What do teachers want?

HGTV House Swap Casting Call

How would you like to be given $10,000 to decorate someone else's home?
A new HGTV series is looking for outgoing, opinionated, and adventurous families who want to spend a couple days giving someone else's home a total makeover.
In exchange, your own home will receive some decorative TLC.
If this sounds like something you and your fabulous family would like to take part in, we want to hear from you!
Please send the following info to: houseswap@propertelevision.com.
• Name & Contact Info
• How Many Children Are In Your Family?
• How Old Are They?
• What Do You Love About Your Home?
• What Do You Hate About Your Home?
• What Makes You and Your Family Unique?
• Please send us a photo of the exterior of your home
• Please send us a Photo of You and Your Kids
To be eligible, you must be willing to let another family temporarily decorate your home. How do you feel about that?
*Must live in Southern Ontario and have children aged 8 and up.
*Must be willing to live in another home for a couple days.
Submissions should be sent in ASAP
For questions, please email: houseswap@propertelevision.com.

I should clarify that the cards at Walmart Photo are on-line. I don't think you can order them in-store. If I'm not mistaken though, they give you 50 (or was it 100?) free 4x6 photo prints when you sign up for an account. I love, love, love the gift card book idea as well. It was all I could do to not run out tonight and do a tour of the stores grabbing cards to get one made up. I also have a french teacher and a spec ed teacher to thank as well. They're all well worth more than I could ever give them though. We've been very blessed this year with great support at school (and that has not always been the case)

@crackintoes - I've never seen them, they sound lovely! Maybe I will check that out too.

And... @ Heidi - that bracelet looks quite nice and I love the eco-charity aspect of it. And inexpensive enough to put along with a little something else. We have three daycare teachers to think of gifts for as well, so I'm thrilled with all of your suggestions! Thanks so much.

For Christmas, we made a donation through Plan Canada of books for a classroom in honour of our children's teachers. They were all thrilled. I believe other organizations with gift catalogues do similar things. Each of the children also gave their teacher(s) a card that they either made or signed personally.

Walmart Photo has those black-bordered inspiration sayings that are all the rage, in greeting card format. You customize with your own photo in the middle. I've bought at least a dozen of them that say (something like) "In 100 years from now, it will not matter what kind of house you had or what kind of car you drove. What will matter is the difference you made in the life of a child." They cost less that a store bought card (about $2.50 if I remember) and are ready in about a week. You can add your personal thank you inside the blank card. The get such an amazing reaction. Even if you read this when it would be too late for the end of year gift, they're always handy to have on hand.

If the special teacher has a garden a nice long lasting reminder of the time together with the child, is a plant. A perrenial, a shrub of bush that is not inclined to grow to large or Avon has a pretty bracelet for only $3.95 called "Hello Green Tomorrow EcoHero Bracelet and the net profits go toward helping to restore endangered forests. There's my 2 cents, which will soon have to become a nickle worth. :)

A sincere "thank you" always makes a teacher's day, regardless if it somes with any "stuff."

Seeing a student thrive, learn, succeed, have fun, grow...it's an amazing privilage to be part of (and part responsible for) and it's why good teachers teach.

You're always so full of good ideas, my friends! Thank you.

@matt_n_becks: Oh my GOSH, I'm in love with that idea you posted. Coincidentally, Anna just said to Sean that she wants to make Mrs. D a scrapbook! So I think we're going to do this. She wants to draw some pictures, we'll add the gift cards... LOVE IT! And yes, I will for sure write her a thank you note to share all this with her. I know how much that means to anyone, but especially to teachers who give so much from their hearts every day.

Thanks again. xo

Along with a gift card at Christmas time I included a note to my daughters teacher saying some of the things you just expressed. I'm not as talented a writer as you are, but she seemed to really appreciate the gesture. Maybe even just sending her the link to your blog will let her know how much she is appreciated.

I seen a cute gift on Pinterest, you give a plant in a pot you child has painted/decorated and on either the pot or a tag you attach it says "Thanks for helping me grow" Super cute idea and you could always put a gift card in with the plant.

If the teacher has been there a while, definitely a restaurant GC would be awesome. If she's pretty new to the school a Scholars Choice GC might also be nice as teachers pay out of their own pocket to decorate the classrooms.

I found this online when I was searching - http://allyouneeddesigns.blogspot.ca/2011/06/goodbye-to-kindergarten-end...

Combines the thoughtfulness of a homemade gift with the practicality of the gift card.

I'm sure you & big A will come up with something fab!!

Cheers,
@btfdbecks

I bought a canvas hanging shoe organizer and some fabric paints. I got the teacher's permission to take kids just outside the classroom door one by one. Each student made a little yellow thumb print somewhere on the canvas. I printed their names with a black fine point sharpie under the prints. After the paint dried, I used the marker to make little stripes, wings, and faces on the thumb prints and turned them into bees. I painted flowers under the bees and a thank you from the class at the top. The teacher hung it on the wall behind her desk and used that organizer in her classroom (for papers and other items) every year my daughter was in grammar school, and may still be using it today...

My youngest son was absolutely enamoured with his first grade teacher. so was I as she was incredible. We gave her a gift card for a restaurant...and we also made a cement stepping stone for the garden in her new house. We bought a kit from Michaels that had everything we needed to make the stone, including some coloured stones for decoration...and some clear stones that we could glue a picture to the bottom of (so we put his picture in there so she could always see who gave it to her). She cried when she opened it, and couldn't thank him enough.

Last year I got our fab teacher a tote bag from Landsend with Mrs. D emboridered on it. She loved it! She sent home a note saying how much she loved it and how it was so perfect as she is always 'tote-ing' things to and from school. It cost about $30 plus shipping. We have friends that are primary school teachers and say they have so many coffee mugs and gift cards at the end of the year that they are overjoyed to receive anything different!

When my oldest, now in grade 2, started kindy she also had an exceptional teacher and in turn such a positive year. Like you, I too felt the need to give him something extra. I bought a $50 gift card for a restaurant because I wanted him and his wife to have a meal on us. His wife is also a kindy teacher, although not at our school.

He called me at home to say that he and his wife were surprised and very grateful for the generous gift. Honestly, I wished I could have given him more.

This year he is also teaching my middle child. He asked that if anyone wanted to give him something he would appreciate a small donation to the oncology ward at BC Children's Hospital which we have done. I have written him a personal thank you note as well as my son is making him a card too. I also know the way to his heart is through his tummy so I will send some baked goodies for him too. :) I am sort of "bribing" him because next year he is taking my youngest in his kindy class and she is definitely VERY DIFFERENT in personality then my other two.....I often tell him the 3 kindy teachers will be fighting over who has to take her, not who wants her. :)