After completing a thorough search for the perfect holiday teacher gift, I finally selected this year’s sirsee for my children’s homeroom teachers. This is a big decision for me. I contribute to a group gift for the teachers, but I always want to add a little extra from our family. This year, I ordered personalized rubber stamps and will be giving the stamp along with some blank notecards.
There are several reasons a personalized stamp makes a good teacher gift. Teachers need to add their name to all kinds of items throughout the day. We write notes to a variety of people for hand delivery (even if it is just to the school office), and we need an identifier on it. You might think we could just use e-mail, but it is pretty difficult for a teacher to send and receive e-mails (or get to the computer) during the day and handwritten notes sent by “student post” often work better.
We have all kinds of classroom supplies that need to be labeled. Pretty much anything in my classroom is fair game for student hands. If I don’t stamp my name on it, there is a good chance it is walking out the door. My classroom library alone requires constant monitoring. Even if a student doesn’t walk away with my classroom supplies, I loan materials to other classrooms all the time. Without my name stamped all over, I would not get the materials back.
I considered several rubber stamp options, and I think all of them would make a great teacher gift any time of the year. I ended up choosing a Paperwink rubber stamp with a checkbox option. I personalized the stamps with my children’s teachers’ names and checkboxes for desk, class, and library. I received a proof within 24 hours of ordering. Delivery did take a full two weeks after approving the proof, so if you use Paperwink, order early– like today.
What teacher gifts are you considering this holiday season? If you need additional ideas, take a look at my Good Teacher Gifts Pinterest board. I also started a Crappy Teacher Gifts Pinterest board as a public service to parents. Pretty much any scented candle, lotion, or apple related item is out (in my opinion). Punny notes are bad too.
As a final note, holiday teacher gifts are not required, and we really do appreciate anything a student and/or student family might choose to give. But, there are definitely gift ideas that work better than others, and remember, a student can always write a thoughtful note that will be more meaningful than gift cards and chocolate.
Other Teacher Gift Links:
Teacher gifts completely stress me out, and the rubber stamp is perfect. Your “Crappy Teacher Gift” board made me giggle. After being a teacher myself for so long, I agree that you are spot on. I think you should add brooches to the board as well. Teachers under the age of 80 do not want a brooch! (As an example: http://www.rubylane.com/item/202242-RLapple72/Rhinestone-Apple-For-Teacher-Brooch) Thanks for the laugh.
Oooh, that’s good (in a bad way). I just added the apple brooch to the crappy gift board! The thing that amazes me is the number of people who re-pin with my snarky comment onto their boards titled “great gift ideas” or “teacher appreciation”. That 2 liter A&W root beer bottle with the punny note gets the most re-pins. If you really want to laugh about teacher gifts, read this http://oyestheydid.com/2012/06/27/did-you-just-gift-me-with-root-beer/.
I blame the bad gifts on Pinterest. Everyone is trying to do something cute-sier than the next person. We have completely lost our ability to think, “Is this a good idea, or just a cute idea.” It goes for teaching ideas as well. Cute art projects are not necessarily good art projects.
Jamie
http://playtolearnpreschool.blogspot.com
I blame Pinterest too (even though I am secretly addicted).
I think I might order one of these for myself. There’s nothing like the feeling that comes from giving something a good stamp. I think that’s why I love volunteering in the library so much. FYI, I love root beer. But, then again, I am not a teacher.
I know; I want one of the stamps too! If you happened to be one of my kids’ teachers, and I knew for sure that you really did like root beer, I might get that for you. But, if you don’t have that information confirmed, it is so much better to go generic. Root beer is not widely preferred! 🙂
I just got an open, partially used bottle of shower gel from a student. I think that qualifies as crappy, no matter how you look at it.
Do you want to take a picture? I can post it to the board! Laughing. (And, I am sure we will get a reader who will point out that some kids put that together themselves because they can’t afford anything else. So, no hate mail please. Giving a teacher a gift is NOT required– we recognize that.)