Gift Ideas for Retiring Teacher

Hi,
It's often quite entertaining and very meaningful for teachers to have a little advice book made up of a compilation of their students' responses, thank you's, etc. :)

Hmmm, What is she into?

We had a beloved Librarian retiring and she loved to garden. She was planning on starting a flower garden, but was not really physically able to get up and down. We had a group of families go to her home and build a raised garden for her. It did not cost that much, it was the effort that she really appreciated.

Another teacher loved to cook, so we gave her a gift card to a local upscale grocery store to take cooking classes. She was able to pick and choose the 2 classes she was interested in.

If possible, I think a scrapbook of thank you notes and pictures from the kids would be a good way to show your appreciation. A little framed certificate of thanks would make her feel appreciated too.

Since you're also giving a monetary gift (which I think is great), how about something "useful" that is engraved like a photo album she can put pictures of the kids. It can say something like "Thanks for all the years of forming the minds of our future." or something.

my kids are still too small for teacher gifts, but my friend helped organize her children's teacher gift and they did a large serving plate with smaller plates at the paint-your-own-pottery type store with the kids' names and messages. It turned out very cute!

For my daughters teacher this year, we all donated $5 to the room mom and she ordered a Longaberger recipe box. We all contributed our favorite recipes to the box and included any special ingredients that she might need. We purchased some nice utensils and placed it all on a tray and wrapped it up! She loved it!!!

I know a teacher that was given a necklace made from kid drawn shrinky dinks. The necklace is darling and she wears it now a few years later.Each child could be given a circle or square of a uniform shape to draw on, maybe their favorite memory of the teacher and then after baking, they can be strung together.

Go to thr crafts' store, get a white chef's apron and have the kids sign the apron....

We had a teacher moving away so we had each of the children write a special note to her, draw a picture and placed one of their pictures on a page and ordered a book through shutterfly. It turned out great, the kids loved it, the families love it, and more importantly the teacher loved it.

My favorite gifts I received as a teacher were the gifts that the children made.
I cherish a bowl that one class put their finger prints on, each looking like a heart. There was a cute poem written on the bowl and a message letting me know how much they appreciated me.

Several different years, I have received books. Each one as different as the class that made them. The parents collected pictures taken over the school year and then had each student write what they liked about 3rd grade or what they would miss. The parents then combined the contributions and the books were always amazing.

Good luck and thank you. I am sure that your teacher will love whatever you do!

Hello E.,
As a teacher my husband really liked it when the class gave him a book to read ove the summer signed by all of them. They are still in his bookcase. Since you are giving her money or gift cards as well that seems like a great memory for her.
If some one knows how to tie a quilt that is fun as well using the childrens names or hand prints. We have one that still means alot.

A great book to fit her personality. Have the kids sign it.

I also was a teacher and received an apple tree, delicious heirloom apples. The tree had cardboard cut out apples tied all over it with the kids name on one side and their picture on the other. A home Depot certificate was tied to the bottom. But someone knew I wanted a tree for my yard at the time too. I have also received a hammock, spa certificates... all lovely. But my favorite is an incredible creative memories album with the kids pictures and letters to me. Very special. Another special gift was a basket of survival items like hershey kisses & hugs of course... and other items along with a poem explaining the meaning each item. Then there was the big foam poster boards with the candy bars attached: each child made a sentence using a bar for my b-day. For instance U-NO we heard... Let's ROLO out the red carpet... When You were born the STARBURST & your parents were in ORBIT... etc. The parent included pictures of these things in the scrapbook at the end of the year. Enjoy! Sure you'll come up with something great. One larger sum or certificate is always nicer than a bunch of little ones. To do something really special!

I taught 3 rd grade and one of my favorite gifts was an apple tree to plant in my yard. Every year when I pick apples it reminds me of that class. Teachers always love a little pampering too...manicure, pedicure, facial.

You could make a small scrapbook for her. If you can get class pictures for the current year and a few from years past, you could quickly make a book. Add to it, some cute notes from the kids and you have a priceless gift.

Ask each family to write why she is special, creative memory page with the child's photo.
After many years of loving the kids, I'm sure she will missed the routine.
Fun and fan are best memory builders.
We look back. Most of the time, she will recall the best year she spend to nurture future leaders.
I still try to reconnect with my childhood teacher when I'm in town.

Instead of giving her a monetary gift you could either do a gift card tree where everyone brings in a gift card somewhere and then put them in a bouquet of flowers. You also could purchase a weekend at a Spa or something along those lines if it is something she likes. Sometimes when you give a monetary gift it doesn't end up getting used on the person you give it to. They end up helping someone else out (a child or relative) or they use if for bills. This way they have to use it on themselves. Just a thought