When teachers return in August, each site is responsible for providing a full-day in service for teachers (lots of information to disseminate, so the day goes by quickly). We provide a catered lunch and have other prizes available throughout the day. Additionally, I’ve always given a welcome back gift. Last year, I purchased tumblers and used my Cricut to write everyone’s name in vinyl along with our school name and logo. They turned out great, in my humble opinion. This year, we don’t know what to do for a welcome back gift (I work alongside a principal who splits the cost of gifts/luncheons/staff meeting snacks with me). I was thinking rhinestone lanyards since we require all employees to wear their IDs (not every site within my district has this expectation). I could get lanyards that aren’t “blinged out” for the male employees. Thoughts? Other ideas? I’m open-minded!
IME elementary teachers love sharpies, flair pens, and other cute/fun writing utensils. Plus they would be useful. We also have to wear our IDs and my concern with the lanyards would be that many teachers are picky about what theirs looks like and/or have probably already bought their own. Several of our teachers have bought them from some specific store (the name is escaping me) that makes them look more like silver jewelry so that they match outfits better. I have weird sensory issues with mine, so I got a Vera Bradley one because I want it to be as light as possible. My para made me this really cute one out of beads awhile ago, and I loved the way it looked but it drove me nuts because it was heavy.
One year the PTO gave each teacher a lunch tote with the school’s name and mascot. Inside the tote was a bottle of water and different snacks.
I loved my school lunch box. We also got a button up school shirt that we all wore on Fridays. Dismissal on Fridays always looked good with our identical shirts. I don’t like the rhinestone lanyards as my hair gets caught in them and my coworkers lanyards started losing stones. They do make lanyards with names embroidered into them. I like those.
Does your school provide copy paper? One year we received 2 reams and most of us really appreciated that because we had to buy our own. On the same theme, I have enjoyed receiving a bag of school supplies...stapler, staples, note pads, markers, paper clips, etc. It was a useful gift...and the reusable bag was personalized with our name.
I'm on board with the basic school supplies. Many of us purchase our own school supplies for various reasons and being given free supplies is always nice.
I LOVE the lunch box idea but I'd throw in some office goodies (if $ allows). As for lanyards, everyone at our school wears a lanyard that our principal bought for us. They are simple blue lanyards (school colors) with our names embroidered in white on one side and our school name embroidered on the other. I LOVE mine. I don't think I'd want the sparkly lanyard.
We are a Title 1 school, so we have plenty of $$$ for supplies. Every teacher gets a box of paper in August and January (not sure how many reams are inside a box). Also, we have an open supply closet, so they can grab whatever they need (staplers, staples, pencils, pens, markers, etc.). I’m going with the lunch tote idea and will use my Cricut to personalize the totes with each teacher’s name and our school name/mascot. I knew y’all would have wonderful ideas!
I think my favorite gift from the school has been a travel mug. The lunch tote idea is great. What a nice thing to do for teachers.
Bling? I love it, haha! You should get yours embroidered with AP and your superior’s with P. It’ll be great!
A travel mug? Really? I get gift cards (Petco, Starbucks, Home Depot, Costco, Jamba Juice, etc.) all the time during the school year from students, parents, and staff members and I prefer those over the travel mugs I’m gifted any day.
My admin has done everything from the travel mug, water bottles, T-shirts, sunglasses, etc. They also once had some local massage therapists come in to offer free massages during our free periods. I definitely appreciate the thought, but most of the items just sit around gathering dust to be honest. I agree with prof on this one that I'd prefer a small gift card for coffee or something that I would put to good use.
Same here. I hate getting gifts that aren't consumable. It's just more junk to sit around. I received a lunch tote, travel mug, reusable insulated water cup, and a pen from my district during new teacher orientation. On a very rare occasion, I use any one of them, but, for the large majority of the time, they are taking up valuable space and collecting dust. I would appreciate a gift card more than "stuff" any day. For that matter, I'd appreciate a thoughtful card with kind, motivating, or encouraging words from my administrator more than "stuff".
I'm glad you decided against the rhinestone lanyard idea! I'm picky about my lanyards and would never have worn it! If you still wanted to do lanyards, I was going to suggest a plain one in your school colors with the school name embroidered on it. I had mine made with my name on it from Etsy
Give each teacher "time"; something that is always in short supply. A principal I worked for gave each teacher a period (50 minutes) of free time to do whatever they wanted. The principal took over the class and taught a lesson. The freebies were doled out over a semester. Staff morale went up, principal's skills kept current and students got to see the principal in a role other than the "authority".
I like the idea of this, but what if the teacher can’t teach the subject or has little to no knowledge of the subject matter being taught? This seems like it wouldn’t work for higher level language, math, and science courses. Awesome P, by the way, for doing this.
I was only talking about gifts I've gotten from admin or my school. Not parents, students, or other staff. Gift cards are nice too but can get expensive quickly.
I don’t ever buy gifts for my coworkers unless I feel like it, so it’s not expensive for me. I have no problem accepting gifts, however, but I always thank the giver(s) profusely. If someone wants to buy me a nice gift, whatever the price, who am I to tell them how to spend their money? That’s another benefit of working in a private school. There are no limitations on the valuation of student gifts. I’ve literally had students had me holiday cards and when I opened them there was a hundred-dollar bill inside with a heartfelt note. They brought such a smile to my face! (I always jokingly say at the beginning of my thanks, “Oh, for me. You should have!” Lol!) Expensive gifts are just that, but they’re a risk I’m willing to take.
This is an amazing idea! I'd absolutely love it, and it would be a great chance for building relationships.
The department chair/supervisor could do it if he or she wanted to. I would assume that person knows most of the math courses.
It would be difficult for anyone no matter the level. This is why she taught enrichment lessons from her own repertoire, adjusting delivery for level of students. It was sort of like having a guest speaker (teacher) many teachers use from outside. Students were shocked the principal could be a teacher. And it was because she didn't try to one-upmanship teachers or look at their plans that made it a relaxed, non-threatening event.
Oh I love this idea! And another bonus is that you don't have to spend any money! I of course would appreciate the thought behind any gift, but I see the lunch tote thing being similar to the lanyard thing. Don't most teachers already have a lunch bag that they like? The 31 brand is really popular at my school. Our district gave out lunch bags at our opening kickoff one year, and I never used mine, along with most teachers at my school. I really like the personalized one I already have. Even a brand new teacher is very likely to go buy one before the school year starts because they know they'll need one.
Last year, on the first day of school, we all went into our classrooms to find a rose and a personal note on our desks.
Our administrators give us occasional "coupons" for office supplies - a certain dollar amount and then we fill out the slip with what we'd like to have ordered under that dollar amount. We don't have the supply closet like you described so it's especially appreciated.
A handwritten note would be my top gift of choice. Beyond that, I also love coffee gift cards or edible things. School spirit wear is also always appreciated! Anything else, I don't have much use for, unfortunately. Cups and tumblers at least get used, but I don't really need any more. I take a huge water bottle plus all kinds of snacks, so I have more of a small cooler size lunch bag than is traditional. Also, thanks for doing anything at all! I love when our admin recognize us, even if it's just with a free jeans Day. It really does boost morale!
I've never been given a gift from a school administrator. The most useful gift was from a PTO - it's a 4.5-inch tall white plastic mug with my name hand-painted onto the side of it and was filled with an assortment of pens, markers, scissors, etc. Over 30 years later, I still have it on my desk at home - a touching daily reminder of my time at that school. I'd be happy just to be treated to a delicious catered lunch!
Not all of us are fortunate enough to live in districts/areas where parents can afford to give gifts at the end of the year let alone during the year. It is the thought that counts.
The caterer is use is a former parent of mine. All 3 of her kiddos were in my 2nd grade class, so I get the red carpet treatment when she comes to my site to set up a luncheon. We just did handwritten cards during Teacher Appreciation Week, so we’ll wait on that. I love morale boosters!
One year we all received Expo markers in nontraditional colours (i.e. NOT blue, black or red). You'd think the principal had given us all cars. We were all super excited about our purple, pink and orange Expos.
YTG, I bet you're making many teachers here envious! I'm curious - did you learn about "ways to optimize worker productivity" in your administrator credential program? Like you, I too focused on developing mutually-shared respect, support and trust among the entire staff. High five!
