Whether you are giving a present to your child’s teacher, a friend in the profession, or a teaching colleague, it can always be difficult to know what to give a teacher. You want to give something useful, but also thoughtful to the person that works so hard to mold young minds each and every day. Well, fear not! I have a few recommendations for you to ease your mind! Here are 10 gifts to give teachers that they ACTUALLY want!

1. Gift Cards

While you can’t give a teacher money, you can (and I recommend) give them gift cards. Pretty much every store under the sun has a gift card these days. Some people claim gift cards are impersonal, but if carefully selected, a gift card can actually be a very welcomed and an appreciated gift for a teacher. Here are a few of my suggestions:

• Starbucks: Teachers like coffee and even if the teacher in your life doesn’t, Starbucks has lots of other treats to enjoy.
• Target: Targets sells just about everything. They also have an awesome bargain section ($1-5) that teachers search through for instructional gems to use in class.  
• Amazon: I got an Amazon Prime account specifically for ordering things for my classroom. 
• Jo-Ann:  Jo-Ann fabrics has stationary, books, craft supplies, organizational furniture, and just about every kind of craft item. Trust me, a teacher will find something they need.

2. Books

There are a bunch of really great books out there that most teachers would find some benefit. While books can be a very personal item, here are two unique options that I’ve benefitted from that others would find useful as well! 

Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin- Manuel Miranda

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s book is absolutely delightful! It is a collection of his “Gmorning/Gnight” messages from Twitter along with Jonny Sun’s beautiful illustrations. Just as the title suggests, every page is a “little pep talk for me & you.” When reading through it, you can’t help but smile. If your teacher is a fan of Hamilton they are sure to love this. And trust me, all teachers need little pep talks every now and again, and it doesn’t hurt if they are coming from a Pulitzer, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award winning composer, lyricist, and performer.

Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World

Tim Ferris, best known for his 4-Hour Work Week, book Tribe of Mentors is a compilation of advice from some of the world’s finest minds. Meant to be a “pick what you want” kind of book, read what you think is valuable and leave the rest behind. I personally find Tim Ferris’ podcast really interesting and this book is similar in the sense that is a wealth of knowledge from the various people he’s interviewed on his podcast. He asks the people featured in this book similar questions and it is interesting to see how their responses differ and their personal approaches to the world.

3. Pens

I LOVE PENS! And when I say pens, I don’t mean your basic ballpoint. I’m talking felt tipped, multi-purpose, and comfortable when writing. Teachers write all day. Sometimes having new things to write with can really make or break it for a teacher if the day’s been rough. I know it has for me!

If you’ve never heard of or used these brands and models, I HIGHLY recommend checking them out. The teacher in your life will love them too!

• Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens (A favorite among teachers)
• Paper Mate Inkjoy Pens (The ink dries VERY fast and is gel)
• Pilot Frixion Erasable Pens (Each pen has a rubber tip and when used on the ink, the heat generated turns the ink invisible. Very cool and super useful when writing comments or grading.)
• Pilot G2 Premium Gel Roller (Comes in fine and extra fine tips and a huge variety of colors!)

4. Planners

A teacher’s day is supremely busy, but a fun planner can be an interesting way to both add organization to it, but offer a creative outlet. I have two recommendations!

• Erin Condren planners are pretty amazing and come with a ton of personalization options! The quality is superb and the brand offers a lot of other stationary items to supplement your planner. I’m a little obsessed. They can be spendy, especially if you have add-ons, but are well worth the money.
• The Living Well Planner is also great! There is the added bonus of it being a huge motivation and goal setting tool. Ruth Soukup is a blogger and has a podcast that I love listening to. She is hugely motivating and a go-getter, much like teachers. I have personally benefitted from this planner and would recommend it to anyone! (And as someone who actually recieved this planner as gift, I was HUGELY appreciative!)

5. Extra Student School Supplies

This is the gift that keeps on giving and is helpful to teachers and students alike. Most teachers I know, including myself, spend a few hundred to a thousand dollars every year buying school supplies for their own classroom. A wonderful gift can be buying a few essentials for them. This is especially helpful around December, as many students have gone through their pencils, coloring supplies, and are near the end of their notebooks. Parents sometimes buy their kiddos new supplies, but in my experience, classroom teachers often provide replacements. 

Things to consider if putting together a classroom supplies package:

• Notebook
• Pre-sharpened Pencils
• Colored Pencils
• Erasers
• Folder
• Loose Leaf Paper

6. Stationary

Stationary is SUPER useful in the classroom! I always buy a few packs of envelopes and cards for student “thank you’s” or apology notes for other teachers or students. Kids love being able to write in actual cards rather than just making one out of construction paper. Cute little sticky notes and legal pads are also fun too! There are even sites that you can personalize the stationary. One site I’ve used before is Shutterfly. There are almost always great deals and a ton of different products availible.

7. Plants

A nice plant can really spruce up a classroom. Many teachers also use plant watering as a classroom job which builds responsibility. I would strongly discourage against cut flowers. Cut flowers can often lead to allergies but also die quickly. I would recommend a succulent or orchid that is low maintenance.

8. Stickers

Stickers can be a really easy gift that teachers will use and will bring a lot of joy to their students. Stickers are also easily adaptable to the teacher to are gifting them to. For example, get music stickers for the music teacher! You can buy them just about anywhere. I buy mine off Amazon because I find that to be easiest.

Some of my favorite music stickers:

• Music Note Stickers
• Music Praise Stickers
• Music Notes with Smiley Faces

9. Classroom Books

Giving teachers books for their classroom library will really win you some brownie points! Since I teach music, here are a few music classroom books that I have asked for in the past and find useful in my music room library:

• Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers (each can be purchased for about $5-7 dollars on Amazon)
• Child’s Introduction to Ballet: The Stories, Music, and Magic of Classical Dance
• The Ultimate Guide to Music: A Fascinating Introduction to Music and the Instruments of the Orchestra

10. “Thank You” Note

Finally, sometimes the best gifts are completely free (minus the cost of a piece of paper). I guarantee you, if you write a thoughtful letter to a teacher thanking them for the job they do, it will make their year!

Sadly, teachers are often under-appreciated for the difficult job they have. Writing lesson plans, staying after school for clubs (that are often unpaid), tutoring students, meeting with parents, at-home grading…teachers don’t do these things for a pat on the back, but getting some kind of recognition is SUPER nice. The times I’ve received a kind word from parents or loved-ones outside of the profession have sometimes brought me to tears. Trust me, it’s a big deal! I often save letters from students and parents and set them aside for rough days and read them when I am down. You might even consider writing a few nice letters, that way the teacher will have a couple on reserve when they need a pick-me-up!

Final Thoughts…

While getting a teacher a gift is never something that you HAVE to do, if you are going to get one, why not get something useful? I cannot tell you how much candy I get from students around the holdidays or teacher appreciation week. And while it is very sweet, and not to sound unappreciative, I often put it in my prize box to then later give to kids. If I were to received anything on this list, I would be SUPER appreciative and the items would be well-used!