Teacher Appreciation Week - May 3-9

[ajrsmom]

Buying breakfast for the teachers worked out nicely last year. I also wrote a note to each of them telling them how much we appreciated them as teachers.

This year we might do the breakfast thing again but since both of my daughter's teachers are crazy about nuts (always snacking on them) and they are both watching what they eat, I'm thinking of buying some nuts and packaging them up in some sort of container and then writing on it "We're nuts about Mrs....!" I'm pretty sure that these would get eaten and not thrown away.

My son has 4 teachers so I'm not sure what we'll do for them.

Since reading these posts here last year, I've though long and hard about any teacher's gifts that we've given since then. Thanks for opening up my eyes to what really goes on.

[Sammi1961]

Tami, I was on the PTO at my children's school and some of the teachers were on the PTO as well and I do know the one thing they didn't want was more knick knacks (coffee mugs, key chains etc.) but they did love the breakfasts, plants (that they could plant in their yards), gift cards so they could get things for their classrooms etc.

[ajrsmom]

What are you doing for the teacher's this year?

After talking it over with my daughter, she liked the idea of doing something small each day for them instead of a bigger gift so here is what we are doing:

M - we gave them gel clings for their door and windows in the class. I attached little poems to the sheets, along with some ribbon. (will upload pics soon)

T - today we gave each teacher a blueberry muffin (6 total because my son gave his 4 teachers one, too) and 3 different kinds of herbal tea bags. (I split one box of 18 mixed flavored herbal teas). My dd decorated her paper bags for her teachers (ds didn't). I placed the muffin in the bag, then folded the top of the bag down and stapled the 3 tea bags to the lip of the bag. On top of the tea bags, I placed a little saying that read " Thanks for being such a TEA-RRIFIC teacher!" We hope that you have a "berry" nice day! Lots of hugs.... A & family. (Can you believe that I forgot to take a picture of them? UGH!)

Both kids said that their teachers loved their breakfasts and that all of them ate the muffins this morning.

W - We found colorful stone bracelets for both of my dd's teachers. I'm going to attach a little note on them that says "Mrs. H... Rocks!" and "Mrs. P... Rocks!". Both teachers love all sorts of jewelry.

H - We are either making flower pens or something else, not sure yet.

F - I have a poem that I want to print out to go along with a wooden star. I'm not sure yet how I will use it - maybe printed out and put into a frame or made into a pin with the poem attached? Still working on this one.

Here is the poem:

The Star Polisher
I have a great job in the universe of occupations.

What do I do? I'm a "star polisher."

It's a very important job. If you want to know how important, just go out at night and look at the stars twinkling and sparkling.

You see, I'm a teacher. The stars are the children in my class. My job is to take them--in whatever shape they come--and shine and buff them and then send them out to take their places as bright, twinkling beacons in the sky.

They come into my room in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they're bent, tarnished, dirty, crinkly, or broken. Some stars are cuddly and soft. Some are prickly and thorny.

As I buff and polish, I train and teach my little stars; I tell them that the world cannot do without them. I tell them they can do anything they set their minds to do. I tell them they can be the brightest, shiniest stars in the sky and the world will be a better place because of them.

Each night as I look at the sky, I'm reminded of my very important job and awesome responsibility. Then I get my soft buffing cloth and my bottle of polish in preparation for tomorrow…for my class of little stars.
--Leah Becks