Am I wrong in thinking that this is a bit much...teacher gift question

[trying4more]

I usually give towards the classroom gift, but one year, a mom requested that we only give her (the room parent) money because they were giving her a gift from Tiffanys. I was a single parent at the time and felt a little offended that I was stuck with HER idea! I gave her my own gift that year!
It's all in the wording!

[debmom2boyz]

SAY WHAT??????

I work in a Title I school, and I rarely get gifts from students. My parents are struggling to put food on the table. I tell my students that a smile and the wanting to learn are all I need. I get giddy when they give me a pen!

I use to work at a private school, and I was blessed many times over.

Tell the parent you already purchased the gift. Your gift sounds great! Maybe later for teacher appreciation, you could get itunes gift card or something.

Really??????? An iPad? I would love one, too. (actually, I have a school issued one that I can use at home, but one that I can call my own...)

I see lots of threads asking about teacher gifts. I think what it boils down to is that we feel appreciated. I have lots of Christmas decorations that my students have given me over the years. Some are the Dollar Tree type, not all that cute...but I can't not put them out or throw away. The fact that they thought of me, makes me smile.

This does remind me, I need to look for a gift for my son's kinder teacher. I saw a Candy Land sight word game that she might like (teachers pay teachers website--really....we ALL love that site!!!)

[Terra]

Originally Posted by debmom2boyz SAY WHAT?????? I work in a Title I school, and I rarely get gifts from students. My parents are struggling to put food on the table. I tell my students that a smile and the wanting to learn are all I need. I get giddy when they give me a pen! I use to work at a private school, and I was blessed many times over. Tell the parent you already purchased the gift. Your gift sounds great! Maybe later for teacher appreciation, you could get itunes gift card or something. Really??????? An iPad? I would love one, too. (actually, I have a school issued one that I can use at home, but one that I can call my own...) I see lots of threads asking about teacher gifts. I think what it boils down to is that we feel appreciated. I have lots of Christmas decorations that my students have given me over the years. Some are the Dollar Tree type, not all that cute...but I can't not put them out or throw away. The fact that they thought of me, makes me smile. This does remind me, I need to look for a gift for my son's kinder teacher. I saw a Candy Land sight word game that she might like (teachers pay teachers website--really....we ALL love that site!!!)

Our school is Title 1 as well.

Love the Candy Land idea!! And I'm not personally getting the whole "teachers don't want something they can use in their classroom" I know our teachers do! Especially when they only get $100 a YEAR to spend on everything. Most of our teachers spend $500-$1000 out of pocket every year to supplement and compensate. They LOVE gifts for the room!
I kind of find it ungrateful if someone said "I don't want that."

[debmom2boyz]

This is what I found on Pinterest for the Candy Land game. Wal-Mart has Candy Land on sale for 3.88 (I believe).

http://pinterest.com/search/?q=candy+land+sight+words

[mcpforever]

Originally Posted by Terra Our school is Title 1 as well. Love the Candy Land idea!! And I'm not personally getting the whole "teachers don't want something they can use in their classroom" I know our teachers do! Especially when they only get $100 a YEAR to spend on everything. Most of our teachers spend $500-$1000 out of pocket every year to supplement and compensate. They LOVE gifts for the room! I kind of find it ungrateful if someone said "I don't want that."

Nothing wrong with a gift being for the classroom, but then again there's nothing wrong with it being for the individual either. I'm still cracking up on the speculum comment. I think I'll get my hairdresser a comb set this year. Oh, wait. I don't have a hair dresser.

Our teachers don't get anything right now from the state. PTO covers their classroom supply money.

[Terra]

Originally Posted by debmom2boyz This is what I found on Pinterest for the Candy Land game. Wal-Mart has Candy Land on sale for 3.88 (I believe). http://pinterest.com/search/?q=candy+land+sight+words

Thank you!! I may have to do that for my son's teachers!

[katengrace]

Originally Posted by trying4more I usually give towards the classroom gift, but one year, a mom requested that we only give her (the room parent) money because they were giving her a gift from Tiffanys. I was a single parent at the time and felt a little offended that I was stuck with HER idea! I gave her my own gift that year! It's all in the wording!

It's this exactly! I wasn't given a choice. I got an email saying Ms. A would like an iPad this year, so I am collecting Target gift cards (she mentioned hers was for the amount of $30), and she bought an ornament for each child to give to her with the gift cards. So, she would be collecting an additional $4to cover the ornament. Not hey, I was thinking of collecting Target gc for whatever amount to go towards the purchase of an iPad...what do you think? It was, this is what we are doing...end of story. While I'd tend to believe that the teacher doesn't know about it, I can't be sure because the homeroom mom also happens to be her coworker. I don't know...just came across as obnoxious to me.
This was also the homeroom parent that sent home a list of very specific places that the teacher liked to shop ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!
Oh, and I just remembered that last year this mom wanted to do something for the director of the school because she lost her dad. I thought it was a great idea and knew she would be driving to Texas from Florida, so I suggested that we put together a care basket of snacks and things to do on their trip. Nope, wasn't good enough for this mom. She wanted cash only to buy a Visa giftcard. When the director received it she was mortified. While I think this parent's heart may be in the right place, she goes about it all wrong.

So far I haven't responded to the email. Honestly if it weren't for another parent calling me about how obnoxious it was I would have never even thought to look for it in my SPAM folder. Most likely I will continue on with my plan and just make the gc from Target...it just can't be for $20-$30.

[mcpforever]

Honestly, it sounds more like there's a bit of bad blood between you and this room mom that is causing you to resent the idea more because of who it's coming from than what it actually is.

Have you ever tried to organize a gift basket? If you don't do it just right, then you end up with duplicates of some items and missing other important ones. This is assuming you can figure out how to get the items to the assembly person without alerting the teacher/director.

[katengrace]

Originally Posted by mcpforever Honestly, it sounds more like there's a bit of bad blood between you and this room mom that is causing you to resent the idea more because of who it's coming from than what it actually is. Have you ever tried to organize a gift basket? If you don't do it just right, then you end up with duplicates of some items and missing other important ones. This is assuming you can figure out how to get the items to the assembly person without alerting the teacher/director.

Yea, you're probably right...there is a bit of resentment there.

And yes I have organized many gift baskets for my school's fall festival...it's not rocket science.

[MyKylie]

Yeah I probably would just not respond either. And if she brought it up, I'd just say "Oh well I already got her something." The end.