It’s the time of year when we start thinking about gifts for the teachers and coaches in our life as the grades and the seasons wrap up again.
In my informal poll, teachers just say no to mugs and trinkets. These days, it’s much easier and efficient to appoint someone in charge of the gifts and throw $5’s and $10’s at them and have them get one big gift card!
Teachers always love something sentimental, as long as it’s small (think handmade card) and they can tuck it away to revisit at their leisure, and not have to hang it over the fireplace at home.
When my kids were in younger grades, I had made a book for teachers by collecting a photo and handmade drawing from each child detailing their favourite thing about the teacher and compiled them into a photobook that serves as sort of a yearbook that she can look back on (I always get a copy for myself as well). This is fun and cheap but can be a lot of work too.
There are two trains of thought on the gift card: Some teachers say they prefer a Wal-Mart or Michael’s card so that they can use it to stock up their classroom; and some would prefer to have something just for themselves!
Either way, teachers absolutely appreciate the sentiment behind any gift they receive, so don’t overthink it (but think about it now so that you’re not worrying about it on June 25!)