2. Donate a new coffeemaker, microwave, or other gift to the teachers’ lounge. Ask parents for a small monetary donation if necessary.

3. Little things make a difference. Get a list of teacher birthdays from the school secretary and tuck birthday cards into teacher mailboxes. If it’s possible, include small gift certificates donated by nearby restaurants and retail stores.

4. Ask students to write what they love about their teacher on leaves made from green construction paper, and assemble a “Thank You” tree in a place where everyone can appreciate it.

5. Give teachers special treats like candy with personal messages of thanks. For instance, you can order M&M candy in your school colors and with a personalized message of thanks.

6. There are many online resources that allow you to personalize mugs, shirts, and other items. School apparel, water jugs, and coffee cups make wonderful gifts and promote school spirit too!

7. Talk to local merchants and get donations of gift certificates or discount coupons. Some businesses will even provide gift baskets at holidays or on teacher appreciation day.

8. Get students to create artwork or write letters about why their teachers are great. Assemble these letters and art and use them to decorate during teacher appreciation day/week.

9. Order printed tote bags with the school logo and fill them with a new planner, professional books, sweet treats, and other goodies.

10. Take care to notice times when teachers are going the extra mile to help a student, colleague or parent. Drop a small note in their mailbox to let them know you appreciate their dedication.

11. Take the time to support those who are having a hard time professionally or personally. Showing that you support and care about your teachers can be more important than any gift.

12. Above all, remember that teachers deserve to be appreciated and recognized for all that they do every day of the year, not just on special occasions. Little things make a big difference!

For more information about conflict education and caring communities, see Susan Fitzell’s book, Free The Children, Conflict Education for Strong and Peaceful Minds. Available in both print and electronic versions!

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Educators: All of us who work with youth to educate, inspire, lead, teach, counsel, and take to the next level.

Thank you, so much, for making a difference!

“Teacher appreciation makes the world of education go around.”
~ Helen Peters

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
~ William A. Ward

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”
~ Henry Adams

“A good teacher is like a candle – it consumes itself to light the way for others.”
~ Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”
~ Albert Einstein

“None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody – a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns – bent down and helped us pick up our boots.”
~ Thurgood Marshall

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”
~ Henry Adams

“I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.”
~ Lily Tomlin as “Edith Ann”

“The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called “truth.”
~ Dan Rather

“If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn’t want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher’s job.”
~ Donald D. Quinn

“In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day’s work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years.”
~ Jacques Barzun

“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.”
~ Carl Jung

http://youtu.be/-3vunWvt1nA

The post A Dozen Quotes of Appreciation For Teachers appeared first on Susan Fitzell.