Teacher Appreciation Week Celebration
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Teacher Appreciation Week is coming very soon. This year will be celebrated from the week of May 3rd to May 7th. I feel that celebrating this week with the teachers is more important than any other year. This has been a terrible year, full of fear, frustration, insecurities, and many other emotions that the pandemic has brought us.
Many teachers have been working extremely hard trying to reach their students online or using a hybrid format, having to wear masks, which make your breathing harder and give you difficulties to see if you wear glasses, but more importantly, going the extra mile trying to reach those students that have difficulties learning without the direct contact with their teachers, that don’t have the technology to support their learning or the knowledge to use it.
How can a parent, a co-worker, or a director express his or her gratitude to those human beings that are so dedicated and full of love for their students?
Being a preschool director, I have seen how hard my teachers have worked this year. We never closed the school, but I will not lie when I say it’s been extremely difficult and scary, especially because we mainly serve direct responders of a big hospital, where hundreds of Covid-19 patients have been treated and died.
Because of this, I want to address preschool teachers and parents directly, and offer some ideas of gifts and have done in the past, and new free printables I just created, hoping that it will help you celebrate this important week, and maybe make your job a little easier.
Gift Ideas
FREE Teacher’s Planning Books
I know there are hundreds of planning books out there; nevertheless, I wanted to create two unique ones, as a gift for these special educators during the Teacher’s Appreciation Celebration. You can print them out and put the sheets in a binder or use a spiral to bind them together.
FREE Binder Covers
If you are anything like me, you will want that your binders look pretty. With this in mind, I’ve created eight really pretty and feminine binder covers with their spines. Just print out your favorite ones and use them as you wish.
Teacher’s Appreciation “Thank You” Tree
Since we are not allowing adults inside the classroom as part of the COVID-19 protocol we have put in place, we decided to make a giant “thank you” tree at our school’s lobby, and offer parents construction paper leaves where they can write a “thank you” note to their child’s teacher and place it on the tree. At the end of the week, I’m going to make a laminated collage for each teacher with her notes.
Another related idea you could use is the one I did two years ago. I made a banner that said “Our Teachers Are Awesome Because…” and put it in the front lobby. Then I made a collage with the teachers’ pictures of each classroom, laminated them, and place them under the banner. I offer the parents different colors of sticky notes for them to write little messages to their children’s teachers. I came out really nice. At the end of the week, I made printed-out sheets of paper with the title “An Awesome Teacher”, add a picture of each teacher and her messages, and then I laminated each sheet and give it to the teachers. They loved it!
To make it easier for you, I created three different FREE versions of the banner. You can find the link under the pictures. One is just blank so you can print it out in any color you want; the second version is done in pretty bright colors, and the last version is done in Spring color patterns. Just print out your favorite set in cardstock, make two little holes in each tag with a hole puncher, add a ribbon, and hang it.
Celebration Schedule
Every year I create a special activity schedule to celebrate Teacher’s Appreciation Week, which encourages the participation of the parents. This is this year’s schedule. Maybe you will find an idea you can use.
FREE Teacher’s Planner
For those teachers that prefer a simpler planner, I created one that might be useful for some of them. You just have to print as many copies of the pages as you might need or want and put them in a binder, or use a spiral to bind them together.
FREE “Thank You” Poem
Last year I created a printable for my teachers as part of the presents I got for them. I print out different ones for each of them and frame them. Then I wrapped them in pretty paper with a big bow and gave it to them. They loved the printable and those frames are still hanging in some of the classrooms or home offices.
Today, I want to bring them back as a gift to you. If your teacher is doing distance teaching and you cannot reach him or her, you can email it to your child’s teacher as a “thank you” note for his or her hard work.
The poem comes in two versions, English and Spanish, for your convenience. Unfortunately, since I only have female preschool teachers, the Spanish version is for female teachers only (I know, I’m not trying to discriminate. I promise I will translate them for male teachers too). Just click on the link to the version you want to download.
FREE Inspirational Message
The year before last I also create a printable with an inspirational message that I read somewhere. I use 19 different backgrounds, thinking that a teacher can change them every month and holiday, for a refreshing look.
This year I wanted to bring it back and give it to you. Just click on the link below and print out your favorite ones. You can either print them out on cardstock and laminate them to preserve them, but I would suggest framing them. That way you can easily change it every time you want a fresh look.
Mini Fairy Garden
This is another little gift that I have done to my teachers. One year I made these mini fairy gardens in a wine glass. Since I like to personalize my gifts, I asked each teacher which was their favorite color and I cover half of each wine glass with glitter in their favorite color. Then use the glass as the pot for my mini fairy garden. Unfortunately, it’s been a few years since I did it and I don’t have pictures, but I have a wine glass that I did the same way and I took a couple of pictures of it, just to give you an idea of what these pretty glasses look like.
The only thing left to do is to plant the little fairy garden inside. If you don’t know how to do it, you can find instructions on how to make fairy gardens HERE.
Fairy gardens are very easy to make and fairly inexpensive if you make them small. The best part is that everybody likes them, so you are not going to be wrong if you use them as a gift. These are some ideas you can use.
If you want something simpler, you give your teachers a succulent planted in a mini terracotta pot. You can paint the pot in any color you want and put a little bow with a silk ribbon on it, just like the ones below. You can find the instructions on how to make them HERE.
The final touch for any of these mini gardens is to add a little tag with a message and your child’s name, like one of these. They are FREE for you. Just click on the link below and choose your favorite one.
Ribbon Decorated Soap
After so many years in Education, I have to come up with different ideas every year. One of those years I decided to ask each of my teachers what was their bathroom color, and I made ribbon-decorated soaps for each of them, as decoration for their bathrooms, just like this one:
They can be a little pricey but I feel it’s worth it since they are different and you cannot find them anywhere. You can find the instructions on how to make them HERE.
A Final Note
To my staff and all the teachers out there, I want to tell you how much I appreciate your hard work and dedication during this past year. You have worked so hard without complaining and being terrified by this terrible virus.
We have seen how many hundreds of people had come to our hospital, and how many of them have not been able to come out alive, but yet, you continued giving your all to our little preschoolers, so full of love. I cannot be more proud of you all.
My last gift for you is a collection of FREE quotes for teachers. You make a difference every day, one child at a time. Happy Teacher’s Appreciation Week!
To parents, please take your time and show your child’s teacher your appreciation, even if it’s just with a “Thank You” note. They deserve it and sometimes we forgot that they also need to hear how much we appreciate them, exactly how they do with your children. Please give them some love.
I sincerely hope that this coming year is a different and better one and that these ideas bring a little smile to all teachers. I hope you enjoy your special week.
Be happy, safe, and creative. I wish you well.
Love,
P.S. I will love for you to tell me if you like any of these ideas or if you think I should modify them. Also, if you need something more specific for your classroom, please let me know. I would love to help in any way I can.
