christmas for teachers

merry christmas and god bless us everyone. i tried to do the proper capitalization thing, but i am so used to typing in all lower case (thanks to my #1 son who showed me how much quicker it is--thanks, derek). so this is what you get. no caps.

my english teacher for 4 years, mrs. donoho, is rolling over in her grave and has her red pen swishing as i speak.




christmas for teachers--

many of my non-teaching friends ask me what to give teachers for christmas. before i give my suggestions, i tell them what not to give:


what NOT to give teachers

#1 coffee cups. we have enough coffee cups to open a starbucks ourselves.

#2 food, especially candy. we end up taking it home and/or throwing it away.

i LOVE food. so that was a hard lesson for me.

"the lesson"
the last day of school in 1988 in tecumseh oklahoma. two 7th graders (jason helm and russell overly -- yes i will NEVER forget those two) brought chocolate rice krispy treats to their teachers. 3 of us dined on them, only to regret it the next day as they were laced with ex-lax. i now politely accept and just throw the food away, unless i am ABSOLUTELY confident of the family and student. coincidently, jason and russell were two of my favorite students. don't know what possessed them, but i am sure they had many laughs over it.

#3 ornaments unless the student's name and year is written on it.

however, one the best gift i got was in the 70's from jason garner (you wonder how i remember his name?) it was a skunk and it said, "i am just a little stinker". NOW you know how i remember him. i do have some treasured ornaments from some favorite students, however.

now for the gifts recommendations:

#1 gift cards to anywhere--book stores, teacher supply stores, movie passes, starbucks, restaurants, .... we love to shop for free.

#2 dish towels--not holiday ones. the ones we can use all year. you can never have enough dish towels.

#3 and this should have been#1. when my students ask me what i want, i tell them to sit down and write me a letter telling me what i have taught them or what they like about my class. that means more to me than any gift that can be bought.

while i am on this topic, let me say this especially to all you new teachers out there. be sure to write a thank you note to these kids, which means it is indirectly to the parents. i have had more parents and students comment about a thank you note i sent than anything else i have done. i believe if they take the time to shop and spend the $$$ on you, they are worth a thank you card and a stamp. for those of you who get 30-40 gifts, i know that is an expense. but you are teaching a lesson in gratitude and good manners. that may be one of the most important lessons you teach during this time of year.

so merry christmas everyone. this means the school year is almost half over and the taks tests are upon us in texas.