What Are The Best Teacher Gifts?
It’s that time of year, and gift buying is in full swing. What are the best gifts for teachers? I have zero expectations of receiving gifts. It is always nice to receive a gift from a student, but it is by no means necessary. Trust me when I say that teachers are not in teaching for gifts. The most memorable and best gifts I’ve received have been so small but so meaningful.
I’m not a parent, but I can imagine in some communities gift-giving is a huge stressor. I have spent hours scouring Etsy in search of the perfect gift for my assistant teacher or teacher friends only to find nothing that fits. Here are the most memorable gifts I’ve received.
Two Hershey Kisses
One year, it might have been my first year teaching, a child came in with two Hershey kisses. He handed me the first one and said this is for taking care of my brain and helping me learn. He then gave me the second one and said this is for taking care of my heart and helping me grow. Well! My little teacher heart melted, and that gift has stuck with me all these years later. Teachers LOVE stuff like this. It was so simple but so meaningful. I teared up just writing about this story again. Sometimes the best gifts come in the smallest packages.
Tall Caramel Macchiato
Parent-Teacher conferences are an intense time for teachers. Not in a bad or good way, but it is exhausting to connect with every family on the same evening. I remember my dad once commented that it was odd teachers had to write down notes like they didn’t know the student. That isn’t why teachers write down notes. Can you imagine having 20 intense and detailed conversations one right after the next? It’s a lot, and I want to ensure that I explain all that I need to about each child. I want to have a powerful and meaningful conversation. Anyway, my toughest year of teaching so far started with a tall caramel macchiato. A mom walked in for her conference with two. She happened to be my first conference of the evening, and caramel macchiatos are my favorite. This was another kind, but simple thank you.
A Homemade Card
I love it when kids give me homemade stuff. One year I happened to have the daughter of a teacher at our school. For weeks she had been warning me that I was in for a real treat with my gift. Her daughter had been carefully planning it out and working on it for weeks. The morning finally came when I was to receive this magnificent gift. She came in to let me know that her daughter was a little emotional because some of the glitter didn’t stick the way she wanted it to. I was so excited to finally see what this little gem was working on for almost a month.
She walked into our classroom with a huge smile on her face and handed me a card. It was three large sheets of construction paper taped together to display a winter scene. There were cotton balls for clouds and so many stickers. The glitter looked beautiful. The class gathered around us as she explained in detail each part of the card and why she made it the way she did. It was a true labor of love. Any homemade card is a great gift!
A Portrait
Sitting on a shelf in my classroom right now is a portrait of me drawn by one of my previous gems. I received this magnificent drawing as an end of the year gift. He spent so much time sketching out my face and then determining what best represented me. There are hundreds of tiny hearts all around the border of the picture. His mom did say she was recruited when he couldn’t draw any more hearts but needed more! There are little books drawn on my face, and there is a lot of hot pink because that is my favorite color. Each part of me as a teacher is represented in his drawing. It’s something that students always marvel at in the classroom and get excited when they know why a detail was included in the portrait.
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
This is my most recent addition to the list. As an expat, macaroni and cheese is hard to come by. A family went back to the US for a short trip. I jokingly said that they needed to enjoy their trips to Target and eat some delicious macaroni and cheese for me. I was so surprised when they came back, and I received a small rectangular present. When I opened it up to find a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, I died. I was so excited, the American students and I explained macaroni and cheese to students who had never had it. We even wanted to plan a macaroni and cheese party, but it never happened. I went home and made it for dinner that evening and could not have been a happier teacher!
Don’t add more stress to your life, worrying about the best teacher gift. The most meaningful gifts are from the heart and based on the positive relationship between you, your child, and the teacher. One of my teacher friend’s sons insisted on giving his teacher chapstick because she wears some everyday! These gifts might seem small or silly but they are the greatest gifts a teacher can receive.
What was one of your best gifts?
Teachers, what is the best gift you’ve ever received?
