As my son’s final day of classes approaches, I’ve been trying to come up with a good end of year gift for his teacher. I finally did decide on something, and thought I was “done” when it occurred to me that his classroom teacher is not the only teacher who has meant a lot to him this year. He’s had two other teachers who have been of great help to him, and we wanted to be sure they were not forgotten, so I picked up a little something for them today as well.

I’m not of the mindset that every teacher a child comes into contact with should be given an end of year gift, but it does seem only right that, if there have been others in addition to the homeroom teacher who have been a big part of a child’s year, they should be recognized, too. This could be just about anyone, from a resource or elective class teacher to the librarian, music or art teacher, a club sponsor, coach, and so on.

Sadly, I fear many of these elective or support teachers often go forgotten at the end of the year. Do you have any ideas about how to ensure that these other, equally hardworking teachers are recognized? If so, leave a comment! The more ideas, the better!

What’s the coolest or best teacher’s gift you’ve ever given, received, or seen someone else give?

My son’s teacher this year has been awesome (actually, we’ve been blessed in that he’s never not had an amazing teacher), and so I’m looking for something truly wonderful to give her. I know teachers aren’t in it for the loot at the end of the year (far from it!), yet I still like to give a little token to show our appreciation.  I’ve got a few ideas in mind, but would love to hear others’ thoughts, too. (And, truth be told, there’s no way I’m going to post my ideas here, in case our teacher is reading this – hi Merry!)