Ideas For Teacher Appreciation Week

With the school year rapidly closing upon us – just think the school year is over next month – many schools set aside a day or a week to show teachers and staff how much the students and parents appreciate all their hard work. My daughter’s school sets aside the second week in May as Teacher Appreciation Week. The PTO helps organize a Staff Appreciation lunch but it’s also a time for students and parents individually to show their gratitude to teachers for the positive impact they make in the lives of our children and the school community.

Here are a few cute and heartfelt ideas my daughter and I have used in the past to show our gratefulness for a job well done.

• Have your child draw a special picture,  frame and sign it for his/her teacher
• Personalize a tote bag or summer beach bag with your child’s handprint or other handprint art. There are tons of ideas on Pinterest; either as a class art activity or just from your family. If you want you can fill the tote with a beach towel, sunscreen and a magazine. http://pinterest.com/crafty60/kid-s-handprint-art/
• Gift cards are always welcomed but go the extra step and find out specifically what your child’s teacher might especially appreciate. For example, my child’s teacher loves the chopped salads at Tio Mateo’s in the CVS Plaza on Main Street. A gift certificate from here would be most appreciated!
• Homemade baked goods or anything homemade (cards or a poem) touch a teachers heart.
• Photo album: if you’ve been able to volunteer in your child’s classroom and taken photos, a Year in Review album may be a nice remembrance, especially if this is a landmark year for the teacher –such as first year teaching, 10 years, or if he/she plans on retiring this year.
• As a room mom, I found a terrific resource on the internet to help me with creative and easy ideas. It’s http://room-mom101.blogspot.com/. There are some simple and sweet ideas we used last year to show the teachers and staff how much we appreciate them. For example, each day the teacher received a “Sweet Treat Bag” filled with candy Smarties and the message “Thanks for making me such a Smartie!” Or a brown lunch bag with marshmallows, a chocolate bar and graham crackers and we wrote “We need SMORE teachers like you!” on the front. One day we gave her a Skor candy bar with a note, “I really SKORed having a teacher as good as you.” Another easy idea is popcorn mixed with M&M’s or assorted candies in a bag tied up with pretty ribbon and the note “For a POPular teacher”! Search “Teacher Appreciation” on Pinterest and you’ll find free printables like this: happyhomefairy.com/category/teacher-appreciation-ideas

• Here’s a tip: pre-package these treats in clear sandwich bags on the weekend so all you have to do is slip the treat in your child’s backpack in the morning. It makes life much easier instead of scurrying around each morning.

You can involve the entire class too if you have time to plan ahead. Most teachers in elementary school decorate the outside of their classroom doors. With an idea I found on the Room Mom 101 blog, my daughter's class helped decorate their teacher's classroom door in a 'Tweets & Twitters' theme. The week before I sent home an envelope with a blank “Twitter” bird and asked each child to write what they appreciated about their teacher and send it back in a sealed envelope with my name on it. I collected them on Friday and over the weekend I compiled the Tweets & Twitter door decoration. I came in early to school the first day of Teacher Appreciation Week and hung it on the door. I brought extra Twitter birds for those students who didn’t send one back to me so everyone was included. It was a top secret project that was fun to do and seeing the teacher’s face light up was priceless.

What are some of your ideas for Teacher Appreciation Week? Share them with Patch readers!