The Greatest Gifts for Teachers

Transcription

1 The Greatest Gifts for Teachers Inside this ebook: Seasonal gift ideas to honor teachers throughout the school year Hands on kid-to-teacher gift suggestions that will teach kids how to have and show their appreciation A teacher approved list of the best and worst gifts A FREE VolunteerSpot ebook

2 VolunteerSpot Philosophy A sincere THANK YOU to our VolunteerSpot parents and teachers for sharing your ideas and helping us craft this ebook. Please feel free to post it on your blog or it to whomever you believe would benefit from reading it. THANK YOU! ~ Team VolunteerSpot At VolunteerSpot, we believe that volunteers should be rewarded for stepping forward and sharing their time and talents with those in need. All too often, volunteering means putting up with a certain amount of hassle or frustration whether that is late night s, reply-all messages, reminder phone calls, or searching for a parking space. Our sponsors enable us to provide FREE tools that simplify volunteering, powering your good work in schools and clubs, in your congregation and neighborhoods. We can t find you a parking space, but with VolunteerSpot, DOING GOOD just got easier! 2009 by VolunteerSpot DOING GOOD Just Got Easier! Easier! Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution

3 We LOVE Teachers!! At VolunteerSpot, we LOVE teachers! Teachers work hard all year for our children and deserve our gratitude and appreciation. Simply saying THANK YOU in an or handwritten note is a kind recognition of their hard work and a much welcomed gesture. For those of you wanting to go the extra mile, we ve put together this ebook with Great Gift Ideas for Teachers. We ve included low cost and no cost suggestions. We have ideas for individual student/family gifts, as well as collective classroom and school wide efforts.

4 Teacher Appreciation Throughout the School Year September: Back to School (See our ideas) page 5 November: Thanksgiving page 6 December: Winter Holidays page 7 February: Valentine s Day page 8 May: Teacher Appreciation Week page 9 June: End of the Year page 10

5 Back To School Welcome a new teacher with a basket of classroom supplies. Ask each family to donate one or two small items: pencils, markers, glue, stickers, tissues, hand sanitizer, etc. Help a teacher stock and organize his or her classroom. Ask for gift card donations from office supply and craft stores to help with classroom supplies. Organize a reading circle and classroom helpers. Use VolunteerSpot to coordinate volunteers each parent helping once a month. Share your special skills and traditions. Compile a list of special skills, hobbies, or family traditions that parents can share with the class throughout the year. Put together a Wish Notebook with teacher surveys and keep it in the office or library. The surveys should ask teachers to name their favorite snack, restaurant, flower, theatre, beverage, charity, author, etc. Parents can look up gift ideas all year round.

6 Show Thanks for Thanksgiving Fall Wreath Each student decorates a large colorful paper leaf and writes on the back, I m thankful you are my teacher because. Assemble them into a wreath and present it to the teacher as a Fall decoration for classroom or home. Graffiti Wall of Thanks Teachers say their favorite gifts involve hearing from the students themselves. Get permission to tape a large piece of butcher paper on the wall outside of each classroom. Have the students write at least one reason they are thankful for their teacher. Artwork and tasteful graffiti should be encouraged.

7 Winter Holidays Fill a basket with warm beverage packets: powdered cider, hot chocolate, tea bags, and instant coffee pouches. Include a note: You warm our hearts! Thank you! Invite teachers to a souper bowl special lunch and serve home made soups from crock pots. Last year my class made a collective donation in my name to my favorite local charity. It felt so good knowing they were supported in a year I couldn t afford to give much myself. ~ 4 th grade teacher Colorado Springs, CO Ask for teacher discounts and free tickets to local holiday shows and theater productions so they can have special holiday fun with their families. Collect gift cards and coupons to local grocery stores and retailers so teachers can stretch their holiday entertaining and shopping budgets.

8 Valentines Day Ideas Ask each child to write I love my teacher because on a small heart cut from construction paper. Make a list of all the students in the class and give copies to each student s parents. This assures that every child in the class receives a valentine and saves the teacher time. Ask each student to wear a red shirt to school prior to Valentines Day, and photograph the class holding a sign reading: We love our teacher! Ask each student to draw a heart and sign their name on one t shirt, or a poster, then present it to the teacher. Organize Valentines Day activities for the class so that the teacher is free to take care of other things.

9 Teacher Appreciation Week Select a day during the week and ask each child and their parents to present their teacher with one flower on that day. Teachers will go home with a beautiful bouquet to remind them of how much they are appreciated. Ask your local newspaper to donate one portion of a page to thank the teachers of your school for all they do. Arrange for a special treat in the teacher s lounge a dessert bar, special lunch, or baked goods. Post decorative signs around the school expressing your appreciation. Setup a carwash and have older kids provide the service to the teachers during recess. Ask local businesses to donate one free meal, manicure, haircut, or personal service, then give each teacher a ticket, and hold a raffle! National Teacher Appreciation Week is held during the first full week of May each year.

10 End of the Year Appreciation Host a teachers tailgate party in June. Use VolunteerSpot to coordinate the event. Compile a photo album for the teacher using photos taken throughout the year. Please visit our blog for more volunteering suggestions and to share your project ideas and stories. Help the kids produce a what I ll remember about this year video for their classroom teacher. Compile a collection of quotes about teachers from students and famous people. Assemble a Summer Fun basket filled with books, magazines, sunscreen, a beach towel and hat, etc. Have the class decorate a large flower pot and fill it with a beautiful plant. Add a note Thanks for helping us grow this year!

11 Gifts for long-time or retiring teachers Create a video or timeline containing clips from newspapers or magazines about events that were happening in the world each year the teacher has been in service. Include photos of the teacher with former students. Frame a photo of the teacher s first class and last class together. (Most schools keep archived copies of yearbooks.) Locate past students. Ask them to write notes or come and speak about the teacher and how (s)he impacted their lives.

12 Gift Ideas for Middle and High School Teachers Bookmark your appreciation. Have your child design a simple bookmark on a computer using a graphics or word processing program. The bookmark should have a clever message that expresses gratitude and appreciation for each of their teachers and/or subjects. Be sure the student artist is identified on the back of the bookmark so that the teacher will always remember who made it. Print several on one page, then laminate them if possible. Poetry Slam. Students write an original poem for each of their teachers about something interesting or funny that happened in their class that year. Perform and record them for posterity. Video Cool. Students put together an animated slide show or short video complementing the teacher and his or her class. Add a sound track and student art to make it even more fun and memorable.

13 Teachers appreciate gifts because of the thought behind them. Sometimes, organizing these activities can seem overwhelming so they don t happen. With just a few simple clicks, VolunteerSpot can help you coordinate just about any teacher appreciation event and it s free! Get Started NOW! Collective Gifts of Time and Treats VolunteerSpot s free and easy online scheduler makes it a snap to coordinate a group gift from class parents or the broader PTA community. Each parent signs up to contribute a little bit of time or effort, and collectively the teachers get a HUGELY rewarding experience. Paperwork Parents: Take turns making copies and grading papers to give the teacher a free evening. Recess or Lunch Monitors: Parents create a supervision schedule and give their child s teacher well deserved quiet time several days a week. Meals Circle: Create a meals calendar with each family volunteering to bring lunch or dinner once a week. Classroom Helpers: Signup to read, help with science experiments, and tutor kids needing extra help. Breakroom Treats: Parents signup to drop off homemade baked goods, flowers, special coffee and other tasty treats throughout the year.

14 Teacher Gift Survey Results Most Favorite Gifts A personal note from students Classroom supplies Restaurant and retail gift cards Movie tickets The best way to find out what teacher might want is to ASK! Least Favorite Gifts Coffee mugs Candles Candy Lotion Bath salts Teachers always appreciate the thought behind the gifts they receive, but the gifts listed here are the ones teachers most often receive that they say are the least useful. The best gift ever was a handwritten letter (on crinkled notebook paper) from a little girl. The note said all kinds of things about how she knows I love her and the class because I am caring and helpful, etc...it was perfect. Neither money nor chocolate could ever top that. ~ 3rd grade teacher Minneapolis, MN

15 We love to hear what you have to say! If you: Thank You! Thank you for viewing this FREE ebook from VolunteerSpot. We take the hassle out of volunteering and make it point-and-click simple to schedule all your volunteer activities with our FREE powerful real time calendar sign up tool. Liked this ebook Shared this ebook with a friend Used some of the ideas or came up with some of your own Love volunteering Want to be more involved with your kids school Want your kids to be involved with sharing, caring, and benefiting others and much more Please visit our blog to post your comments and read what other volunteers have to say! by VolunteerSpot DOING GOOD Just Got Easier! Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution