Inside: Teacher Appreciation Week is happening now, and I think we can all agree that the name should change to Teacher Appreciation Year. Am I right?
Teacher Favorites Can Be Hidden Gifts
Teacher favorites can be sprinkled in throughout the year. While receiving gifts is appreciated, it’s not required whatsoever. I always tell my students that they’re my “daily gifts”. That is a term my mom affectionately called me growing up. In fact, she still calls me that today! It’s quite a compliment to give to students (or your child). So yes, while tangible gifts are fun and serve their purpose, there’s more to it than that. It’s the daily gifts of laughter, ah-ha moments, sweet notes left in random places around the room, or a surprise hug that make us so happy. I try to notice these things because they’re sprinkled in daily, even if they don’t feel like it some days.
Top 10 Teacher Favorite List
If you feel inclined to show your appreciation with a gift, these are some of my favorites. Also, it’s fun to give yourself one of these gifts during Teacher Appreciation Week because why not? I mean, it’s not like you need an excuse to go shopping!
#1 Hydroflask
Teachers can go hours without a drink refill, so keeping drinks cold is a must. I’ve fallen in love with my Hydroflask. They have different tops and colors for a customized look.
#2 Personal Laminator & Pouches
So many variables can happen with laminating at school. There could be a long line, or teachers don’t have permission to laminate on their own. That leads to lamination requests piling up and a long wait-time to get your items laminated. I love my laminator so much that I have one for school and another for home. The laminating pouches come in a variety of thicknesses depending on your needs. I typically use the 3mm for most of my projects. The laminating pouches come in 50-100ct packages. I have a Fellows brand and a Scotch brand. Other teachers in my building have a variety of brands with only good things to say, so you can’t go wrong with any of them! Such a time-saver, or should I say life-saver! Fabulous for laminating “on-the-spot” when students want/need something laminated!
#3 All the Scents
Need I say more? Teachers love lotions, hand sanitizers, soaps, candles, and my all-time favorite Wallflowers! The best Wallflowers for classroom use are usually citrus-type or vanilla/cookie scents. I avoid flowers or strong scents in case of an allergy or smell sensitivities. Also, I have it plugged in away from high-traffic areas. One Wallflower is perfect for my classroom, and a light scent is amazing, especially after PE or recess! Where are all my upper-grade level teachers at?
#4 Personalized Goodies
Teachers love their names and/or initials on things. I don’t know why, but we do! Whether it’s a makeup bag, tote, or notepad, nothing is cuter than seeing our name on things! One of my teacher favorites was a customized notepad from a parent a few years ago. I raved about how much I loved it, and she repeated that gift when her other children got to my classroom! So sweet!
#5 Gift Cards
We’re obsessed with Target, Starbucks, Amazon, and local restaurants, to name a few. Gift cards allow us to go shopping on our own, and it feels like such a special outing. We can even combine a trip to Target and a restaurant and feel like a superstar! Yes, we’ll probably use the gift cards to treat our students to something fun…but sometimes we decide to splurge on a new pair of shoes or earrings, too! Gift cards are sweet on so many levels!
#6 Office Supplies
Are you Team Flair Pen or Team InkJoy? Regardless, who doesn’t love new pens? What about Sharpies? Or even better, Mr. Sketch markers? Do I even need to mention that teachers have an obsession with Astrobrights paper? You can’t go wrong with office supplies, as we can never have enough. Even if we let a student use (or keep) our favorite color pen, we’ll be glad we have a backup! TIP: This is one of the teacher favorites that could be replenished in January as well.
#7 Notes
I looooove and look forward to sweet notes from students and/or parents. I’ve saved so many of these over the years. I’ve even read some of these when I’m having a hard day. I don’t know if students or parents realize the power their positive words have on us! Notes will always be one of my teacher favorites. Better yet, teachers can write a note to colleagues for an added surprise of sweetness!
#8 Snacks
Sadly, you know that teachers don’t get a full 30-minute lunch break. That being said, we often need snacks to help get us through the day. Individually packaged snacks work the best, as we never know when we might have a spare minute to take a bite! It’s always fun to have my own “hidden teacher snacks” area in the room. And as you might suspect, there are some times that we give up some of our snacks to our students. We love snacks for so many reasons!
#9 Random Surprises
Just how we like to surprise our students with something, we secretly like to be surprised, too! This could be a surprise Sonic drink or lunch dropped off at the front office or a few flowers or balloons. The ultimate surprise is opening our email in the morning and seeing a sweet email to start our day! Talk about melting our hearts! Sweet surprises can be anything you can think or your child can think of. I’ll never figure out how all the students organize a secret card or poster without me seeing it or hearing about it. They’re little secret-keeper ninjas, and nothing is sweeter than receiving something that they’ve hidden from me! (I do make them tell me how they pulled it off…it’s pretty remarkable)!
#10 Gift of Time
Teachers never have enough time to do everything that’s on their To-Do list. It’s not humanly possible to work 15-hour days, although that’s often our reality. We love when parents volunteer to help staple papers, cut out laminated items, sort consumable copies of work, hang papers or artwork in the hallways, and anything else you can think of. We’re happy to send home things for you to do at home if you’re unable to come to the school. The gift of time is truly one of the best things you can give a teacher. Just be prepared to hear about 100 “Thank You’s” from the teacher you help! BONUS: This is one of the teacher favorites that can be done at any time during the year.
A huge shout out to all of the educators out there. You are appreciated more than you’ll ever know!
Supporting you always,
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