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07 May 2017

Seven Ways to Show Teacher Appreciation All Year Round


I was BLESSED to have some amazing teachers. I mean really and truly blessed! I attended a small elementary school, Pentland, in Newberry, Michigan and then went on to Newberry Junior High school and high school. I am very grateful for the instruction I received! Shouts outs to Avis Fretz, my fifth grade teacher, and to Ruth Hill, my high school chorus teacher and baton twirling supervisor!!!

Nowadays, with a fifteen-year-old in high school, I sometimes struggle with how to show appreciation to my son's teachers, who do so much for him. As someone with an autoimmune disorder (RA) I have been rather spastic in when and how I'm going to show my gratitude to my son's teachers. If I'm feeling lousy all during Teacher Appreciation Week I might never make it into the school that week -- it could be a month or later. But there are things we can do all year round to show some Teacher love.

1) Pray for them and their families.

2) Email them a note of encouragement or of thanks. I know I'm in the habit of emailing when I need help with something. But an email of how your child has benefitted from their teaching can be a nice surprise. On one of my recent facebook posts, my cousin Scott Davis, a teacher in Michigan, mentioned that a thoughtful note is always appreciated.

3) Give them shout outs at meetings or school. Let others know what a wonderful job they are doing. 

4) Send supplies in unexpectedly during the school year, not just at the beginning. Also, I "think" some of the classes that aren't main classes don't always get supplies, just the home room teachers, at the beginning of the year.

5) Something personal, in your hobby area, can be fun. I'm a beader. So one year I gifted all of my son's teachers with my beadwork during teacher appreciation week. One of the ancillary teachers was really touched that I remembered her because so often she'd been left out. One of my Facebook commenters mentioned, however, that children's homemade gifts can be problematic because if a teacher gets too many it is hard to throw them out to make room for the new ones. Kind of like those cute Sunday school projects that come home and eventually you have to toss them.

6) A gift card for supplies or to one of their favorite places was the big winner on my Facebook post! Most folks mentioned gift cards as a great option.  In our school district, our teachers have not been given their well-deserved raises since the Great Recession. If I could gift all my son's teachers with a huge gift card I would. Still, I find gift cards a little impersonal for certain times of year. And, frankly, I lose them or misplace them but the Facebook responders indicated that in particular for book gift cards, e.g., Barnes & Noble or Amazon, they usually spent those right away.

7) Local gifts. This year I bought some gifts from Yankee Candle factory which has a flagship store in our area. Depending on where you live, items such as locally acquired honey (aren't teachers sweet as honey?), artwork from a local artist, note cards of local landmarks (Shirley Plantation had beautiful cards as does Colonial Williamsburg), and maybe even local authors' books (like mine!).

Giveaway: GUESS WHAT? Seven Brides for Seven Mail-Order Husbands will be releasing in a few weeks!!! It will be available online and in multiple retail stores and at independent Christian book stores. It includes my novella, "Dime Novel Suitor," which I had a lot of fun writing! Answer this question to enter: What made your favorite teacher your fave?






23 comments:

  1. My seventh grade English teacher was special. She took time for all her students and she listened well. She also explained the work so all could understand.

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    1. Your English teacher sounds like a special lady, Nancy! Patient, understanding, and a great listener -- a great combo!

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  2. My first grade teacher was one of a kind. I lost a button on my jumper and she pinned a little teddy bear pin on my jumper and insisted I keep it . After I was grown with children of my own, I wrote her a thank you letter telling her how special she was to me and how she had soothed a little first graders nerves.

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  3. My first grade teacher who knew I liked horses gave me a book mark with a horse on it. I loved it! Her name was Mrs. Stare and she had the beehive hair do and I asked her one time if her hair was real. :) Thankfully she thought my question funny!
    jennydtipton at gmail dot com

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    1. That is funny, Jenny! I didn't have any young teachers with beehive hairdos when I was in elementary school. That was popular with the young moms then, though!

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  4. My eighth grade math teacher, with her logical, methodical methods, really inspired my understanding of the subject, which I minored in while in college. The Collections are always good and fun reads. dixiedobie at yahoo dot com

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    1. Hi Cathy! I'm so glad you connected with a math teacher who really understood you and whose methods spoke to you! Blessings!

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  5. One of my high school English teachers. He challenged me and was very fair, but a tough teacher.

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    1. That's a good teacher who makes you work but treats you fairly! Thanks for sharing, Andrea!

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  6. My first grade teacher, Julia Stockton, took the time to understand and encourage a little girl that was fidgety and talkative. Ms Stockton would sit on the playground with me and brush my hair and I would actually sit still! She was an artist too. I have a sketch she drew of me on the playground one day. She also always sent positive, encouraging notes to my mom on my report card. I think she was a gem before her time when it came to hyperactive children. She was creative, spoke softly, and was never negative to any of us! Other than one high school teacher, I never had another one like her.

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    1. That is such a sweet teacher story, Anne! Thanks for sharing with us! Hugs!

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  7. My accounting teacher in high school. Mrs. Watkins went out of her way to make accounting interesting and encouraged students to keep striving if they were struggling. Accounting and math was easy for me, but her dedication and love for each student is what stands out in my mind about Mrs. Watkins. She's gone on to her reward in heaven, and I still have the report card showing I had A+++ (yes, an A triple plus) for my final grade as I represented our high school at a contest in accounting, while others were in other business areas of the contest. Our Newton HS team came home with a first place trophy.

    Great suggestions for parents to show teacher appreciation year round. Thank you for sharing. Congratulations on the soon to be release of Seven Brides for Seven Mail-Order Husbands. I look forward to reading your story and all the others. God bless.

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    1. Wow, you had an amazing accounting teacher didn't you, MARILYN? Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you enjoyed the post! God bless!

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  8. Oh I really loved pretty much all my teachers. They were very invested in their students and we could feel that and see it in how they taught us and took time inside and outside of the classroom to connect with us. I really loved English and had some great honors English and AP English teachers who shared with me their love of literature and writing and helped me nurture my love and understanding for it!!! I could mention many others who had a great impact on my life, they not only taught us about different subjects of learning but they taught us about life and living. Hugs!!!

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    1. Sounds like you had a similar situation as I had, JULIA -- blessed by lots and lots of amazing teachers! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  9. Teachers that encourage their students to dream and think are priceless. I have several teachers friends that impart confidence and the Christ's love to their students.

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    1. Hi CARYL! Thank God for those special teachers! They are priceless and a blessing!

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  10. My third grade teacher who brought out in me my love of reading.
    Was sickly in the first few years with a speech problem.

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  11. My favourite teacher cared. On my first assembly, and just my second day at school, I glanced at the lady to my left. She smiled at me and I smiled back... and that was the day I fell in love with Mrs Hackeson. I had her as my teacher for the year I was 6. When I was 8, she took early retirement in 1971. I was devastated. I asked for her address and we wrote to each other until she died in August 2015, in her nineties. Her family let me know of her passing. I was very upset. Mrs Hackeson encouraged, cared and loved. Every child needs a Mrs Hackeson in their life.

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  12. My first grade teacher was probably my favorite. It's been soooo long ago. She was kind and patient. And there were books to read.

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  13. My Algebra teacher in high school was one of my favorite. He was funny, helpful and patient! I had him for two years. Then I had an English teacher who I had a crush on...lol! But the next year he got a pink slip, I was very sad to see him go. He really was a great teacher.

    This novella set looks awesome, thanks for the giveaway chance!

    teamob4 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  14. I had several teachers that were favorites of mine. I think what they all had in common was that they loved teaching and it showed.
    Thank you for the chance to win a copy of this book.
    susanmsj at MSN dot com

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