Hi everyone! I was really curious if you have kids in school, what do you do for Teacher Appreciation Week?
It seems to vary a lot from person to person, so I wanted to hear different ideas. Personally, I feel it’s really important to let teachers know how much we appreciate them especially when they’re doing a great job. Teaching is such a thankless profession, and the pay is nowhere near what it should be.
If you really think about it, teachers are shaping our children’s futures and, in many ways, the future itself. Yet they’re often underpaid and overworked. If you’ve ever paid for daycare, you know how expensive it is just to ensure your child is safe until pickup. Now think about teachers: not only do they keep our kids safe, but they’re also expected to teach them complex material often things students may not initially care about. Every child learns differently, and it’s the teacher’s job to figure out how to reach them all.
My daughter’s class has 24 students. That’s more than double the adult-to-child ratio you’d find in a daycare. I truly don’t know how her teacher does it but I know she does it well.
What’s more, her teacher recognized that my daughter struggles with anxiety and has offered her tools to work through it. That means the world to me. As someone from Generation X, I grew up in a time when anxiety wasn’t even acknowledged I’m sure I had it, but it just manifested as constant stomachaches. I’m incredibly grateful my daughter has a teacher who sees and supports her in ways I never experienced.
I’ve also chaperoned two field trips this year, and let me tell you: I don’t know how the teachers stay so calm. I even asked her how she manages to wrangle an entire grade and keep things running so smoothly. She told me she has nightmares the night before, worried that a child might get lost. That level of dedication really stuck with me.
For Teacher Appreciation Week, we gave her a personalized tote bag, some of her favorite snacks, and a couple of gift cards one to a local gas station (where her husband often stops to bring her drinks) and another to Amazon. I just hope she uses it for herself and not on next year’s classroom supplies!
I’ll add some pictures of the gifts we put together. I’d love to see what others are doing too!
