High school teachers - chanuka gift

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Forum -> Chinuch, Education & Schooling

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amother

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 7:32 pm

In most communities I know elementary teachers get chanuka gifts / money and the high school teachers don’t.
I understand the issue is that there are too many teachers ( like 14 or so) but I always felt bad that hs teachers don’t get anything…

Here’s an idea:
If every girl brings in one dollar per teacher that she has ( that’s like $14 total) The girls can coordinate it in arrange it so each teacher a decent amount of money as most teachers teach more than one class so for a teacher that teaches three classes she can get a $90 gift card or gift certificate somewhere. More importantly the girls should write a note to each teacher thanking her for what she does, this would be an excellent lesson in an appreciation that our daughters can learn…

keym

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 8:27 pm

Ill be honest.
It's not just that the girls have 14 teachers.
It's that each teacher only spends a little bit of time a week with the class. A teacher who teaches twice a week sees my daughter (in a group of 32) for 80 minutes a week.
That's very little to develop a relationship, a connection or much of anything.

My Mesivta high school son has 35 boys in his class. One Rebbi from 7:45-1:15 Sunday through Friday. One Rebbi from 2:30-6:30 Sunday through Thursday. And they rotate nights from 8:15-10. That means that the boys develop this close relationship, can really write that thank you letter.

My daughter would literally write "dear Mrs Smith, thank you for teaching us computers". There's not much else to write.

For the mechaneches, and the teachers who teach 5 days a week or multiple periods, I agree.

Let the tomatoes fly.

amother

Latte

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 8:33 pm

as a hs school teacher, I think it's a thoughtful idea!!

amother

Silver

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 8:34 pm

One of the schools I taught in used to collect a certain amount of money per student (I think Purim time), and distributed to the teachers according to the number of periods taught per week. I think the G.O. coordinated it.

amother

Brunette

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 8:38 pm

Yeah. HS teacher Chanukah gifts are not done.
When I was in 9th grade it bothered me a little, and when I told my mother she said we can get something for the classroom that all the teachers will enjoy. My school was very stingy with supplying markers for our whiteboard so many teachers would come with their own. So I bought a huge pack of expo markers in many different colors and a holder to keep them in. Also a spray to clean the board with and a new whiteboard eraser. We labeled them with my classroom number so it stays in our class. The teachers really appreciated it!

amother

Ecru

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 8:38 pm

I don't think it shows appreciation at all.

If the girls are told to do it, then they are just following instructions. They don't necessarily feel appreciation. Gratitude is an innate feeling that makes an individual feel thankful to someone else, and has to come from within the person. Ordering people around to give gifts to others is not a show of appreciation.

amother

Blue

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 8:38 pm

In many schools the pta organizes this. The middle school I work in does this too

amother

Acacia

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 8:47 pm

amother OP wrote:

My school does this. I've been getting between 90 and 120 for Chanuka every year since I started teaching

amother

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 10:30 pm

amother Ecru wrote:

Really? So not doing anything- that shows appreciation? I have a sister who teaches hs and never got anything in the twenty odd years she s teaching and she teaches each class 4 times a wk so yes she really knows the girls. ( and the girls live her, it just never dawned in them because it’s just the thing to do…)
Isn’t that what chinuch is ? If we don’t show our girls then who will?

amother

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 10:31 pm

amother Acacia wrote:

My school does this. I've been getting between 90 and 120 for Chanuka every year since I started teaching

That’s so nice. I’m happy for you and happy to hear that there is a school that does this…

amother

Ecru

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 10:58 pm

amother OP wrote:

First of all, your sister didn't get "nothing." She got a paycheck for working. Anything more than that should be unexpected.
This whole chanukah gift-giving thing has become such an obligation that it isn't out of appreciation anymore.
I don"t think instructing the girls to give $1 per teacher teaches them to have appreciation. It teaches them to follow a direction. And satisifies the teacher's desire to get extra cash.
I think most of us can admit that we give chanuka gifts at this point because it's obligatory. Last year dc had a very hard time with one of his teachers. I gave a chanuka gift even though I felt zero appreciation. This year dc has wonderful teachers. But we're not in a position financially to give much. So I'm giving the small amount I can afford, but you bet I feel appreciation and will write a nice card.
Appreciation is not something you can foist on someone.
Look, by all means go ahead and get high school girls to give money to their teachers. But don't fool yourself that you're teaching then the middah of hakaras hatov. It's mostly so the teachers won't feel like they "aren't getting anything."

amother

Tue, Nov 29 2022, 11:13 pm

amother Ecru wrote:

I completely disagree, but each person is entitled to her own opinion

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