession) that has led me to do a multitude of crazy things, like hot gluing googly eyes onto mandarin orange cups to turn them into tigers for circus week at preschool. I'm sure the 2 year olds were blown away!

Theme snacks are fun and can be super easy to create, as long as you take a deep breath and step away from the glue gun. This year, a student gave me a bag of microwave popcorn with a Red Box movie code. Simple, clever, and the perfect way to head into Christmas break. Another cute idea is a bag of cookies and a bottle of Smart water with a card reading, "Thanks for making me a Smart cookie." (I love a cute pun as much as I love a theme snack!)

The best food gift I've ever seen came from a senior this year. She had asked several teachers to write her letters of recommendation for college, so she gave each one a box of Thanks-a-Lot Girl Scout cookies with a sweet thank you note. Brilliant! Even though I've never taught the student, I offered to write her a rec just so I could get a box of cookies! I would have praised both her creativity and her philanthropy. I'm already planning on buying multiple boxes next year and freezing them until I need them.


3. Lunch

Don't panic . . . I'm not talking about delivering your child's teacher a filet mignon with a Caesar salad and a baked potato. Fast food is perfectly fine. We don't get out for lunch much, so we're not used to fine dining anyway. One of my friends recently took her son's teacher a foot long from Subway, and I thought that was a genius idea. See, teachers are kind of like animals trapped in the zoo at feeding time, so any morsel from the outside world seems like a delicacy. Plus, a lot of craziness can go down between drop off and lunch, and nothing takes away stress like the sweet tang of Chic-fil-a sauce. We had a Zaxby's buffet earlier this week for Teacher Appreciation, and it was amazing . . . and I'm not just saying that because I left my lunch on the kitchen table that morning.

One note for elementary parents--if you can cover the teacher's lunch duty so she can actually eat the special lunch without having to stop to open ketchup packets and milk cartons, you will most definitely be nominated for Parent of the Year and future teachers will fight to have your child in their class. 


4. School Supplies

Some people go into teaching so they can change lives. Personally, I was drawn to the profession because I'm obsessed with school supplies. Give me a pack of rainbow Paper Mate felt tip pens, and I'm in heaven.

Teachers spend a lot of their own money for their classroom supplies. They do it without ever expecting to be reimbursed. They do it because they know having good supplies helps create a classroom community and helps students produce higher quality work. By the end of the year, though, their supplies have dwindled down to nothing, so helping them replenish their closets is both thoughtful and practical.

Here are a few ideas for some of the most common items teachers need. Cheesy gift tag messages are optional.

Tissue Box: "Bless you for teaching my child!"
Ream of Paper: "I had REAMS of fun with you this year!"
Highlighters: "Having you as my teacher has been the highlight of my year!"
Band-Aids: "Thanks for sticking with me this year!"


5. Nice Note

If the above ideas are starting to make you panic because Pinterest makes you break out in hives, or you have no idea how you'll find the time between school, practices, games, and work to ride around collecting aforementioned items and gift cards, never fear. The best gift you can ever give a teacher is completely free. All it requires is a little time and a little thought.

By and far, the best gift a teacher can receive is a genuine thank you note. We don't care if it's written on embossed, personalized stationary or if it's written on construction paper with markers. It really is the thought that counts. I have a drawer full of notes from throughout the years, and it's fun to read through them every once in awhile, reliving the good old days. It's the same reason you like going back through old yearbooks to see what your friends wrote back in the day.

Thank you notes are unique and personal.  One friend said her favorite note was one where the parent specifically thanked her for her read alouds, saying her child loved the way my friend's enthusiasm brought the books to life. She didn't even realize the student had noticed that, which made the sentiment all the more special. It may sound simple, but a thank you note validates what we do day in and day out and recharges us when we've had a rough day.

Well, there you have it, my advice based on 17 years as a teacher and 6 years as a parent. Thanks to all of my friends who gave me ideas. Y'all are the best! If you have other ideas for teacher gifts, please share in the comments below.