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Friday, June 4, 2010

How to Thank a Teacher ?

Good Teachers are Stellar--

Every year at this time, I try to spy on the teachers that my kids have and I try to figure out something that is personal and thoughtful -- I try to find out what I could give, to say Thank you for a job well done. I never feel like my gift is what I was looking for.
This year I wanted to say thank you to a bunch of people-- so I spent some time on-line looking for something thoughtful but in my budget.

I found a site that suggested instead of buying something, a gift card or whatever, -- that I instead write a letter of thanks. Imagine that???
A Letter of Thanks
I could put all the things on paper that I have been thinking--
I would share just WHY these teachers have made a difference in my kids' lives.
I just finished writing four letters--:) I have to tell you it was a bit of work to say what I wanted with lovely descriptive words and yet sound professional. I knew I was on the right track, when I read the letter out loud and I had tears in my eyes.

In these times of little or no funding, these letters might not give these great teachers a raise-- but they were sure fun to write.

I am sending all the letters to the principal with the request that a copy of them goes in the teachers' personnel file.
And since my experiences this year with the Principal were lovely I also sent a letter to her!

I talked about their, dedication to detail, their ability to multi-task,the skill they have shown in a strong moral compass. I mentioned how their sense of humor, structure and willingness to see the positive was stellar. I spoke about how our SPED teacher used interpersonal skills and grace to be diplomatic in solving an issue. I mentioned that Shane has a much stronger self view, because of his lessons with this teacher. I complemented the teachers' for being consistently accommodating in changing things in their room just to fit Shane's needs.

How do you thank the teachers and professionals in your childs' life?

2 comments:

Alysia said...

What a great idea! Our state (Massachusetts) has really strict ethics laws for state employees on gifts, and our teachers are considered state employees, so it's difficult to give a monetary gift under these restrictions (plus expensive - head teacher, two aides in the inclusion classroom, two ABA techs, his school OT...) I love the idea of a longer thank you note copied to the administration for their file...that will have a more lasting impact than a $10 Target gift card! (in fact my next blog scheduled to post is me thanking his teacher :-)
Alysia
http://trydefyinggravity.wordpress.com/

Alysia said...

Just to follow up - I took your advice, wrote my personalized letters (all 8 of them: one head teacher, two classroom aides, two ABA techs, one OT and one specialized teacher and then my older son's teacher too!)and sent copies to the superintendent's office, the preschool director, and the principal of the elementary school). The response from his teachers today was unreal - they were SO appreciative. They ALL stopped to thank me for thanking them. What a great idea you had. THANK YOU!!pl