High School Teacher thank you gifts...

[speechteachri]

Hi everyone. I have a couple of questions. This is my daughter's first year in HS, and she has had a couple of teachers that she has really loved and learned a lot from and hopes to have again in the future. She has also had one that has been absolutely terrible, and really only taught her to hate science.

So here's my dilemma: I would like to do something to thank the teachers that have been really great. Something small like a thank you card and a Dunkin Donuts gift card or something. I am a teacher myself, and I know that it is unusual for MS and HS teachers to receive thank you gifts, but I feel like I really want to encourage them and let them know they have made a difference in dd's life.

Anyway here are my 2 questions:

1. Do you think it is weird to send thank you's to HS teachers?

2. Would it be a terrible think to send thank you's to a few really great and influential teachers, and not send something to the rest...especially the one that has been so terrible.

Has anyone dealt with this? What did or would you do?

[SunshineGirl]

My opinion is based upon nothing at all but....

1) I think it is incredibly nice to send that thank you notes. I remember writing them for some of my favorite teachers when I was in high school and even college and I could tell by how surprised they were to get them that they meant something.

2) I wouldn't take anything for the teacher that was not up to par unless you thought that there might be some kind of retaliation later (like DD getting the same teacher and the teacher feeling snubbed and remembering it).

[dwkay8]

I'm not a parent, but I'm trying to think of comparable situations when I was in high school. Maybe some of her teachers give out class evaluation sheets at the end of the year? That might be a good time for her to write something. In college I used those times to really praise my best professors.

I don't see anything at all wrong with a note of appreciation. If your daughter wrote them, I think that would be preferable. But if she isn't comfortable with that, you putting it into words is better than nothing.

As far as the other teacher(s), the only way for them to take offense is to know that all her favorite teachers received something. I know teachers talk about students, but enough for one to know another received a thank you? I don't know.