Low-cost and no-cost teacher gifts that show you care
School is under way and we sincerely hope you are loving (or quickly learning to love) your child's teachers. In almost all districts, our teachers are being asked to do more and more with less and less - budgets are tight, class size is swelling and assistants have been cut from many programs. Rather than save teacher appreciation activities for Teacher Appreciation Week in May, we thought it would be timely and fitting to share appreciation ideas as the school year is starting off.
Parents - Here are seven low-cost/no-cost ways to show your appreciation in the first months of school.
Teachers - Parents want to help you! Please share this post with your room parents and let them know what kind of support is welcome and appreciated.
- Basket of classroom supplies. Find out what supplies might be missing in the classroom. Ask each family to donate one or two small items: pencils, markers, glue, stickers, tissue, hand sanitizer, table wipes, etc. Ask for gift card donations from office supply and craft stores to help with classroom supplies. Parents who can't afford to donate can participate by cutting coupons for frequented retailers.
- Organize a reading circle and classroom helpers. Use VolunteerSpot to coordinate volunteers -‐ each parent signs up to help once a month in the classroom -- reading, helping with science experiments, and tutoring kids needing extra help. Here's a newspaper article about a teacher in Austin, TX doing just that.
- Share your special skills and traditions. Compile a list of special skills, hobbies, or family traditions that parents can share with the class throughout the year. Use VolunteerSpot to schedule these special presentations.
- Wish Notebook. Put together a wish notebook with teacher surveys and share it with parents. The surveys should ask teachers to list ways in which parents can help them either inside or outside of the classroom. Parents can help in the areas they feel most comfortable.
- Paperwork Parents. Take turns making copies, grading papers, or preparing classroom supplies after hours. Use VolunteerSpot's online scheduling tool to coordinate the effort. If parents can help once or twice a week, that's a tremendous time savings and welcome break for your teacher.
- A personal note from students. Ask each child to write a note expressing what they are looking forward to this year and why they like their teacher. Then, throughout the first semester, present the notes, one at a time.
- Before and After. Take a photo of 4-5 children at a time at the start of the school year. Hold on to these and take pictures of the same groupings towards the end of the year. Prepare a before-and-after flip book to share with the teacher, along with notes and remembrances from the class.
We hope you and your teachers will give some of these teacher appreciation ideas a try, or spark a conversation about ideas more appealing to your class and your community. VolunteerSpot is here to help you coordinate specific events, send reminders, and make it easy and fun to show a teacher how much you care! To learn more about teacher appreciation and for teacher gift ideas throughout the year, please check out our free Book, The Greatest Gifts for Teachers (click here).
Teachers and parents - what are your favorite appreciation ideas and traditions? Please share by clicking 'Comments' below.
We've been in school for almost a month now and as the room mom, I tried to get our (3rd grade) teacher to accept help with something like 'paperwork parents'. It took a few weeks of gentle coaching - but now on Tuesdays she has an extra large ziploc ready and filled with things needing cutting, stapled and assembled. Of course - I will use VolunteerSpot to make the schedule!
Posted by: Rosymama | September 21, 2009 at 08:34 AM
What a useful website.
Just a reminder from a Dad and husband whose wife is a teacher: Teacher's appreciation time is not just for the beginning of the school year or holidays, it lasts all year long.
Posted by: Rob | January 23, 2010 at 10:20 AM