Teacher Appreciation Week is the first week of May.
Corona has canceled so many things. Birthday parties, weddings, so many special events. However, to quote our own Becky Salgado, “The parties may be canceled, but the celebrations are not!”
Teachers are a huge part of the tribe we lean on to help us raise our kids. They wipe tears, noses, scrapes, and more. They help our kids grow, while making sure they feel special, loved, and safe while they’re at school. Teachers are us while we are not there.
I have always thought it takes a very special person to be a teacher.
And just when I thought I couldn’t appreciate teachers anymore, along came COVID-19.
After turning my dining room into a classroom, trying to figure out how to help them with schoolwork without confusing them, and also trying to not let the endless questions get on my last nerve, I realized something. There was more teacher appreciation to be had!
I have two elementary school kids at home. I couldn’t imagine doing this for a class of 20!
Teachers overhauled their curriculum and techniques overnight, and they are doing an amazing job! They are teaching the kids new material and finding ways to keep them interested while staring at a cartoon-less screen.
They aren’t just dealing with school material, they are helping support our kids’ mental health as well.
“When can we go back to school?” I hear this question at least once a day. And as my eyes well up from hearing their tiny voices ask these big questions, I stop, and I watch. I watch as their teachers hold back their tears and try to remain calm as they respond, “I don’t know yet, but I miss you, and I am so grateful that we can still be together on here,” and keep going.
Our kids look to them for answers to just about everything, and they are working hard to keep this as “normal” as possible for our kids and for us as parents too. I reach out to the kids’ teachers all day long via email, asking questions about their work and how to do it. They are as patient with me as they are with my kids. They are just amazing.
This year teacher appreciation week at school is not happening, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate!
Here are some virtual gift ideas to help us show our teachers just how much we care:
E-Gift Cards
- Target, Amazon, and Walmart: For all the things (on a personal note: Target, how I love roaming those aisles!)
- Teacher resource stores: Stores like Lakeshore and Get Smart have e-gift cards available.
- Food: Food delivery services, grocery store delivery, or even restaurant e-gift cards make great gifts.
- Online retail big and small: So many brick and mortar stores have online gift cards, and so do a lot of smaller online retail businesses. Support small businesses by getting teachers a gift card from a place you love or head on over to Etsy, where most shops have e-gift cards for sale too.
- Credit Cards: All major credit card companies sell e-gift cards, and these make great gifts because they can use them for whatever they want.
- Media e-gift cards:
- Streaming services: Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple+
- Music and more: Apple (music, apps), Spotify, Pandora
- Books: Audible, iBooks, Kindle, Barnes & Noble
DIY Virtual Gifts
- Music videos: Make a video of the kids singing a song to them.
- Kid appreciation interview videos: Ask your child to answer questions like why they love their teacher, funny things their teachers say, things their teachers do that make them smile. There are some great, easy to use video editing apps out there.
- Pictures: Send teachers pictures of your child with them, pictures of your child during the school year, or maybe them holding up a drawing or card they made for them. There are tons of great photo editing apps to help you create virtual photo cards, collages, and frames.
- Cards and Crafts: Have your child make a card or some artwork for their teacher to print at home.
- Socially distant group project: If you are close to other parents in the class, you can also do these as a group, even if you aren’t in the same room. Gotta love email!
I hope these ideas help anyone who needs them! Have ideas for teacher appreciation week to add to the list? Let us know in the comments. We would love to see them!
I honestly didn’t even think about media entertainment gift cards! I think that would be so fun!
Thanks for sharing, friend ?
Glad it helped! RIght? like who wouldn’t love to have a streaming service gift card right now? lol Ur welcome friend :):)
These are great ideas! More than ever, let’s remember the amazing teachers in our lives! Thanks Rachelle!
Thanks Cierra!! Yes agreed more than ever we can’t forget our teachers 🙂
Great post, Rachelle! Teachers have been put in such a challenging position (as if teaching wasn’t already a challenge!) and should be recognized and appreciated!
Thanks Becky! Thanks for the quote inspiration too!!! Yesss agreed they should always be recognized and appreciated especially now :):)
From a teacher, these ideas are great! Thank you for sharing!!
Sharon so great to know from a teacher that these r good ideas! Thank uuu! Happy Appreciation Week to u 🙂 and thank u for what u do 🙂
Thank you!! I’ve been panicking about teacher appreciation week and I’m definitely going to suggest these ideas to our class. Love it!
Ur so welcome Ana-Sofia! Thank u! SO glad u liked them 🙂
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