How to Truly Show Appreciation to our Teachers!

This year, Teacher’s Appreciation Week falls on May 2-6. We can’t thank our teachers enough for everything they do to ensure our children are getting the highest quality education. Not only are teachers educators, but they are mentors, coaches, and our greatest advocates. 

Here are a few ways to truly show meaningful appreciation to your teachers.

1. Make it personal 
   Administrators, if you overhear that your teacher loves a certain restaurant, TV show, or anything else, listen to them. Take these interests into consideration when thinking about gifts for your teachers. It will show your teachers that you think of them as more than just an employee. A gift card to their favorite restaurant, a mug with their favorite TV show on it, classes to their favorite yoga studio, and other personal gifts truly show how thankful you are! 

2. Ask them what supplies they need
   Teachers are always in need of supplies. Most teachers go out of their way to spend their own money on supplies to provide their students with the best educational experience possible. They are spending hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars a year to make their classroom feel welcoming and making sure their students never have to worry about not having a pencil or crayon to use. Help them help you. Ask your teachers what supplies they’re running low on and get them the supplies they need. Trust us, they will be eternally grateful. 

3. Take something off their plate
   We know how busy teachers can get during the school day. Something that you can do to help is take something off their plate. You can give them extra time by taking over their class for a period of the day. This can be as simple as coming into their classroom and doing an activity with their students, watching their class during playtime, or even canceling the weekly staff meeting. Sometimes the best gifts aren’t objects, but time. 

4. Make it useful
   How often do you go into a store and see mugs that say “We love you teachers” or notepads that say “Thank you teachers!” Teachers do not need another mug in their inventory. When thinking about gifts for teachers, make it useful. Think, “what might teachers actually use in their daily life?” Here are some gifts that teachers might actually find useful:

• Subscription to an online educational platform (Brainpop, Noggin, ABCmouse, YouTube Kids premium, etc)
• Tide pens (we all make mistakes especially in preschool classrooms)
• Pillows/Cushions (play-time, circle time, and most other preschool activities can be hard on the knees and bottoms, let’s help our teachers stay comfy!)
• Chargers (laptops, phones, and car chargers for those days we forget)
• Transit card or gas station gift card (gas prices are high, make their commute to work easier)

‍