Somebody Has WAAAAY Too Much Time on Her Hands (Teacher Appreciation Week Whine)

[Crimson Wife]

Just got an email notification from the Parent-Faculty Association at my little one's school. Next week is apparently Teacher Appreciation Week. Fine by me- the teachers and support staff do generally care about the students and deserve some gratitude from students & families.

 

Then I start reading the email:

 

"Below please find the details for what we are planning for the week’s activities.  These activities will be school-wide and are the same for every classroom. 

 

Monday – Students are asked to bring in a piece of fresh fruit or a healthy snack for their teacher.  There will be a basket available to combine all the snacks. If you would not mind bringing in two items that would be very helpful.

 

Tuesday – Students are asked to bring in a flower (or two) to be added together to make a bouquet for their teacher.  There will be vases on hand in the morning to combine all the flowers to create the bouquets.  *Please make sure the flowers come without thorns and bugs.

 

Wednesday – Have your child create a special card for his/her teacher. 

 

Thursday - Please bring in a classroom supply for your teacher (notepad, sticky notes, glue sticks, pencils, white board markers, etc.).  Check with your Room Parent to see if there is a wish list from your teacher.

 

Friday - Do something nice for your teacher.  Parents are asked to volunteer, donate a book or even just verbally express appreciation to your child's teacher.  Be creative!!  Some parents can bring in coffee, offer to read to the class, organize the bookshelves; you get the idea.

 

if you have any questions, please contact Ms. Clearly I. Needarealjob at typea@bossypants.com"

 

When I was in school, parents were expected to do one or two of those things MAX. A card and possibly also flowers or a food item. Not ALL of them.

 

Am I the one who is whackadoodle or the organizer?

[Tsuga]

It's a national thing and must have come from some template, because I have a VERY similar letter from two different schools (both following that formula but slightly different) and moreover, it wasn't this involved last year.

 

I'm not one to tell anybody to get a real job given that with my real job I am spending all of ZERO days in the classroom (I do volunteer in other ways). I'm just happy someone's doing this stuff. But yes it's a PITB.

 

We'll do it all on one day, Sunday, and have them ready in the fridge.

 

The only reason I'm not just giving him a gift card for Amazon, which he'd probably prefer, is that I want my daughter to participate in the love-fest.

 

(Oh, and incidentally, here is the sad thing... both the class moms work outside the home and have real jobs, they are just helpful.)

[Arcadia]

I had very similar letters from the PTA since my oldest entered kindergarten in 2009.   At the most the days get switch around.  The do something nice was the easiest, my kid's class just ask for an optional donation of $5 from each child's parent to buy a Target gift card.

[Guest]

....

 

Surely they're kidding. Or Marney joined the PTA.

[Tanaqui]

My goodness. That's... wow.

 

A piece of fresh fruit for the teacher. So at the end of the day, what, Ms. Krabappel  is gonna bring home a 30 piece fruit salad? Perhaps as many as 60 pieces if every student brings two fruits?

 

A flower for the teacher. Nice thought, nice thought... sure hope the teachers don't have allergies and don't mind bouquets made with no rhyme or reason!

 

Cards and supplies, okay, no problem there. Supplies certainly are useful, and children certainly don't mind doing extra homework (which is what the card amounts to).

 

And... mandatory optional volunteers!  If your school is so wealthy that most children have one parent with loads of free time, why do they have to pass the hat to get supplies?

 

[Arcadia]

 

 

A piece of fresh fruit for the teacher. So at the end of the day, what, Ms. Krabappel  is gonna bring home a 30 piece fruit salad? Perhaps as many as 60 pieces if every student brings two fruits?

 

Most children brought an apple each for the teacher. So chances of 30 apples are high.  For 4th grade onwards, there are dedicated math and science teachers so kids might end up bringing 3 apples that day.  The music and gym teachers would probably get the most fruits as they have classes from K to 8th.

My kids public school has a teacher appreciation week lunch for the teachers at the staff lounge.  That's probably where the "excess" fruits went.

[Tanaqui]

So... many... apples....

[SKL]

LOL, we haven't had anything quite that involved.  ;)  I seem to recall something half that elaborate for the 1st grade teacher.  I did not do all of it.  I just let my kids make a card.  Since I wasn't real happy with that teacher, I was a little afraid of what they would write, but they each managed to come up with something to thank her for.  ;)

 

The problem I have is that we never get enough advance warning for extra stuff they want us to do.  I literally can't fit an extra shopping trip into my schedule most days.  Especially in a world where you have to drag your kids into the store for every 1 minute purchase (it's never 1 minute with kids along).

[lmrich]

I do not think it is over the top at all. You are maybe going to spend $5, and you can get it all done the Sunday before. You were not asked to make anything but a card. I think you got  off easy compared to what I see with breakfast every morning and lunch catered daily and a gift card tree. 

[Plink]

I have no problem with any of those ideas, but the entire letter makes me think, "seriously?"  Stating that they expect certain gifts to be brought on certain days turns what could be very nice gift-giving into paying mandatory tribute to a leader.  VERY different.

[Serenade]

 

 

When I was in school, parents were expected to do one or two of those things MAX. A card and possibly also flowers or a food item. Not ALL of them.

 

 

 

 

Ha!  When I was in school, they didn't do this at all.   Maybe about 20% of the class brought a small gift on the last day of school, but it was never something expected or organized.  Some kids just did it, and other did not, and all was good. 

[justasque]

It's whackadoodle.  

That's way too much fruit all at once.  That's way too much appreciation all at once.  Why not spread it out over the course of the whole year?  Assign each kid a particular week for each item.  She could get a piece of fruit or two every week - much more likely to actually get eaten.  She could get a few flowers every week - a small vase on her desk could then have fresh flowers all year long, and each child could have a week to appreciate seeing their gift in the classroom each day.  She could have volunteers on an ongoing basis, rather than having to come up with things for a ton of parents to do all at once, and handle all the communication about it, right at the super-busy end of the year.  And don't get me started on supplies, but that too could benefit from an ongoing wish list.  
So, yeah, whackadoodle.

[friscomom]

We have had a similar letter this year, although the room parent has specified that we do not need to do all the things suggested. She has also asked for a contribution towards a gift card. Since I work full time and am not able to volunteer in the classroom as much as I would have wished, I am not complaining!

[MBM]

Yes, all of my kids' schools did elaborate teacher appreciation days but not the fruit thing. I wouldn't do the fruit because some teachers might be particular and if they wind up with bushels of fruit they don't like, then they'll feel compelled to find someone to eat it and that will only stress them more. If I had to do it, though, I would have my kid bring in a very large watermelon. Just to be different. :D

 

I was the perreniel room mom and to show my appreciation, I planned and ran all of the school parties, went on numerous field trips, oversaw library hour so the teacher could get a break, worked all the special lunches, watched the class at recess, graded and filed papers and helped teach phonics and math individually to kids. I had the time and enjoyed helping plus I got to really know the other kids and see how mine behaved when I was not around -- which was eye-opening at times.

 

What I would do is have the kids think about what they appreciate about their teacher, have them write it down on a card, attach a casual group photo and give that from the kids. The teachers I knew liked having a (not-huge) memento to look back upon. For parents I'd suggest donating a bit of money to give to the teacher.

[Little Nyssa]

It's way over the top.

[mmpmelmack]

please, please please take a very large watermelon, with pictures, please pretty please!  and yes its over the top, I like the idea of a few doing it each week of the year though

[mathnerd]

When my DS was in public school K, Teacher Appreciation Week was equally worse: On Day 1, bring a treat for the teacher meant any baked goods (it looked like the local Safeway's bakery department dumped everything inside the classroom). Then, the next day the PTA stepped in to do yard duty, pick up, drop offs, lunch monitoring etc (to give teachers a break) and they ordered a fancy meal from a local restaurant and served it at the break room for the teachers (decorated tables, fancy place settings) and they also ordered morning snack and afternoon snack from a fancy bakery, the next day was a "handmade gift" day for the teachers - kids brought in a homemade gift, the next day was the "bring a flower" day when they also gave that Target gift card etc. I felt that it was way too much while I shut up and did the tasks assigned to me. Ours is a high achieving district with an aggressive PTA, so it made sense for them to organize so much. (we are not in that school anymore, but, I heard from neighbors that it is more fancy these days).

[Library Momma]

I've never heard of this - They didn't do it when I was in school and they don't do it now in my dc's schools.  Perhaps it's regional?  Some kids bring in holiday and/or end of year gifts for their teachers but that's about it.

[Crimson Wife]

It isn't regional because the elementary school in the same district (about 10 minutes away from the current school) where DD2 did her pre-k didn't have such an elaborate list. I think I brought in a box of Noah's bagels and gave the head teacher a card.

 

This just seems like a "on Wednesday, we wear pink" thing on the part of the lady at the PFA.

[EmseB]

My son's private school did this the two years we attended.  Plus they put on a brunch for the teachers on the Friday a.m. and had parents come in to sub (it was a very small school, so not a huge amount of people).  One of the days they asked the kids to bring in an acrostic using their teacher's name.  My K'ers teacher's last name had 9 letters.  Thankfully,  in 1st grade his teacher's last name was only 3 letters long.  :D

 

(NOT to say I minded the appreciation shown, I am just very absent minded and it's so easy for me to forget this kind of stuff).

 

HEY!  Maybe I will tell DH next week is teacher appreciation week and wait for my breakfast in bed, etc.

[Tsuga]

I have no problem with any of those ideas, but the entire letter makes me think, "seriously?"  Stating that they expect certain gifts to be brought on certain days turns what could be very nice gift-giving into paying mandatory tribute to a leader.  VERY different.

 

I think it is to avoid unequal gifts from children that could be perceived as currying favor.

 

The week-long thing gets me.

 

I swear they googled this somewhere and all got the idea...

[Ellie]

....

 

Surely they're kidding. Or Marney joined the PTA.

 

:smilielol5:

[elmerRex]

 

Thursday - Please bring in a classroom supply for your teacher (notepad, sticky notes, glue sticks, pencils, white board markers, etc.).  Check with your Room Parent to see if there is a wish list from your teacher.

 

At the end of the year, why is the teacher needing an infusion of supplies? Shouldn't this be in the middle of the school year? :confused:

 

[chiguirre]

I swear they googled this somewhere and all got the idea...

I'm sure they googled because our local elementary had that same list 5 years ago. I just went with flowers for the SLP even though it was the wrong day. Geezle wasn't enrolled and I took the easy way out.

[Arcadia]

At the end of the year, why is the teacher needing an infusion of supplies? Shouldn't this be in the middle of the school year? :confused:

 

The teachers usually run out of white board markers and reams of paper year round. Kleenex and Clorox/Lysol wipes run out too.

[kiwik]

Just do one thing. It is bonkers. The teacher is paid to do a job they don't need masses of fruit in exchange.

[Crimson Wife]

At the end of the year, why is the teacher needing an infusion of supplies? Shouldn't this be in the middle of the school year? :confused:

 

 

Summer school?

 

We were assessed a (technically optional but strongly guilted into) fee at the beginning of the year by the PFA for school supplies. That one I did pay unlike some of the other ones like the "spirit wear" order.

[SeaConquest]

My son's French-ministry approved immersion preschool did this. I thought it was a freaky French thing. Apparently, it's an international trend, no doubt spurred by Pinterest.

[StephF]

We received basically the same letter from my daughter's public school.

 

[Amira]

I'm going to be grateful that our school cancels everything on Teacher's Day (May 15th here) and that I don't have the app on my phone where all the mothers will be planning in Spanish something rather expensive to give ds's teacher.  If someone wants to tell me when and where to donate, I'll happily do that. 

 

But the fruit thing would be way better here. Apples aren't cheap so we would send mamey, mango, papaya, guanabana, dragonfruit, watermelon, guava, prickly pear, limes, or so many other things. That would be an amazing fruit salad.  

[happypamama]

As long as the teachers don't have allergies, I actually think the flower thing is sweet! All the kids can have fun picking a flower that they like, whether it's a dandelion or a fancy rose. My little ones don't know the difference and think that all flowers are pretty. Even my almost two year old brings me little wildflower weedy things clutched proudly in his chubby baby fist, beaming when I thank him. A bouquet made from an assortment of children sounds lovely to me -- something special and beautiful about each one!

 

(And no calories, and a natural limited shelf life.)

[Mabelen]

Both the school where I work and the school my dd attends have something like this going on. It just seems to be the thing to do.

[TKDmom]

Ick, I think it's over the top (especially all that fruit!). I just got an email from dd5's classroom mom, letting us know that it was teacher appreciation week, with ideas for things that her teacher would enjoy. She encouraged us to bring something, sometime during the week, so that the teacher gifts would be spread out all week long.

 

For teacher's birthday last month, classroom mom did ask us to bring in one flower and a homemade card, if possible. I thought it was sweet, especially for a kindergarten teacher.

[KSinNS]

Okay, I really enjoyed this thread! I'm just imagining what's going on at our kids' old school this week. They could turn an elf on a shelf into a competitive sport! Anyway, happy teacher appreciation week, all! 

[Nart]

Somebody has WAY too much time at my kids' school too.  The teacher appreciation week was daily meals, daily coffee, collecting money, bringing in gifts, and presenting the gift. The email pasted below is an email I received when my son was in kindergarten (I just edited out the names). Every time someone signed up for something they hit "reply all" so everyone could see. It ended up being at least 20 emails. I now just laugh at some of the emails. I got one last year that had specific directions when sending in fruit for a project. My son was assigned 

"one banana (please try not to squish)".  

 

 

Room K-22 Parents:

Teacher Appreciation Week (May 13 - May 17) is fast approaching...

XXXX (XXXX mom) is collecting funds for a gift card that the children can present to Ms. [Kinder teacher] at the end of the week. If you'd like to participate, please place a sealed envelope with your contribution in [kid's name]'s cubby by tomorrow (Fri. May 10th).  [Room mom] has also suggested that each child draw a picture for Ms. Kinder teacher so these can be put in a binder and presented along with gift card. The [room mom's] family is happy to provide a binder and 23 sheet protectors (one for each masterpiece) for this project. 

Another thing that would make kinder teacher very happy during the week is daily lunch and coffee/snack, so we're seeking volunteers who would like to help with this.

1) Daily Lunch -- Ms. kinder teacher likes Mexican food, the "Ring of Fire" roll from I LOVE SUSHI, the tuna salad sandwich from Royal Bakery and other fresh sushi/lobster/fish.

We need four volunteers to bring lunch each day, Mon. 5/13 - Thurs. 5/16. Please REPLY ALL so we know which days are covered.

- Mon. 5/13:
- Tues. 5/14:
- Weds. 5/15:
- Thurs. 5/16:
- Fri. 5/17: Special PTO Luncheon for teachers


2) Coffee "Breaks" (I will find out if Ms. kinder teacher has a favorite coffee drink and/or morning snack)

We need five volunteers to bring coffee and/or snack each day. I will find out ideal time(s) to do this since we have an afternoon class and helps out in other areas during part of the morning. Please REPLY ALL so we know which days are covered.

- Mon. 5/13:
- Tues. 5/14:
- Weds. 5/15:
- Thurs. 5/16:
- Fri. 5/17: 


3) Random acts of kindness from the children throughout the week
- Handmade cards & notes
- Ms. kinder teachers's favorite colors are turquoise, orange & brown
- Ms. kinder teacher's hobby is gardening; she also enjoys cheese, crackers & wine ;)
- Ms. kinder teacher collects shells and rocks (geodes, gem stones & heart-shaped)


4) 30 mins of class time set aside on 5/17 to honor Ms. kinder teacher (children present with class gift)*
*Those of you who volunteer on Fridays know best if this is feasible. Another possibility is towards the end of class on 5/16.


Teacher Appreciation Week is the perfect time to say "Thank You" to Ms. kinder teacher for educating, encouraging and supporting our children throughout Kindergarten. Thank you in advance for helping to make the week special for her!

 

[RoundAbout]

Ridiculous.

At the school my son attended this year they never asked parents directly for anything.  They did an online sign up website for parents who wanted to contribute to teacher appreciation events or class parties (2 slots for beverages, 2 for soup, etc.) and never had a hard time getting people to sign up.  It was all done through a Facebook group and not emailed directly to parents.   At Christmas someone left an envelope in the office to collect money to pool for one big Amazon gift card for the teacher and left a card that students could sign.  No one ever suggested drawings, hand written notes, or purchasing something particular.  That is a huge hassle IMHO to run around and collect flowers, school, supplies, etc.  Totally unreasonable.  The school staff filled out a"favorites" form when they started and the forms were collected into a binder and put in the office for anyone to consult if they wanted to buy a more personal gift but that was it. 

[Tsuga]

Just do one thing. It is bonkers. The teacher is paid to do a job they don't need masses of fruit in exchange.

 

It's fruit precisely because it's not payment. It's just a show of appreciation because they aren't paid enough. That's why they chose the things they did.

 

Which is why I'd much rather go for the gift card. Every teacher I know much prefers the gift card. My friends use theirs to do Christmas shopping. I am happy to help with that.

[Mrs. Tharp]

Yes, all of my kids' schools did elaborate teacher appreciation days but not the fruit thing. I wouldn't do the fruit because some teachers might be particular and if they wind up with bushels of fruit they don't like, then they'll feel compelled to find someone to eat it and that will only stress them more. If I had to do it, though, I would have my kid bring in a very large watermelon. Just to be different. :D

 

I was the perreniel room mom and to show my appreciation, I planned and ran all of the school parties, went on numerous field trips, oversaw library hour so the teacher could get a break, worked all the special lunches, watched the class at recess, graded and filed papers and helped teach phonics and math individually to kids. I had the time and enjoyed helping plus I got to really know the other kids and see how mine behaved when I was not around -- which was eye-opening at times.

 

What I would do is have the kids think about what they appreciate about their teacher, have them write it down on a card, attach a casual group photo and give that from the kids. The teachers I knew liked having a (not-huge) memento to look back upon. For parents I'd suggest donating a bit of money to give to the teacher.

 

This. I don't mind showing appreciation, but doing all that stuff each day is such a dog and pony show, not to mention a pita for parents and possibly for the teacher as well.

[kiwik]

It's fruit precisely because it's not payment. It's just a show of appreciation because they aren't paid enough. That's why they chose the things they did.

 

Which is why I'd much rather go for the gift card. Every teacher I know much prefers the gift card. My friends use theirs to do Christmas shopping. I am happy to help with that.

I don't mind contributing to a gift card once a year. I don't know what teachers get paid in the US but I do know that the ones in NZ start at several times my pay. I can easily see in a poor school the teacher being by far the best paid person.

[Crimson Wife]

When I dropped off DD2 this morning, the teacher had received a ton of apples, a veggie & dip platter, and my gift of dried cherry-berry mix. I decided to give her the dried fruit mix because she could save it for later or donate it to the district's emergency food pantry if she didn't care for it.

[kiwik]

When I dropped off DD2 this morning, the teacher had received a ton of apples, a veggie & dip platter, and my gift of dried cherry-berry mix. I decided to give her the dried fruit mix because she could save it for later or donate it to the district's emergency food pantry if she didn't care for it.

good thinking

[Dmmetler]

FWIW, as a music teacher, I tended to get completely left out of stuff like this unless a classroom teacher had too much stuff and was trying to get rid of it. In fact, in my school it was common for classroom teachers to get to leave early one day-and for support teachers to get stuck babysitting ALL the kids (I say babysitting because there's no way 6 adults can teach anything to 800 Kids age K-6th grade. We could barely manage crowd control for showing a movie in the gym). One year the principal even completely forgot me when he gave out the tiny token gift for each teacher.

 

I definitely don't miss teacher appreciation week!

 

 

[Crimson Wife]

When I went to pick DD2 up after kindergarten I saw that somebody had given the teacher a whole pineapple, LOL!

 

I don't think the PFA lady thought this one through before sending out the list...

[cintinative]

We got this exact list three years ago when my DS was in K.

[RoundAbout]

Lol on the pineapple!

 

I just got the update from my son's old school about what they were doing for Teacher Appreciation week.  It included things like  a pizza lunch organized by the PTA (pizzas donated by a local pizza place), a "Good Manners Day" where children were urged to be on their best behavior, and a class gift presented on Friday.  Handwritten notes from kids were encouraged but not required.  That seemed reasonable.  I'm fine with things being over-the-top for teacher appreciation  as long as it isn't too much trouble for individual parents.  If a few parents want to just collect funds and knock themselves out fine, but making everyone run around for fruit and flowers is ridiculous.  

[SKL]

My kids' school didn't send home a note this year, but they posted on facebook yesterday.

 

I was planning to get the teacher a gift card around year-end.  Will I look like a jerk if I don't do anything this week?  Wondering why the room moms are being so quiet (or was there a letter I didn't get?).

[Arcadia]

 

 

I have lots of teachers in my family and they actually are over all the dinky gifts etc by the third year

 

My dad gets lots of cups and red pens every year when he was working.  We didn't need to buy any and I get first pick on the cups he brought home :)

[Justified]

Um we must have the same teacher...?? We got a very similar thing and I was thinking it was too much but I guess it's the new norm. A flower, soda, candy, homemade card and oh yay a gift card to one of her numerous favorite places etc. each to be brought in on a different day. The letter was worded the same. Wow, I feel like schools are becoming standardize in so many ways that it's creeping me out. Well, I think the gift cards is a bit much. A free redbox movie code will suffice.

[MBM]

(My aunt bemoans the fact that no-one's allowed to give them hard liquor! :))

 

Oh, I believe liquor was given at one of my kids' schools. ;)

 

I always wanted to hire a masseuse to come in for a day to give the teachers short massages. An ad agency where I worked hired a masseuse once a week to work on personnel. Very nice perk!

[LibraryLover]

That seems very inexpensive and simple. And doesn't sound mandatory what with the "if you wouldn't mind..." caveat. I wouldn't have a problem with it.

 

Monday- Apple or clementine

Tuesday- Dandelion or what-not (We actually have roses and calla lilies etc blooming in our yard, but if we only had dandelions, I'd help my child pick a bouquet of them and tie with a ribbon.) Pussy willow cutting would be nice for a classroom, too.

Wednesday- Little scribbled card  Maybe a Crayola watercolor one , since it's more fun and less intense than writing something.

Thursday- Glue stick

Friday- Protein or something bar. Maybe a box of tea bags to keep at school.

 

If I got a basket of fruit, my kids would love it. lol  No problem with consuming. I had no idea TA Week was a designated week. My kids have had some wonderful teachers, so I'd enjoy doing something simple like this.