Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Thoughts, please.


I'd like to know your thoughts about this. Even if you never comment here, let me know what you think of this. Please be frank.

17 comments:

Kara said...

I've heard of this in a couple of school districts. I've yet to see it in person though. Just how many kids are in the class? I know in my kids school, it's about 30. So $8*30=$240, that's one heck of a gift. The flower thing- flowers don't last more than 5 minutes in our yard, before the girls pick them. Asking the kids to draw a picture for the teacher or make her a craft, that's not too bad. Maybe it's me, but I just don't understand "Drink Day." Is everyone supposed to bring her a chai latte or something?

Our school year is already out. I don't know about other parents, but I had my daughters make their teachers cards, and then gave them each a $20 Walmart gift card. Teachers spend a lot of their own money on classroom supplies these days.

Keri said...

First thought- I hope that the end of the year gift is something like a Visa card or an American Express Gift card/cheque so that the teacher can do what SHE wants. A gift certificate to a restaurant is only cool if you know that this teacher likes said restaurant. My Dad got tons of gift certificates as a baseball and hockey coach. While he really appreciated the thought behind them, if they weren't for a place he usually went (can we say resistant to change??), then they ended up spending 3-5 years in his top drawer until Mum would get fed up and give them to one of us kids to use.

Second thought- I hope none of the kids in the class (or the teacher!) is allergic to flowers. I was one of those horribly allergic kids and being around so much floral pollen would have caused me to spend the day in the nurses' office with my inhaler!

Final thought- wow your school system appreciates teachers! I'm glad that they get the respect and appreciation they deserve, but I also wonder if some people find this sort of letter a bit pushy?

amandajessica01 said...

wow....just, wow. I thought kids were generally dissuaded from getting teachers gifts (though many people disregard this). How big is this class and who is coordinating this?

It all just seems like a bit much.....get a big card, write some nice messages, go in on a gift card. The end.

heather said...

Our school does the 'Teacher Appreciation Week' and has a different thing to do each day (bring a flower from your garden, home made thank you card, etc) but they've never asked for a cash donation. It wouldn't go over well at our school--only a few parents would be willing or able to donate the cash. So it does seem a little out of line. I get the teachers all a thank you gift at the end of the year because I want to, not because I'm told to. But I spend more than $8 so that would be nice to be able to give the teacher a big, nice gift for only $8. I agree it should be a Visa gift card.

Kim said...

I think the room parents are very organized, considerate and thoughtful! Teacher appreciation week is big in our school district and special activities/things are planned all week for them. The room parents gave "free" options for parents who cannot afford or do not desire to buy items. I think $8.00 is a very fair donation toward the end of the year gift from each child. I always buy an end of the year gift for teachers of my three boys and I really appreciate when a room parent organizes a class gift for many reasons. 1. It is usually cheaper. 2. Saves me from shopping. wrapping and/or baking. 3. The teacher gets one big gift....she/he can only have so many mugs, notepads etc. Someone commented that $240 ($8 x 30 students), but don't forget....usually there is an assistant in kindergarten classrooms and often part of the donation is put toward her gift as well. I think the note was well written and explained everything. I understood that the room parent would be providing the favorite drink (not each student). Sounds like a well thought out, thoughtful thank you for the teacher! :) Those are my thoughts. Kim

The Beers Family said...

Funny this came up today - I was just talking about this with a bunch of public school teachers in our area and they cannot legally accept gifts more than $49 for anything - even end of the year - so groups like this could not put together all of their money to buy a joint gift - its unethical in our state.

That said - it seems a bit much to have an entire week for teacher appreciation - I could see a homemade card and a flower from your garden is wonderful but it seems a bit extreme.

Alisa said...

Perhaps organized by a parent with an only child? So the banner is cute, Monday is fine-good to know your kid signed their name. Wed. luncheon is good, too. And I'm on board with the $8--much easier to do that then come up with something that is cheap but not too cheap, assuming the socio-economics of your school allow for $8 gifts. And I agree--should be a visa/amex gift card.

It was the flowers, the note-card, AND the gift that made me start to twitch. Put together with the other stuff, it is just WAY over the top. Does all of this, crammed into one week, make a teacher feel MORE appreciated? Any teachers out there commenting?

I usually do a card with a pic of my daughter for the holidays, and then a homemade card at the end of the year. With either a starbucks or Borders gift card--between $10-20. For my 7-year old with Down syndrome, even the cards can get pretty crazy--she has a teacher, an aide, a speech therapist, an OT, an Adaptive PE teacher, a special educator, and of course all of her "specials" teachers (art, PE, music, media). Each one has gone above and beyond to make an inclusive environment possible for my daughter, and it is important to me to say thank-you in a small way. Once, not seven times, though! And now that I'm writing that all down, I have to go--too many gifts to figure out in too little time! good luck!

Liz said...

Ridiculous to do all those things! Way too much! A nice card from everyone and perhaps a gift card is sufficient.

Teachers do a lot and deserve recognition don't get me wrong, but come on - every single day for a week something silly like this - no, it's not appreciation, it's over the top.

diane rene said...

honestly, I thought it was a cute idea until the monetary donation. everything seemed voluntary (tho I know some schools make things LOOK voluntary but behave differently). $8 seems a little high and an odd choice.

sometimes our school does teacher appreciation week and sometimes it doesn't. I send in what I can IF I can, but I don't feel guilty if I am not prepared for it. I buy the teachers a nice gift at Christmas and unless I just LOVE my child's teacher (rare) that is it.

Falyse's room parent did ask for a $2 donation to thank our long term sub for helping out. I gave it to her because it was $2 but I don't personally care for the teacher. it's been a nightmare of a year with this teacher and I am now having Falyse repeat the first grade (oh joy).

ashamom said...

Can I just say that you have room parents on steroids?
Nice thought, but so overwhelming to a parent of more then just one kid!

I never give teachers any end of the year gifts. I do Xmas gifts. If people are pooling together- then I donate, but not individually.
Are you so done with school for awhile? I am!

Monica Crumley said...

Wow, that's a lot of "stuff"! And this is only Kindergarten? Our room moms are asking for $5 to $10 for the 5th grade teacher. That could potentially be a $350 gift. I feel bad for the mom of triplets in our class and the mom of twins on this one. I vote for doing one nice thing and then letting each individual decide if they want to do anything.

Taryl said...

I think it's excessive. We always personally did stuff for my favorite teachers, like cookie flower baskets and thank you cards, but that was a personal choice and because they were exceptional! This mandatory gift business seems tasteless, to me.

Mumofone said...

For what its worth here's a comment from Australia from a very loyal reader who loves your blog and reads it every day!
Firstly we don't have room parents (I had to google it to even find out what they are)
Secondly initially this letter just made me laugh in disbelief!
Subsequently I read the other comments and saw that this sort of thing is common for other people who read your blog but nothing like this happens in Australia. (At least in my experience because I obviously can't speak for all of the 21 million people who live here!!)
So all I can say is good luck and that I hope nothing like this ever finds its way downunder (as many other American/British/European trends do) because I certainly wouldn't be happy if I was expected to comply with all the "demands" in this letter - however, politely and enthusiastically it seems to be written!!
There - I was frank for you :)

Addie Talley, Photographer said...

I think a teacher appreciation week is wonderful and I love all the suggestions on what she likes - very helpful...

but an $8/child monetary donation? That is a little much, and I know for some families that is an added expense that maybe they just cant afford - not like they dont want to, but maybe it makes it a hardship... I would maybe ask for donations if people wanted to contribute, but not a specific amount... seems a bit ridiculous.

diane said...

I really like the idea of teacher appreciation, but an entire week???? Seems over the top to me. All of the ideas listed are lovely....pick one. Maybe I am getting fed up with the many requests I have been getting from the school over the years, and with having 4 kids, it gets overwhelming at times. Just in the past week, I have been asked to send in: money for goggles so my son can sand wood in shop class; a roll of paper towels and a box of Kleenex (and here's the kicker--my son would earn 5 bonus points if he brought in the goods....that is just not fair!); and finally, a baseball glove for gym class (no problem if he owned one, but he doesn't). So....I think that all these requests for money, school supplies, and appreciation parties should be screened somehow to determine if the request might seem a bit much for families. Hmmmm...I didn't realize this bothered me so much until I answered the question!!

Carla said...

Oh, we do teacher appreciation week here too. And let me just say, I rarely participate. They send a list home for every teacher with ideas for the "themed" days, fav snack, flower, author, restaurant, color, magazine,etc.

I guess it's a nice idea, but I can barely organize my own life. Let's not throw in picking out a daily gift for two teachers (next year three).

Don't get me wrong, I think teachers deserve recognition, but every day for a week? It's just too much for me to keep up with.

Anonymous said...

It's over the top in my opinion. I have 6 kids like you Lisa and I know all to well how insane these school things get. I love group gifts though because it's always cheaper IMO. My boys have had one amazing teacher for both 1st and 2nd grade who loops so this is our 4th consecutive year with her and i choose to get her something extra because of how amazing she has been. I rarely participate in the PTA planned luncheon,etc stuff. Please I can barely get it together to keep our everyday lives semi organized with everyone..lol