End-of Year Teacher Gift!

[Merrill_Lindquist]

@Scott Silton

We teachers definitely appreciate all forms of respect and kindness from our students, their families, and positive threads like these.

My partner and I work in school districts with relatively high numbers of parents with means, and so have enjoyed some nice gifts, including wine, over the years. However, I’d just as soon get a sincere note from a kid than a fancy gift or gift card from a parent. I have kept every thank you note or card over the years and that’s a really special box of memories that will last forever. Naturally, a nice note AND a bottle of Don Melchor was the best present ever…

People with the dispensation to make nice gifts usually have the tact to do so after the rec letter was sent in or at the end of the school year. There are parents who make large donations to the school and then expect special treatment (like with scheduling certain teachers) but if anything, that sort of expectation backfires. Teachers appreciate kudos and respect, but it isn’t respectful to think that we can be bought, or to think that your child deserves better service than another kid because you contributed to the school in some way. Still, not every principal or booster-dependent staff member is enlightened enough to disregard where the money comes from and I wish it were common practice to be generous (thank you!), but defer any large donations or personal gifts until the student is moving on. Everyone thinks they are more objective than they really are.

This is a very welcomed response. Thanks for doing what all of us found out we could not do.

[dteng]

@Ken V

Years later, I ran into her in a supermarket. I told her honestly that I never liked her when I was in her classes, but in the long-run she really helped inspire my life-long love of literature and that made her an excellent teacher in my book. (See what I did there?)

Yes, you went into math?

[Ken_V]

@dteng

@Ken V

Years later, I ran into her in a supermarket. I told her honestly that I never liked her when I was in her classes, but in the long-run she really helped inspire my life-long love of literature and that made her an excellent teacher in my book. (See what I did there?)

Yes, you went into math?

Yes I did, but I was an English major for a while.

[dteng]

@Ken V

@dteng

@Ken V

Years later, I ran into her in a supermarket. I told her honestly that I never liked her when I was in her classes, but in the long-run she really helped inspire my life-long love of literature and that made her an excellent teacher in my book. (See what I did there?)

Yes, you went into math?

Yes I did, but I was an English major for a while.

but it didn’t add up.

buh-DUM…CHHIH!!

[Francis_S]

@Jorge Henriquez

Wonder what kind of gifts Francis receives/received.

LOL. This really cracks me up. Thanks for taking a really wised-assed pot-shot at me, in a thread you figure I’ll never read. Classy. I saw this thread because I was looking up some other information that had nothing to do with this topic. It was just goofy luck.

As it is, for your information to answer your question, I get lots of gifts that mostly include coffee cups, Starbucks gift-cards, jazz cds and boxes of pencils. The pencil part is kinda funny because I like to use the big round “beginner” type. Some upper grade students think this is funny/cool and ask for them. If they meet me at the end of the day I give them away.

To answer you Nick, I’ve actually had some moms ask me out for coffee after report-card pick-ups. Believe it or not, professionalism and/or serious fear has influenced me to decline these offers.

[Steve_Manzi]

@Merrill Lindquist

Teaching is honorable work. Unfortunately, this gift-giving stuff creates major problems, particularly for the kids whose parents don’t participate in the “recognition” or “competition.” As the middle child in a not-well-to-do family with 8 children, I still remember those days of watching that gift-giving.

Do everyone a favor and just don’t do it. Or do it in a way that is not visible to those around you. No 8 year old kid can buy his teacher a bottle of Champagne.

Uh oh, just before I posted this, I realized Barry is a teacher and was probably on the receiving end, not just commenting on the “competition” from another parent. Oh well, I still believe in what I said.

I agree 1000%. No gifts should even be allowed to teachers. Sort of like giving “gifts” to police. I can’t believe it is even allowed. Maybe things under $10 or $5 or something like that. But high end gifts or cash? No way.

A gift for a departing teacher, or for one that you had and gave it years later, is a whole lot different though.

[Scott_Brunson]

with winter holidays around the corner I look forward to lots more candy-filled coffee mugs. The best one I ever received was a card indicating that the family had donated in my name to Heifer Intl. They said that it just seemed to fit me. It was the coolest thing ever; I’ll never forget the family or the child, even though it was 10 years ago. Since HRH is also a teacher, we get double the candy/mugs