Teacher Gifts - Chicago,IL

I have never given a birthday gift to a teacher. I am a room mother and we ask the parents if they want to participate in a "holiday" / Christmas gift and a year end gift. As a room parent, I would not feel comfortable asking others to contribute to a birthday gift. I just do not think it is necessary although if I was aware it was the teachers birthday, I would have my child make a card.

I think it is best to save the group gifts for the end of the year. I sometimes feel overwhelmed with all of the things that come at me asking me for money, even in small amounts. I don't want to give a gift because I feel obligated. I think that if you wanted to send a note home that her birthday is coming and the children can make a card for her if they like, that would be good and there is no obligation. Those kinds of gifts are worth so much more in my opinion anyway.

I find it rediculous that the teacher's students would be asked to pitch in for a birthday gift.
I could see fellow teachers pitching in or someone bringing a treat to celebrate or even the teacher bringing in a treat to share with her students. How would anyone even know it was her birthday?
Many families give a gift a Christmas time and/or the end of the year to show their appreciation.
I might be inclined to participate in the birthday gift but I'd be rolling my eyes and thinking that the parent leading the initiative is a little too involved and overambitious.
Did a student even present the gift? Was a parent present? If so, did that parent's child present the gift?
My son loved giving gifts to his teachers so I get that and I'm all for it if it's him who said it's my teacher's birthday tomorrow, could I give her something?
Just my 2 cents.......... Surely not what you were looking to hear.......

I usually spend $10-$15 on teacher holiday gifts, etc. so a $5 contribution would appeal to me.

No, I truly wouldn't mind a few dollars donation. This is the person that has my child a good portion of the day. If I can thank her in little ways for her dedication, then I am happy to do it.

Hello
I don't like to do that anymore because in the past as you have also indicated, about 1/2 don't ever participate.. Also, If I feel compelled to do something, I simply say, oh I am already doing something on my own. However, that which took me a long time to learn is..... it's best to limit these types of gifts to a small gesture..such as homemade cookies or something of that nature. Monetary gifts can cross boundaries between teacher , student and parent and that can get kinda messy. In fact almost, co-dependent.. I mean in a way, are the parents who didn't participate wrong or just smarter when it comes to boundaries. bear in mind, giving gifts (esp monetary ones) does cross boundaries that not all parents are comfortable with. it's also puts a price on things.. and when that happens, things get weird.....

Yeah--people just get weird. I've heard moms say that only the names of the kids that donated should be listed on the birthday, or Christmas, or Appreciation Day card--and that's just wrong. ALL kids should be able to sign the card. The thing is it's the PARENTS that want recognition by the teacher for having been *IN* on it. When all that does is exclude the ids who can't control their financially strapped/selfish/clueless parents.
Soooooo....I think it's better to let people do something on their own.

I like to just do one from our family. Nothing ever stops you from doing your own, and you are not obligated to donate to the group card....just like when someone in an office has a baby--groups often pitch in and get a gift card, but you can still get a special gift of your choosing for the baby.

I also think that the problem is because it's for her birthday. I've been a room parent for the last 4 years and our school gives us guidelines for gifts. Birthdays are not even on the list. For Christmas, the teachers ask for book donations that are given to needy families. For teacher appreciation, the PTO organizes lunch and other goodies for the entire staff. The only time I collect money is for an end of the year gift. And most (95 to 100%) parents contribute and tend to be pretty generous. I think that's in large part because I don't ask for money for multiple gifts. To be honest, the most I would even consider asking for a teacher's birthday is a homemade card from the child.

And as far as whose names go on the card, all gifts organized by a room parent are from the entire class. If you want to be recognized for your gift to the teacher, send in your own gift with your own card.

I usually donate supplies for school all year round.

Getting rid of kids books? Off to school they go!

Craft supplies? School!

Old magazines that would be great for collages? School!

Need extra tissues because of whatever reason? I will go get them!

When teachers birthdays happen I usually get a 20 dollar gift card to a place I know they like to eat regularly.

I am just that way.

Sorry to hear that. I always communicate with the room mom of my intentions, if I am either going to chip in or go it alone. Room mom's spend a great deal of time thinking of things to do, organizing and other help for the room, the least all the parents can do is let her know.

But sometimes we chip in, sometimes we do our own thing and sometimes we do a combination of both. And who wouldn't chip in $5.00 for a nice gift for the teacher? Jiminy!

ETA: I always prefer a cash gift unless the room mom knows of something particular the teacher has wanted. One year, the room mom, knew the teacher wanted to see a play and tickets can be more costly so it is great help when the parents help towards something the teacher really wanted to attend. If every parent contributed a few bucks, the teacher could have a really nice gift is my POV.

Our school does not allow room parents to ask for money donations for any teacher gifts. While asking parents to have their kids make cards at home to bring in for a special day or asking if anyone is interested in bringing in a treat. I do no enjoy being asked every week for more money. Last year we were hit up every 3 days for the first semester for between 3 to 12 dollars. With this economy parents have lost jobs, lost homes and the stress of not being able to contribute and what will others think. No school should ask for donations of teachers gifts as these are people who are employed and paid salaries. I understand teachers should feel appreciated for the hard job it is to teach our kids and deal with some of the dynamics that parents and family members place on them but at this time I can't or my kids may not eat or I may not have gas to get to work. So I have many reasons why I would be upset and not participate.

I do things on my own.

Even when people have money they don't want to go in on anything. Just plain greedy in some cases. Not even a card of thanks.

Kinda sad that they can't take a MINUTE to thank the person that cares for your child all day long!

My only gripe about the group gift is that I want to be sure that the teacher knows that I contributed (so they know I am expressing my appreciation for all they do). So my question is 'Will the organizer state my name on the card?'
Maybe some parents wanted to offer more than 'just $5 each' for the teacher??

This would annoy me. Holidays and end-of-the-year are fine by me. In fact, I'll send you $20 because I would rather give her something really nice that I don't have to go out and buy! But her birthday? Nope. Totally presumptuous on the part of the school. You can make someone's day "special" without giving them a $100 gift card. The PTA (or its equivalent) should budget for a cake, paper goods and make sure the kids make a card and sing AT THE MOST.

I have worked in education for over a decade and teachers' birthdays are not a school celebration. We used to do a cake in the faculty room each month for that month's celebrants and a little group of us shared a cake on the person's actual birthday, but that was it.

My oldest is in middle school and we have never been asked to donate for a birthday gift for a teacher. I don't even recall many occasions when she even knew when a teacher's birthday was. I do know that our elementary school does not allow group gifts for teachers at Christmas anymore. I'm not really sure why that is; maybe just so families that can't afford to contribute won't feel bad or feel obligated. I personally liked the group gifts when we were able to do them. Usually a room parent would organize it. She typically got a gift card to a very nice restaurant or something like that with the money. She would sneak a card into the class at some point & all the kids signed it. It was optional and some people did choose to buy teacher gifts on their own. I thought it was much easier though; one less thing for me to do at a busy time of year. The teachers seemed to enjoy the gift cards rather than getting thirty $5 ornaments that said "World's Greatest Teacher". There is one thing that does bother me about the teacher gifts though. Very rarely do we ever get a Thank You note, email, anything from the teacher to acknowledge the gift. Most teachers do not open the gifts in the classroom so that children who did not bring a gift won't feel bad. There was one year that every child brought a gift so my daughter's 3rd grade teacher opened them at the party. I was helping with the party & she did thank the kids as she opened them. I was fine with that but most of the time now the kids are just piling the presents on the teacher's desk & she is opening them at a later time when they aren't there. It's not that I'm looking for praise. I just think it would be a good example for the kids/good manners if the teacher gave a "Thank You".

We never in all the years my 2 sons were in grade school gave money for teacher bday gifts. We had end of the year gifts. We didn't even recognize their bdays.

If I feel I want to give a gift to a teacher, than we will, and it will be something my kids have a hand in. I would not want to go in on some generic gift card that will mean nothing and have no special meaning from my kids.

Some can't even afford the extra $5. Maybe some don't like the teacher. Or they forget to send the money. Or they already got a gift or have a gift idea planned. Maybe they don't agree with giving gifts for whatever reason. Maybe the parent wants to give a personalized gift instead, or they don't want to contribute to a gift if they don't know what it is. What if they have multiple children with multiple teachers... that is a lot of $5 gift donations racking up. We fund raise, and are asked to donate to the school all year long. $5 here and there can be a burden on some families.

Funny story, my husband was asked to donate $15 for a birthday gift for his boss. He was laid off the next day. The person who asked for the money KNEW he was getting laid off. We just don't like giving money like that now ;)

We never had this problem when we have been asked. Usually most people participated and a few did give their own...

Maybe the next time you want to do a class wide collection, first send out an "would you like to participate in donating money for a Gift Card for the teacher's Christmas gift?"

Did you say what the gift was going to be? Maybe they wanted to know what exactly the item was going to be?

People can be so strange. Sometimes they honestly do not have the money, did not get the message, forgot to send in the money, or do not trust other people to actually follow through..

End of year and maybe holiday gifts are great, but not so much for birthdays. I've never been asked to do that; never even know when their birthdays are.

I have often wondered the same thing. I appreciate a parent organizing putting together gifts for the teacher, so no, I don't get upset. I was a room parent last year and sent out an email letting parents know I was collectiong money for the teacher's (Christmas/end of the year) gift. They could donate any amount they wished. Some donated $3 and some donated $25. If they chose to particiapte, they could, but they were not obligated, of course. I would say that half participated. On the card, I added the names of the children who participated, but not the amount they contributed. Some parents may prefer to give their own gift, so that the teacher knows what exactly they gave, and some parents, I'm sorry, may just be cheap.
BTW, my co-room parent didn't agree with just putting the names of the children who partcipated but thought I should add all the students' names to the card, even the ones who did not participate. I did not agree.
I've collected money for gifts for my daughter's teachers for the past several years, and yes, the gifts have always been monetary. No offense to anyone, but teachers get so many of the same usual gifts that I would just rather be very very practical.