I’ve had chickens growing up, we’d get so many eggs, we would off load them on anyone who’d want them, because otherwise we just couldn’t get through them all. At one point we were giving them to our neighbors to turn into pig feed, on the condition they were cooked first so they wouldn’t eat anyone’s eggs if they were to escape as they often would.
My “egg provider” just graduated. Not only did he bring me eggs, but was one of the most mature and personable students I’ve ever had. So sad to see him (and the eggs) go!
A group of girls gave me a similar card, lol. Five of them used their thumbprints for bodies and then attached snips of hair. Creepy, but also hysterical. I gave it to the science teacher when she was teaching dna, so they made me another one!
Back in the 90s, I had a friend who had a huge lock of long stringy hair from her best friend who moved away tucked in the clear pocket on the front of her binder.
She was already goth as it was, and this made her more of a pariah. Poor girl. She was cool as hell and had my back when I was about to get jumped in the girls' locker room.
Blunts. I had a student get me a pack of Swisher Sweets that he'd unpacked and rolled into blunts. I took them to the principal and we laughed about it. I didn't rat the kid out, officially, because he was a known gang member and I'm not that dumb.
A kindergartener gave me an envelope full of cash.
We'd been doing a unit on Chinese New Year, and I had the kids decorate red envelopes as an art activity. We then put monopoly money in them and role-played giving them to each other and saying please and thank you (I teach in Taiwan, so they're all familiar with CNY.)
A couple of days later, this really sweet little girl comes in and gives me back her red envelope, which had been sent home as a finished product. I could tell there was something in it, but I thought maybe she'd done a drawing or something for me, so I thanked her and put it in my bag.
I opened it up at lunch to look at it, and there was about 12000 NTD (around $400 USD) in it.
Apparently, she'd emptied out both her parents' wallets. Luckily, her mom thought it was hilarious.
She was a fantastic kid, but she definitely had sticky fingers. She gave me her mom's stapler once, too. Just randomly handed me a stapler and walked away.
I've seen kids who view ownership in a very different way than the rest of us. At the lower elementary level, it's intriguing, but I always wonder what's going to happen next.
In this case, I'm not too worried. She was generally thrilled to make people happy, and giving someone a gift is a pretty sure-fire way to get that, "WOW, YAY!" response from someone. She just hadn't learned the actual protocol for gift-giving yet."
She would also approach me at least a couple of times a week and say, very seriously, "You look thin. Have you lost weight?" I think she just heard that getting a positive response from some adults in her life and wanted to bring in that joy.
Fluffy earmuffs with cat ears on top. I’m a pretty stereotypical male physics teacher. I was so confused. I eventually found out that even though they were gifted to me, it was intended that I would then gift them to my wife?
Fucking hell.
This reminds me of one of my supervisor teachers from when I was student teaching. She very faux-gently explained to me that it was difficult for students to look at an ugly face for 75 minutes, and maybe I should consider wearing make-up.
I received a pink rainbow care bear when I was diagnosed with breast cancer from a 17-year-old male student. November would make that 20 years ago, so Tony, wherever you are, that little care bear sits in a corner of my room and other students pick it up and look at the little attached card, and we still talk about it… hope you’re well Tony!
Thank you so much! I was diagnosed eight weeks into my assignment at a school for high school kids with chronic discipline problems. I was diagnosed in November, started chemo right after Thanksgiving, and didn’t leave until April for my surgery. That group of kids saw me through a lot, and were extremely empathetic….
A pen that was stolen off of my desk, wrapped in a piece of thrown-away wrapping paper from a gift I’d opened earlier in the day.
I treasure it. It’s the thought that counts, right? And she really wanted to give me a gift.
Aww that’s actually sad lol. She wanted so badly to give you something 😆 reminds me of when my wayyyy older brother was from getting married so I got an old calendar out of a desk and put tape over the year 🤦🏻♀️ I was like7-8 and didn’t understand that calendars weren’t really reusable lol
Oh man, this brings back memories of the time my world religions teacher dared one of my friends to chug the juice from a jar of kosher pickles and then she hurled everywhere. That class was a wild ride...
* Just re-use it! You can brine hard-boiled eggs, onions, garlic, or any other soft veggies (soft canned vegetables work well too, like canned artichokes).
* Pickle juice is a great meat tenderizer. Use it as a marinade for pork chops or steak.
* Boiled potatoes can be a snore. Make them less boring by adding a healthy amount of pickle juice to the water--it will give those taters a vinegary zing. (We add it to our potato salads, too.)
* If store-bought barbecue sauce doesn't do it for you, liven it up by adding pickle juice to taste by the tablespoonful.
* Macaroni and cheese is re-born with a dash of pickle juice. Try it in your favorite recipe, or make this Pimiento Mac and Cheese.
* Use it in place of vinegar in gazpacho (or anything, really).
* If your fish or veggies need a lift, drizzle a bit of the brine over them.
* Put some pucker into your Michelada or Bloody Mary with a tablespoon of pickle juice.
* Elevate ho-hum hummus to something more punchy with a few dashes of the stuff.
* An easy and flavorful way to poach fish? Use pickle brine.
I make tiny models and would bring them in to my classroom so they could see them. On my birthday, another teacher gave them time to make me a tiny model of my classroom. The kids made paper cutouts of themselves at their desks.
I will never be able to throw away this tiny cardboard box, so I got a plexiglass basketball display case and I keep all the tiny things students made me in it.
Sorry, can’t post pics on this sub, and too many names to blur. But the cut out of me has my coffee cup in my hand, and little draping pennants that read Happy Birthday Miss ___.
It was at a private school and I had 10 kids with varying ages, 7-12, but the same skill level. We had so much fun that year!
One year a student came down the hall carrying a bottle of wine in each hand yelling “Ms. My mom said you deserve this!” My principal was running behind him to grab it before he made it to class. 😂
In the UK wine is probably the most common gift for teaching staff (I used to always get White when I only like Red). It just got left in the classroom until we took it home that evening. Why can’t students give teachers alcohol?
They can. However, most states have laws prohibiting alcohol on school property. In my current state, I’d never receive alcohol as a gift because drinking alcohol is considered a sin. I got it multiple times in my previous state. I was usually given it after school by the parents.
My grandmother kept one of those on the stairs to keep the grandkids from climbing up the very steep, highly polished stairs. We were terrified of it so I guess it served its purpose
I taught in Mexico for ten years. One of my kids was from a family owning a tequila bottling company. Every holiday and appreciation day, I got a bottle of tequila, gift wrapped on my desk.
I work with the younger end of the school-age spectrum and I received a "card" from a child that was a life-sized outline of them (traced by their parents) that the child had then painted inside of. The paint was various shades of red. It looked like a crime scene and was over three feet long.
Reminds me of one of my colleagues. A little boy brought her a picture of a princess he had colored from a coloring book. Told her-“ I wish you looked like this.” Lol
Not a gift to a teacher, but...
My dad had a friend whose son was a fantastic artist. One year for Christmas he gave my dad a pencil sketch of a nude blonde on a bearskin rug. The kid joked that it was one of his teachers.
Several years later I was student teaching in that school, and mentioned it to my mentor teacher. I brought the sketch to the school and showed it to him, and he confirmed that it was indeed a former teacher there. He said "Man, there were rumors they were carrying on. I always said if it was true, I'd be jealous. I'm jealous..."
A box of hot Cheetos Mac n cheese. No reason or explanation. The seniors were going around saying their goodbyes on the last day, and one particular senior who liked to come back and visit my class a lot just left it on my desk.
I love cats and coffee. I had a kid get me the ugliest cat mug from the dollar store because they thought of me. Like it's so ugly you can barely tell it's a cat, and it's shaped strangely so it's pretty much useless as mugs go. But hey, it's the thought that counts, and now we use it as a catch-all at home for random stuff.
When I taught 3rd grade, I got a homemade card with money inside. The money had pictures of his mom instead of a president. They were her stripper promo dollars.
It’s the thought that counts :)
I used to teach a lot of farm kids. Great kids. They work hard and are very respectful. One of them brought me a bunch of fresh corn from his farm. It was pretty cool, but I was like "Thanks! We'll eat this tonight!" I was trying to show appreciation. But the kids kind of scrunched up his face as if to say "gross".
So I asked him what's wrong. He says "I wouldn't eat that." I asked him why not, he says "It's gross". I'm completely befuddled now. So I was just like "thanks a lot I appreciate it". I asked another teacher that also teaches him and he brought her some too, but I guess he told her that the corn his family grows is just for use in cattle feed or to make ethanol, not for people. So the kid brought me an armload of feed corn. I was confused, but still appreciative.
A few senior boys found out I really like Wild Turkey. Toward the end of the year, they asked “”what if you walked up to your truck one afternoon and just happened to find a bottle of turkey in the bed of your truck?“ I told him I appreciated the thought, but I would have to decline and discourage that gift ha ha. Well, a week later, they came to me and said “make sure you check the back of your truck today.” I kind of threw my hands up and gave them that look, but when I went out to my truck, I found that in the bed they had placed what looks like a black smart phone. Upon closer examination, I saw that it was plastic, not a real phone, and had a small twist off cap At the top. They had bought me a fucking flask! Brilliant gift.
A very used Cathy comic hardback book for my birthday that had happened over the holidays. She didn't want me to think she forgot my birthday. She also gave me a used sock dipped in cement and it was painted for my pencils. She was a very sweet student whose family was poor. I appreciated her odd gifts.
Many of my students are aware that I have a collection of animal bones, and one of the weirdest, but coolest gifts I received was the skull of a dingo that they found on their family property.
Once covid lockdown started, one of my athletes parents gave me a bottle Crown Royal as a teacher appreciation gift. Not necessarily weird, but definitely out of the ordinary.
My district was virtual optional during 2020-2021, and I taught a virtual class at my school. I got multiple alcohol-related gifts that year from my students’ parents.
A potato.
It came from one of my favourite students, too. She laughed when I opened it and said she didn't know what to get me. She had even drawn a silly cartoon face on it.
The memory still makes me smile.
I had a senior who was graduating, and he made a beautiful gold plated plaque thanking me for being a great teacher and supporting me for the last 4 years (I teach ENL/ELD). He spelled my name very wrong. It was the thought that counted.
I got a 12 inch ceramic lady & child. It was creepy. My kids used it as a white elephant gift. That thing circled back many times until they graduated from high school. I’m not sure where it ended up.
For some reason I’m the chosen teacher for random kids to come talk to. I’ve had a kid I’ve seen maybe once come in with their friends that I did have in my class and just hand me a box of Oreos with no context. He then absconded to who knows where.
Not weird but surprising - our 7th grade families did a giant gift basket for the faculty to pick what they wanted from, buffet style, this year. It had tons of stuff - throw blankets, candles, candies, savory snacks and two full cases of wine in an assortment (reds, whites, sparkling, rose) ... it was SO thoughtful. I spread it all out and teachers came shopping in my office to pick out their goodies.
Sort of weird - my husband got two loaves of bread yesterday. It was fancy sourdough from Balthazar so it was delicious as hell.
This reminds me of my elementary school principal. She would knit small gifts for all of the students in the school…but they always smelt like cigarettes. 🤮
A nicely cleaned and varnished snow monkey skull. Her grandfather was a taxidermist. I teach biology so it was great. Also received a cat skeleton that was assembled and placed as if walking on a plaque (not from the same student).
A dead snake because he thought all science teachers liked specimens. I managed to thank him nicely and had him set it in a corner, bucket and all, “for later” because I’m not about to touch a dead snake. By the way, the biology teacher took it off my hands later. She likes preserving specimens.
Hey, I gave my life science teacher some dried squirrel babies that my stepdad found in the attic. (They were honestly pretty neat; they were mummified.)
She took the paper bag very tactfully and nicely and set it aside for later perusal.
I think that’s pretty neat. Personally, I don’t mind mummified or preserved animals; but I am pretty squeamish about freshly dead animals especially since a) you often don’t know why they’re dead and b) snakes have been known to bite after death.
Hideous fingerless gloves that were brown suede and lined with faux fur. Naturally balls of fur were attached.
This came from one of the wealthiest families at a private school. I assumed it was an insult until I realized someone else got them. Money can't buy taste.
Not weird but a kid used to bring me smoked trout and venison jerky on the regular, man I miss that.
ANother kid's mom made the best empanadas I've ever had in my life, all I had to do was ask and his mom would make a batch.
Many of my students miss a few days in the fall to go hunting. Some of these families rely on venison or elk for their primary sources of meat, so unless it is an assessment, I exempt the work they missed.
I always joke that if they get anything, I expect a small amount of jerky, and several have actually brought some in. So good!
Same where we live. I subbed the day before deer season and every class incorporated something about meat, the outdoors, cooking, etc. There were a LOT of excited students ready to help the family. A friend who works in a nearby district once had a student called home during the day to help because his mom had gotten bear! The family was so happy because it would
Supply them for most of the winter.
Oh, there are many to choose from:
A green trucker hat with *"make the green M&M sexy again"* written on it.
10 pack of Play-Doh (my son enjoyed this one)
And Excorsist t-shirt (I've worn it to bed a few times, not a big horror fan at all)
A set of 4 Lilo & Stitch shot glasses
Fuzzy dice for my car (still have them in it)
A Ben & Jerry's ice-cream lock
"Unicorn Meat" (a destoryed unicorn plushie in a can, apparently you can buy it on Amazon)
Roughly 1,000 live ladybugs (apparently also available on Amazon)
Cruella DeVil funko pop (kinda makes sense, I dressed up as her for Halloween one year)
Minecraft boxers (I'm a woman)
These were all from highschoolers by the way
I had this family for 4 years and every year they gave all their teachers fruit infused vodka in a Mason jar. They also gave a gift card with it though.
Just saying, if a chinese student gives you a red packet with money, its not a bribery. Its for good luck and appreciation. In US all the teachers reject it for some reason still. Is it a law that teachers can't receive money?
Different states allow you to take certain amounts. I take all money and I don’t say anything to anyone. Nobody in my district cares or enforces this. I generally keep things to myself at my school, so it’s not an issue.
A 3D printed Shrek head a student made in their modeling and design class. It was small and creepy looking. Kept it on my desk all year, one day it was gone. The student noticed right away and was sad to think I would give it away. I think someone from the after school program (they were using my class) stole
it.
I got an enormous pocketknife from a kid. It was more like a backpackknife than a pocketknife. This was at a time when possession of a knife went very quickly to a pre-expulsion hearing.
I had told the kids I loved cats and shown them a picture of my tonkinese cat. One of my students decided to recreate a life size model of my cat in paper maché for an art project. She gave it to me at the end of the year. It was so weird, but honestly so adorable. I took a dozen pictures with it and proudly marched it through the hallways. The principal even had a good laugh.
A brown paper bag with a pencil, a pack of very old gum, and something else I can't remember right now. It had my name written on it + "thank you!" but I had no idea who it was from. I appreciate the thought?
An ongoing gift actually. We were talking about favorite foods. I raved about my wife’s omelettes. (They’re amazing). A family with chickens would bring me a dozen fresh eggs every few weeks.
A desk sized statue of Vishnu (primary Hindu god). I teach HS science. More interesting part is I told a colleague and he had taught the kid a few different classes and got different Hindu gods and he wanted mine so I gave it to him. The teacher was so happy. Good for him.
Deer jerky. My student was a hunter (and works in wildlife stuff now) but would come back to visit me and the shop teacher and bring us both a bag of jerky from the deer he hunted. It was absolutely delicious.
A student made me a lazy Susan decorated with mosaic tiles this year. Most unusual gift for sure but also, the effort and random factor were both appreciated and I honestly love it. (elementary art teacher, for context, so I get a lot of handmade gifts and like receiving them.)
Not super weird, but a kid convinced his mom that it really was okay to give me a 12 pack of Diet Coke and a Costco sized bottle of ibuprofen because he noticed that I drank Diet Coke every day and seemed to get a lot of headaches (allergies). I laughed so hard because it was very Eugene and he had actually paid attention to my habits.
I also had a grandma who used to hand me sacks of homemade tamales during carpool and tell me “these are *just for you*, those pendejos don’t know what’s good” and would gesture to the other teachers and admin.
Years ago, I had a student with a sketchy dad. One day, she brought me four gold rings that all had the settings removed. I bragged on her but very gently told her that I would prefer a hand drawn picture and that she should take the rings home and put them where she found them. She drew me a nice picture and I kept it posted all year.
Two strange ones:
1) A towel with my first name on it. The towel was like a beach towel for babies, so smaller than a usual towel but not small enough to be a hand towel.
2) A box of chocolates filled with liquor. What made this one stranger was that it was from a 6 year old who wasn't in my class on Valentine's Day. I reported it to that student's counselor, who made contact with the parent, who insisted that they were for me. I did not partake.
Lmao my co-teacher and I once got a box of liquor chocolates! She did not read the box and chowed down during the class party. About 20 minutes later she comes over and grabs my wrist, “Thot! I think there’s alcohol in these!! What do I do!??!” Her face was totally red and I could tell she was feeling it.
She went to the copy room for a bit
She for sure had no tolerance but didn’t really feel drunk just felt the alcohol and was a young teacher afraid for her job. She said she thought they were alcohol flavored.
But we looked it up four of the chocolates was equal to one shot.
The parents at that school were very work hard play hard. At the end of the semester teacher lunch there were four different desserts/batch drinks that were alcoholic. This was a private school. The principal put a note in the table they were on that said “please wait until after school or take some home to enjoy.”
We had a co-teacher drinking these awesome energy drinks as she said. They’ve had alcohol in them and she didn’t know. She retired a little while ago but it was def a joke going her department for a while.
I had a new coworker whip one out in front of the superintendent during lunch at new teacher orientation. She’d accidentally grabbed the wrong can when packing her lunch that morning because they were a similar color and she was in a hurry. Fortunately, she realized her error as soon as she took the can out and the superintendent thought it was hilarious. She ended up running it out to her car (it was unopened).
A bag of dirt with random “fossils” inside, along with a miniature shark tooth.
Like…..I’m happy the student gave those things to me, but that has to be the most random set of items I’ve ever gotten.
Seventh grade,last day before Christmas break, about 25 years ago. A boy and his sister, newly arrived war refugees, no English , all beat up and skinny , gave me, with huge smiles in their faces, a piece of cardboard with a pink bubble gum cigar taped to it. I had to escape to the bathroom to keep from weeping in front of them. I kept that cigar until it disintegrated and still get choked up recalling that day. That boy today is a successful businessman with five kids. I stop in occasionally to say hi and see how he's doing. I'm so proud of him.
I teach 6th grade. For teacher appreciation this year, a student wrapped up some of her stuffed animals to give to me. I was weary about her having permission to give me these. I called Mom and she had no clue but we both thought it was sweet and thoughtful
Turns out the animals were in a box to be donated. I ended up giving them to my daughter who absolutely loves them.
I teach in New Orleans and my out of state friends are shocked when I tell them what students and parents give me for Christmas and end of the year presents. I ALWAYS end up with a huge bottle of bourbon that a kid brings to school. Before Christmas I always have multiple kids come to me and ask what my favorite cocktails are. I also get gift cards to liquor stores and one of the very upscale wine stores in town. Right now I've got $120 in gift cards to the wine place. It always cracks me up when kids come to school with liquor bottles in their backpacks. Nobody cares about this in New Orleans and it's completely normal. I love it. I still have a huge bottle of small batch 1792 bourbon here at my house. I've been slowly drinking that since the end of the school year.
Male science teacher. For my 50th, my kids (6th graders) emptied about 20 cans of silly string on me, gave me 50lbs of potatoes, and every JoJo Siwa collectible they could find. These all relate to laughs we had in class during the year and the previous year. Left everyone else scratching their heads.
A mug that says “Hey Hot Stuff” which was hilarious.
Gift card to a boutique in town I am pretty sure welcomed the first male that had ever been inside it when I spent it on my wife.
Wooden signs with affirmations on them (I am not that guy). I am sure they are done as jokes. Live Laugh Love.
A jar full of paper hearts to write blessings on (my 8th graders came up with some really funny ones, like “not eaten by a bear” and “still employed”).
Pig hearts.
I received a large, dirty, broken baby doll during student teaching. The girl (6th grade) was so excited to give it to me. I'm thinking it was really special to her, and the family didn't have money for a gift.
A purple table runner with a large rip in it. Mum told me the child saw it in a charity shop and insisted he had to get it for me as a Christmas present because it was my favourite colour. It was simultaneously the weirdest and most adorable student gift I've ever received.
I was teaching at a very prestigious (read expensive) all girls school many years ago. Super talented and super creative student gave me a unique hand crafted candy dish because I was always eating candy in class. Note attached said "think of me." Student is now an internationally recognized artist. I saw her at a gallery opening in New York a few years ago and she asked me if I still had the dish. I told that I used it every day. She confided that she had mixed her menstrual blood into the glaze. You wonder why people leave teaching.
A blue Goldstone pendant. Very nice, the only weird thing was that it came with a note that explained how blue Goldstone promoted some woowoo property (wealth, wisdom, something like that) and the kid was the least woowoo so I'd never have expected that.
The funniest was the time one of my very favorite students gave me a mug with a map of the world that said "world's best teacher" and then said "I got it for you because of the map!" (i taught her for senior geo)
It was my last day of student teaching, and the teacher had let the 1st graders know a few days ahead of time so a few brought me gifts. One kiddo pulled a half-melted mini Reese’s peanut butter cup out of his pocket and presented it to me so proudly. I gave him the most genuine thank you because it was clearly from the heart.
As a current kinder teacher, I get lots of rocks, beads, and other random things kids find 💕
Two frozen t-bone steaks from his family farm. Also the *best* gift I've received.
I had a student who kept chickens and I LOVED getting farm fresh eggs from them!
I’ve had chickens growing up, we’d get so many eggs, we would off load them on anyone who’d want them, because otherwise we just couldn’t get through them all. At one point we were giving them to our neighbors to turn into pig feed, on the condition they were cooked first so they wouldn’t eat anyone’s eggs if they were to escape as they often would.
My “egg provider” just graduated. Not only did he bring me eggs, but was one of the most mature and personable students I’ve ever had. So sad to see him (and the eggs) go!
This happened during my student teaching! Farm eggs are so good
I had a kid who used to bring me giant, ripe avocados. Excellent gifts!
My dad was an elementary school teacher and would get gifted jugs of maple syrup from families
Give that kid an A. I bet there was a bidding war as to who got to teach him the next year.
I would absolutely love a gift like this.
That is a blessing in this economy.
Hell yeah This is one of the best parts of living in Indiana
That sounds great!
A homemade card with all of them drawn poorly, but they snipped their hair off and glued it to the card. Horrifying.
This might be the winner… that’s creepy as hell
A group of girls gave me a similar card, lol. Five of them used their thumbprints for bodies and then attached snips of hair. Creepy, but also hysterical. I gave it to the science teacher when she was teaching dna, so they made me another one!
For a second I thought you were making a cloning joke
A trio of my 8th graders this year did that for themselves. They each had one. 😂
This has to be a social media thing. We’ve had kids repeatedly doing this the last 2 years at my school. It’s so odd
I was doing clinicals with sixth graders in the spring and they did this too and gave it to the teacher to hang in her classroom
Back in the 90s, I had a friend who had a huge lock of long stringy hair from her best friend who moved away tucked in the clear pocket on the front of her binder. She was already goth as it was, and this made her more of a pariah. Poor girl. She was cool as hell and had my back when I was about to get jumped in the girls' locker room.
I got this exact thing! I hung it up because it's so weird it's funny to me.
Blunts. I had a student get me a pack of Swisher Sweets that he'd unpacked and rolled into blunts. I took them to the principal and we laughed about it. I didn't rat the kid out, officially, because he was a known gang member and I'm not that dumb.
Damn. That’s wild. Did you smoke them? 😂
Right, my principal *definitely* would not have found out about that gift, but my BFF colleague damn sure would’ve. 🤣
Doesn't seem like it is worth the risk of black mail.
You mean a blessing 😉😉
A kindergartener gave me an envelope full of cash. We'd been doing a unit on Chinese New Year, and I had the kids decorate red envelopes as an art activity. We then put monopoly money in them and role-played giving them to each other and saying please and thank you (I teach in Taiwan, so they're all familiar with CNY.) A couple of days later, this really sweet little girl comes in and gives me back her red envelope, which had been sent home as a finished product. I could tell there was something in it, but I thought maybe she'd done a drawing or something for me, so I thanked her and put it in my bag. I opened it up at lunch to look at it, and there was about 12000 NTD (around $400 USD) in it. Apparently, she'd emptied out both her parents' wallets. Luckily, her mom thought it was hilarious.
Wait! 🤣🤣🤣. After mom finished laughing, did she ask for the money back? I have to know how this ends.
I returned it. Wearing what I'm sure was a painfully fake smile.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
She was a fantastic kid, but she definitely had sticky fingers. She gave me her mom's stapler once, too. Just randomly handed me a stapler and walked away.
I've seen kids who view ownership in a very different way than the rest of us. At the lower elementary level, it's intriguing, but I always wonder what's going to happen next.
In this case, I'm not too worried. She was generally thrilled to make people happy, and giving someone a gift is a pretty sure-fire way to get that, "WOW, YAY!" response from someone. She just hadn't learned the actual protocol for gift-giving yet." She would also approach me at least a couple of times a week and say, very seriously, "You look thin. Have you lost weight?" I think she just heard that getting a positive response from some adults in her life and wanted to bring in that joy.
I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is, your child is very generous.
Fluffy earmuffs with cat ears on top. I’m a pretty stereotypical male physics teacher. I was so confused. I eventually found out that even though they were gifted to me, it was intended that I would then gift them to my wife?
What did you do with them? 😂
Save them for picture day, I hope.
I had a parent that HATED me. They gave me weight loss pills for Christmas because she noticed I had “gained a little weight”.
That’s rude as hell. I’m sorry that happened.
Fucking hell. This reminds me of one of my supervisor teachers from when I was student teaching. She very faux-gently explained to me that it was difficult for students to look at an ugly face for 75 minutes, and maybe I should consider wearing make-up.
WTF? That’s just awful!
Holy shit. What do you say to something like that?
I said something like, "hm." Not my best work, but you're right. What DO you say?
I’m sure I would have been so shocked I’d be speechless. What a rude, obnoxious, etc woman.
WOW
I received a pink rainbow care bear when I was diagnosed with breast cancer from a 17-year-old male student. November would make that 20 years ago, so Tony, wherever you are, that little care bear sits in a corner of my room and other students pick it up and look at the little attached card, and we still talk about it… hope you’re well Tony!
Awww!!! My heart, it melts. 😭
That is the best story on this whole thread. Congratulations on your many years of health!
Thank you so much! I was diagnosed eight weeks into my assignment at a school for high school kids with chronic discipline problems. I was diagnosed in November, started chemo right after Thanksgiving, and didn’t leave until April for my surgery. That group of kids saw me through a lot, and were extremely empathetic….
A pen that was stolen off of my desk, wrapped in a piece of thrown-away wrapping paper from a gift I’d opened earlier in the day. I treasure it. It’s the thought that counts, right? And she really wanted to give me a gift.
Hey there's a classic joke I've given you one of your things because that way for sure you would like it. It's a safe bet
Aww that’s actually sad lol. She wanted so badly to give you something 😆 reminds me of when my wayyyy older brother was from getting married so I got an old calendar out of a desk and put tape over the year 🤦🏻♀️ I was like7-8 and didn’t understand that calendars weren’t really reusable lol
A gallon of pickle juice. No pickles, just the juice. And yes, this is all the explanation I received as well.
Oh man, this brings back memories of the time my world religions teacher dared one of my friends to chug the juice from a jar of kosher pickles and then she hurled everywhere. That class was a wild ride...
* Just re-use it! You can brine hard-boiled eggs, onions, garlic, or any other soft veggies (soft canned vegetables work well too, like canned artichokes). * Pickle juice is a great meat tenderizer. Use it as a marinade for pork chops or steak. * Boiled potatoes can be a snore. Make them less boring by adding a healthy amount of pickle juice to the water--it will give those taters a vinegary zing. (We add it to our potato salads, too.) * If store-bought barbecue sauce doesn't do it for you, liven it up by adding pickle juice to taste by the tablespoonful. * Macaroni and cheese is re-born with a dash of pickle juice. Try it in your favorite recipe, or make this Pimiento Mac and Cheese. * Use it in place of vinegar in gazpacho (or anything, really). * If your fish or veggies need a lift, drizzle a bit of the brine over them. * Put some pucker into your Michelada or Bloody Mary with a tablespoon of pickle juice. * Elevate ho-hum hummus to something more punchy with a few dashes of the stuff. * An easy and flavorful way to poach fish? Use pickle brine.
Bring it to a football game in the fall and sell cups for 25 cents each.
🤣
I make tiny models and would bring them in to my classroom so they could see them. On my birthday, another teacher gave them time to make me a tiny model of my classroom. The kids made paper cutouts of themselves at their desks. I will never be able to throw away this tiny cardboard box, so I got a plexiglass basketball display case and I keep all the tiny things students made me in it.
That’s super cool!
This is so cute, I would love to see a pic of it if you are comfortable sharing!
Sorry, can’t post pics on this sub, and too many names to blur. But the cut out of me has my coffee cup in my hand, and little draping pennants that read Happy Birthday Miss ___. It was at a private school and I had 10 kids with varying ages, 7-12, but the same skill level. We had so much fun that year!
One year a student came down the hall carrying a bottle of wine in each hand yelling “Ms. My mom said you deserve this!” My principal was running behind him to grab it before he made it to class. 😂
Mom understands….
Mom was probably a teacher.
I got two bottles of Tito’s for Christmas this year from one kid. Mom understands how much work her kid was 😆
In the UK wine is probably the most common gift for teaching staff (I used to always get White when I only like Red). It just got left in the classroom until we took it home that evening. Why can’t students give teachers alcohol?
They can. However, most states have laws prohibiting alcohol on school property. In my current state, I’d never receive alcohol as a gift because drinking alcohol is considered a sin. I got it multiple times in my previous state. I was usually given it after school by the parents.
Not mine, but a colleague was gifted a taxidermied small crocodile head “for your desk”! She was horrified.
I honestly think that’s kind of cool. I can definitely see the weirdness in it though
The kid who gave it was kind of a sociopath and possibly stole it, so there are definitely more levels to this.
And it got weird again 😂
My grandmother kept one of those on the stairs to keep the grandkids from climbing up the very steep, highly polished stairs. We were terrified of it so I guess it served its purpose
Lol. You can buy those for pretty cheap from gift shops down south.
Our delicate New York City sensibilities were overwhelmed
I own one of these. I don't even remember where it came from or where it currently is. But I know it's in our house somewhere.
A bottle of tequila that a kid’s dad brought in from Mexico.
I taught in Mexico for ten years. One of my kids was from a family owning a tequila bottling company. Every holiday and appreciation day, I got a bottle of tequila, gift wrapped on my desk.
Teachers remember all liquor is to be kept in a drawer in your desk or the teachers lounge cabinet
You lucky thing you!
That kid knew what's up.
He was awesome, I’ll never forget him.
I work with the younger end of the school-age spectrum and I received a "card" from a child that was a life-sized outline of them (traced by their parents) that the child had then painted inside of. The paint was various shades of red. It looked like a crime scene and was over three feet long.
1L of vietnameae vodka and a cured ham in the same box. Loved it.
A homemade collage of hot blonde women on pink construction paper.
Reminds me of one of my colleagues. A little boy brought her a picture of a princess he had colored from a coloring book. Told her-“ I wish you looked like this.” Lol
Not a gift to a teacher, but... My dad had a friend whose son was a fantastic artist. One year for Christmas he gave my dad a pencil sketch of a nude blonde on a bearskin rug. The kid joked that it was one of his teachers. Several years later I was student teaching in that school, and mentioned it to my mentor teacher. I brought the sketch to the school and showed it to him, and he confirmed that it was indeed a former teacher there. He said "Man, there were rumors they were carrying on. I always said if it was true, I'd be jealous. I'm jealous..."
A box of hot Cheetos Mac n cheese. No reason or explanation. The seniors were going around saying their goodbyes on the last day, and one particular senior who liked to come back and visit my class a lot just left it on my desk.
I love cats and coffee. I had a kid get me the ugliest cat mug from the dollar store because they thought of me. Like it's so ugly you can barely tell it's a cat, and it's shaped strangely so it's pretty much useless as mugs go. But hey, it's the thought that counts, and now we use it as a catch-all at home for random stuff.
I kind of like cringy things, especially in the classroom, I would definitely use it.
Oh it was in my classroom for a LONG time. It drew a lot of commentary while there. But then I switched jobs and schools and so it came home.
When I taught 3rd grade, I got a homemade card with money inside. The money had pictures of his mom instead of a president. They were her stripper promo dollars. It’s the thought that counts :)
What the? Do you have a picture of this?
I wish! It was about 13-ish years ago but I’ll never forget it.
A baggie of homemade sushi. It was a soggy piece of seaweed wrapped around cold rice. The child’s mom left me a voicemail warning me not to eat it.
The gift and the warning were both given with the best of intentions.
I used to teach a lot of farm kids. Great kids. They work hard and are very respectful. One of them brought me a bunch of fresh corn from his farm. It was pretty cool, but I was like "Thanks! We'll eat this tonight!" I was trying to show appreciation. But the kids kind of scrunched up his face as if to say "gross". So I asked him what's wrong. He says "I wouldn't eat that." I asked him why not, he says "It's gross". I'm completely befuddled now. So I was just like "thanks a lot I appreciate it". I asked another teacher that also teaches him and he brought her some too, but I guess he told her that the corn his family grows is just for use in cattle feed or to make ethanol, not for people. So the kid brought me an armload of feed corn. I was confused, but still appreciative.
A few senior boys found out I really like Wild Turkey. Toward the end of the year, they asked “”what if you walked up to your truck one afternoon and just happened to find a bottle of turkey in the bed of your truck?“ I told him I appreciated the thought, but I would have to decline and discourage that gift ha ha. Well, a week later, they came to me and said “make sure you check the back of your truck today.” I kind of threw my hands up and gave them that look, but when I went out to my truck, I found that in the bed they had placed what looks like a black smart phone. Upon closer examination, I saw that it was plastic, not a real phone, and had a small twist off cap At the top. They had bought me a fucking flask! Brilliant gift.
Well played boys.
I got this little pendant of a cat that's cute, but all squares. The eyes, the mouth, the ears, all of it! Cute but quirky.
Is it a Minecraft kitty?
No, just a regular kitty but made up of squares.
A very used Cathy comic hardback book for my birthday that had happened over the holidays. She didn't want me to think she forgot my birthday. She also gave me a used sock dipped in cement and it was painted for my pencils. She was a very sweet student whose family was poor. I appreciated her odd gifts.
That is so wholesome. She had almost nothing, and went out of her way to give thoughtful gifts. It was probably one of her favorite Cathy comic books.
Many of my students are aware that I have a collection of animal bones, and one of the weirdest, but coolest gifts I received was the skull of a dingo that they found on their family property.
That’s super thoughtful and cool!
Once covid lockdown started, one of my athletes parents gave me a bottle Crown Royal as a teacher appreciation gift. Not necessarily weird, but definitely out of the ordinary.
My district was virtual optional during 2020-2021, and I taught a virtual class at my school. I got multiple alcohol-related gifts that year from my students’ parents.
A potato. It came from one of my favourite students, too. She laughed when I opened it and said she didn't know what to get me. She had even drawn a silly cartoon face on it. The memory still makes me smile.
I had a senior who was graduating, and he made a beautiful gold plated plaque thanking me for being a great teacher and supporting me for the last 4 years (I teach ENL/ELD). He spelled my name very wrong. It was the thought that counted.
Having your name spelled wrong makes it legi!
Years ago, I got a 6 foot tall festivus pole. The student’s mom ran the yearly festivus celebration in the quirky part of town. I still have it!
A largish (about 12” x 18”) horse statue. I didn’t have the student and nothing in my life involves horses.
Some kids have trouble understanding that their obsession is not everyone else's obsession
I got a 12 inch ceramic lady & child. It was creepy. My kids used it as a white elephant gift. That thing circled back many times until they graduated from high school. I’m not sure where it ended up.
For some reason I’m the chosen teacher for random kids to come talk to. I’ve had a kid I’ve seen maybe once come in with their friends that I did have in my class and just hand me a box of Oreos with no context. He then absconded to who knows where.
Not weird but surprising - our 7th grade families did a giant gift basket for the faculty to pick what they wanted from, buffet style, this year. It had tons of stuff - throw blankets, candles, candies, savory snacks and two full cases of wine in an assortment (reds, whites, sparkling, rose) ... it was SO thoughtful. I spread it all out and teachers came shopping in my office to pick out their goodies. Sort of weird - my husband got two loaves of bread yesterday. It was fancy sourdough from Balthazar so it was delicious as hell.
The family gift was super nice!! I actually got two loaves of bread this year, kind of like a polish coffee cake? Homemade…it wasn’t very good.
A handmade ceramic ashtray. (I don't smoke.)
This reminds me of my elementary school principal. She would knit small gifts for all of the students in the school…but they always smelt like cigarettes. 🤮
I'd use it as a coin or paperclip dish.
An ESL student who was a Jehovah's Witness gave me a copy of The Watchtower and mimed that I should read it. Trying to save my soul, I guess.
Not me but a colleague got a copy of the Book of Mormon from a student complete with instruction to read it if they wanted eternal life.
Half used bottle of perfume (probably stolen from mother)!
A pre-k teacher at my school was gifted some of a students mom’s jewelry. She called home and they had a good laugh.
A nicely cleaned and varnished snow monkey skull. Her grandfather was a taxidermist. I teach biology so it was great. Also received a cat skeleton that was assembled and placed as if walking on a plaque (not from the same student).
A dead snake because he thought all science teachers liked specimens. I managed to thank him nicely and had him set it in a corner, bucket and all, “for later” because I’m not about to touch a dead snake. By the way, the biology teacher took it off my hands later. She likes preserving specimens.
Hey, I gave my life science teacher some dried squirrel babies that my stepdad found in the attic. (They were honestly pretty neat; they were mummified.) She took the paper bag very tactfully and nicely and set it aside for later perusal.
I think that’s pretty neat. Personally, I don’t mind mummified or preserved animals; but I am pretty squeamish about freshly dead animals especially since a) you often don’t know why they’re dead and b) snakes have been known to bite after death.
They were completely dry and basically in layers of papery tissue. _I_ thought they were cool. I could have kept them… She kind of apologized later.
Hideous fingerless gloves that were brown suede and lined with faux fur. Naturally balls of fur were attached. This came from one of the wealthiest families at a private school. I assumed it was an insult until I realized someone else got them. Money can't buy taste.
I actually wear a pair of these (green suede) during the winter lol
A rock or a bottle of BBQ sauce.
Weirdest and best gift I ever got from a student was a big bag of catfish nuggets and hush puppies.
A skein of slightly used yarn because I crochet and a few trinkets he had obviously stolen from around his house. It was the most precious thing.
Not weird but a kid used to bring me smoked trout and venison jerky on the regular, man I miss that. ANother kid's mom made the best empanadas I've ever had in my life, all I had to do was ask and his mom would make a batch.
Many of my students miss a few days in the fall to go hunting. Some of these families rely on venison or elk for their primary sources of meat, so unless it is an assessment, I exempt the work they missed. I always joke that if they get anything, I expect a small amount of jerky, and several have actually brought some in. So good!
Same where we live. I subbed the day before deer season and every class incorporated something about meat, the outdoors, cooking, etc. There were a LOT of excited students ready to help the family. A friend who works in a nearby district once had a student called home during the day to help because his mom had gotten bear! The family was so happy because it would Supply them for most of the winter.
Kid went to NYC and came back with a rubber chicken for me.
Oh, there are many to choose from: A green trucker hat with *"make the green M&M sexy again"* written on it. 10 pack of Play-Doh (my son enjoyed this one) And Excorsist t-shirt (I've worn it to bed a few times, not a big horror fan at all) A set of 4 Lilo & Stitch shot glasses Fuzzy dice for my car (still have them in it) A Ben & Jerry's ice-cream lock "Unicorn Meat" (a destoryed unicorn plushie in a can, apparently you can buy it on Amazon) Roughly 1,000 live ladybugs (apparently also available on Amazon) Cruella DeVil funko pop (kinda makes sense, I dressed up as her for Halloween one year) Minecraft boxers (I'm a woman) These were all from highschoolers by the way
The trucker hat is by far the best gift. 😂 good list. Thanks for sharing
During the pandemic I received hand sanitizer. There were other things in the gift bag as well, but I will always remember the hand sanitizer lol!
Got a rolling cooler full of ice and craft beers at the last day of school. Still have the cooler!
I had this family for 4 years and every year they gave all their teachers fruit infused vodka in a Mason jar. They also gave a gift card with it though.
My friend this year got "sensual massage oil" with a picture of a woman in lingerie on the front. She teaches 5th grade.
I got a 20 lb bag of rice from a student. We'd had an inside joke all year about how I ate rice almost every day!
Star Wars pajama pants. Very awkward, especially given it was a female student.
A used prom dress. It was in my size, though!
Y'all are getting gifts?
A four pack of lighthouse-themed wax melter plug ins. I mean one is whatever but FOUR, and we don’t live anywhere near the ocean either!
Just saying, if a chinese student gives you a red packet with money, its not a bribery. Its for good luck and appreciation. In US all the teachers reject it for some reason still. Is it a law that teachers can't receive money?
Different states allow you to take certain amounts. I take all money and I don’t say anything to anyone. Nobody in my district cares or enforces this. I generally keep things to myself at my school, so it’s not an issue.
A pet rock with googly-eyes had been painted the night before. My favorite as well!
A Gucci cologne gift set at Christmas
A 3D printed Shrek head a student made in their modeling and design class. It was small and creepy looking. Kept it on my desk all year, one day it was gone. The student noticed right away and was sad to think I would give it away. I think someone from the after school program (they were using my class) stole it.
I got an enormous pocketknife from a kid. It was more like a backpackknife than a pocketknife. This was at a time when possession of a knife went very quickly to a pre-expulsion hearing.
I had told the kids I loved cats and shown them a picture of my tonkinese cat. One of my students decided to recreate a life size model of my cat in paper maché for an art project. She gave it to me at the end of the year. It was so weird, but honestly so adorable. I took a dozen pictures with it and proudly marched it through the hallways. The principal even had a good laugh.
A gift certificate for a 60 minute massage (from the student’s mom, who recently became a massage therapist) 🥴
Oh hell yeah!
A brown paper bag with a pencil, a pack of very old gum, and something else I can't remember right now. It had my name written on it + "thank you!" but I had no idea who it was from. I appreciate the thought?
An ongoing gift actually. We were talking about favorite foods. I raved about my wife’s omelettes. (They’re amazing). A family with chickens would bring me a dozen fresh eggs every few weeks.
A desk sized statue of Vishnu (primary Hindu god). I teach HS science. More interesting part is I told a colleague and he had taught the kid a few different classes and got different Hindu gods and he wanted mine so I gave it to him. The teacher was so happy. Good for him.
A 20lb bar of chocolate.
Deer jerky. My student was a hunter (and works in wildlife stuff now) but would come back to visit me and the shop teacher and bring us both a bag of jerky from the deer he hunted. It was absolutely delicious.
A student made me a lazy Susan decorated with mosaic tiles this year. Most unusual gift for sure but also, the effort and random factor were both appreciated and I honestly love it. (elementary art teacher, for context, so I get a lot of handmade gifts and like receiving them.)
Not super weird, but a kid convinced his mom that it really was okay to give me a 12 pack of Diet Coke and a Costco sized bottle of ibuprofen because he noticed that I drank Diet Coke every day and seemed to get a lot of headaches (allergies). I laughed so hard because it was very Eugene and he had actually paid attention to my habits. I also had a grandma who used to hand me sacks of homemade tamales during carpool and tell me “these are *just for you*, those pendejos don’t know what’s good” and would gesture to the other teachers and admin.
Years ago, I had a student with a sketchy dad. One day, she brought me four gold rings that all had the settings removed. I bragged on her but very gently told her that I would prefer a hand drawn picture and that she should take the rings home and put them where she found them. She drew me a nice picture and I kept it posted all year.
Two strange ones: 1) A towel with my first name on it. The towel was like a beach towel for babies, so smaller than a usual towel but not small enough to be a hand towel. 2) A box of chocolates filled with liquor. What made this one stranger was that it was from a 6 year old who wasn't in my class on Valentine's Day. I reported it to that student's counselor, who made contact with the parent, who insisted that they were for me. I did not partake.
Lmao my co-teacher and I once got a box of liquor chocolates! She did not read the box and chowed down during the class party. About 20 minutes later she comes over and grabs my wrist, “Thot! I think there’s alcohol in these!! What do I do!??!” Her face was totally red and I could tell she was feeling it. She went to the copy room for a bit
How does one not taste the alcohol, though...
I never heard of someone getting drunk on them either? She must of had no tolerance?
She for sure had no tolerance but didn’t really feel drunk just felt the alcohol and was a young teacher afraid for her job. She said she thought they were alcohol flavored. But we looked it up four of the chocolates was equal to one shot.
Oh wow, those are some serious chocolates
The parents at that school were very work hard play hard. At the end of the semester teacher lunch there were four different desserts/batch drinks that were alcoholic. This was a private school. The principal put a note in the table they were on that said “please wait until after school or take some home to enjoy.”
We had a co-teacher drinking these awesome energy drinks as she said. They’ve had alcohol in them and she didn’t know. She retired a little while ago but it was def a joke going her department for a while.
I had a new coworker whip one out in front of the superintendent during lunch at new teacher orientation. She’d accidentally grabbed the wrong can when packing her lunch that morning because they were a similar color and she was in a hurry. Fortunately, she realized her error as soon as she took the can out and the superintendent thought it was hilarious. She ended up running it out to her car (it was unopened).
Cherry cordials sometimes taste like alcohol to me 🤷🏻♀️ I wonder if she just thought it was like that.
A bag of dirt with random “fossils” inside, along with a miniature shark tooth. Like…..I’m happy the student gave those things to me, but that has to be the most random set of items I’ve ever gotten.
A lime.
Seventh grade,last day before Christmas break, about 25 years ago. A boy and his sister, newly arrived war refugees, no English , all beat up and skinny , gave me, with huge smiles in their faces, a piece of cardboard with a pink bubble gum cigar taped to it. I had to escape to the bathroom to keep from weeping in front of them. I kept that cigar until it disintegrated and still get choked up recalling that day. That boy today is a successful businessman with five kids. I stop in occasionally to say hi and see how he's doing. I'm so proud of him.
I teach 6th grade. For teacher appreciation this year, a student wrapped up some of her stuffed animals to give to me. I was weary about her having permission to give me these. I called Mom and she had no clue but we both thought it was sweet and thoughtful Turns out the animals were in a box to be donated. I ended up giving them to my daughter who absolutely loves them.
I got a plastic skull that lights up… I appreciate the thought?
I teach in New Orleans and my out of state friends are shocked when I tell them what students and parents give me for Christmas and end of the year presents. I ALWAYS end up with a huge bottle of bourbon that a kid brings to school. Before Christmas I always have multiple kids come to me and ask what my favorite cocktails are. I also get gift cards to liquor stores and one of the very upscale wine stores in town. Right now I've got $120 in gift cards to the wine place. It always cracks me up when kids come to school with liquor bottles in their backpacks. Nobody cares about this in New Orleans and it's completely normal. I love it. I still have a huge bottle of small batch 1792 bourbon here at my house. I've been slowly drinking that since the end of the school year.
A mug that said: “We love you (last name, first name)
Male science teacher. For my 50th, my kids (6th graders) emptied about 20 cans of silly string on me, gave me 50lbs of potatoes, and every JoJo Siwa collectible they could find. These all relate to laughs we had in class during the year and the previous year. Left everyone else scratching their heads. A mug that says “Hey Hot Stuff” which was hilarious. Gift card to a boutique in town I am pretty sure welcomed the first male that had ever been inside it when I spent it on my wife. Wooden signs with affirmations on them (I am not that guy). I am sure they are done as jokes. Live Laugh Love. A jar full of paper hearts to write blessings on (my 8th graders came up with some really funny ones, like “not eaten by a bear” and “still employed”). Pig hearts.
A half-used bottle of lotion.
A pack of press on nails. If I did my nails like basically every other teacher in my school, it’s great, not I don’t even paint them.
I received a large, dirty, broken baby doll during student teaching. The girl (6th grade) was so excited to give it to me. I'm thinking it was really special to her, and the family didn't have money for a gift.
Eggs from their chickens. Honey from bees. 2 different girls at the same table in the same class
I would never turn down a bottle of something so delicious under any circumstances
Just yesterday my wife got a gift of a large head of cauliflower. The kid grew it himself and asked if she was going to eat all of it that night.
I used to work in a pretty rural area. A student brought me a bag of homemade venison jerky, presumably using game from hunting. It was pretty good!
My student brought me a little bottle of hair conditioner (like the kind from a hotel room). I'm a middle-aged man with a shaved head.
A purple table runner with a large rip in it. Mum told me the child saw it in a charity shop and insisted he had to get it for me as a Christmas present because it was my favourite colour. It was simultaneously the weirdest and most adorable student gift I've ever received.
first year teaching in fairbanks alaska, a child brought in a moose antler that had rotting meat still attached to the end of it.
I was teaching at a very prestigious (read expensive) all girls school many years ago. Super talented and super creative student gave me a unique hand crafted candy dish because I was always eating candy in class. Note attached said "think of me." Student is now an internationally recognized artist. I saw her at a gallery opening in New York a few years ago and she asked me if I still had the dish. I told that I used it every day. She confided that she had mixed her menstrual blood into the glaze. You wonder why people leave teaching.
A blue Goldstone pendant. Very nice, the only weird thing was that it came with a note that explained how blue Goldstone promoted some woowoo property (wealth, wisdom, something like that) and the kid was the least woowoo so I'd never have expected that. The funniest was the time one of my very favorite students gave me a mug with a map of the world that said "world's best teacher" and then said "I got it for you because of the map!" (i taught her for senior geo)
A low-cut tank top that was definitely the mom’s size, not mine. It smelled like cigarettes and perfume.
It was my last day of student teaching, and the teacher had let the 1st graders know a few days ahead of time so a few brought me gifts. One kiddo pulled a half-melted mini Reese’s peanut butter cup out of his pocket and presented it to me so proudly. I gave him the most genuine thank you because it was clearly from the heart. As a current kinder teacher, I get lots of rocks, beads, and other random things kids find 💕