I once did a how much do you really know aout me teacher appreciation week. Weeks before teacher appreciation week ask teachers for a pic of them when they were young,. (This way they don't remember about the pics and they dont' have time to collaberate.) they sent me back in a sealed envelope their picture. Tell them on the note not to show anyone else their pics. I made copies of them. then hand delivered the pictures back to them right away so none got lost. I put up a decorated poster board in the teachers lounge with each pic and an number under each one to identify(no Names) I had the names kept secret to me only.. during lunch each teacher had to come into the teachers lounge, look at the pics and write down who they though each one was! I made pre printed numbers on a plain white paper. Next to the number corresponding to the pic they had to write who they thought it was. The winner was announced at the end of the day. What a bunch of cheaters we have!
I also sent out a form months before ( this way they forgot all about the questionaire) asking personal question..ie...whats your favorite book, do you have any pets, whats your favorite place to vacation.. r u married... do u have kids...fav book... fav music.. Make up your own questions... then get them back in a sealed envelope so no one sees the other ones answers. Pick one teacher to be the "Who Am I?" teacher of the day. I went around and dropped off a clue (You can have kids do this part too) ( written on paper) to the teachers every hour that day. They had to guess who they thought the teacher was... The teachers loved it and even had the kids in their class help them to figure out who the surprise teacher might be. Make the teacher chosen, a person that has some of the same answers as some of the other teachers. Start out with that clue and keep them guessing. ...ie... I have a cat or cats some of the kids figured out who only had one cat by the wording so make sure you use singular or plurals when describing. A half hour before the end of the day they had to turn in their answers intothe PTO box. I announced a the winner at the end of the day. I also played the game do you remember the name? ie... ____and ______Flintstone ( Fred, Wilma)from The Flintstones. leave first names out, just put blanks, give last names and what tv show they were from. Fun to see the generation gaps... use both old and current shows. Involve parents for info for this game. Use as many as you want I used 26 different shows. Another game was Jingles , Sayings and commercials that sold their products.How many can you remember. ie..."You're In Good Hands", ( Allstate) I had 26 you can do as many as you like. Each one of these games were played one day at a time. We had gift certificates that were donated to the winners. At the beginning of the last day I passed out a bannana to each teacher and told them they had to meet in the teachers lounge at the end of the day, and bring the banana with them. I bought banana boats at the dollar store, so they could take them home if they wanted. we used plastic silverware, tied a napkin with a colored ribbon and a letter from their first name, punched out from a die cut.We had banana splits made for them and they chose the toppings. They said they haven't had one of these for the longest time and greatly appreciated it. it was a big hit. the teacher enjoyed the games and the surprise too. Hope this helped someone. It was fun to see the teachers find out facts about their co workers and learned something new about each other. I heard them asking what college did u go to ?and do you have pets? it was fun...Have lots more ideas too
We are contacting a local spa and having someone come and due mini massages. I have had them at other events and they donate their time to come. I think the teachers will really enjoy it! I will!
Other things we have planned are having parents bring in snacks/meals. But we have heard from numerous teachers that they are sweeted to death. So i'm thinking one morning bagels, cream chesse, other topping. For lunch salad, different lettuces, topping, grilled chicken. Desserts one day, but try to do some healthy sweets too. Fruit one day, you know an apple a day keep the doctor away.
We also hope to get gift certifiates donated from local companies. Such as car washes, massages, food gift certificates. I hope to have something for every teacher, even if they aren't the same.
You mentioned the kids..we are going to ask the art teacher to help us with cards for the teachers. Each class will make them for their teacher and we hand them out during the week of teacher appreciation.
Looking for some new fun ideas for Teacher Appreciation. We have always done a Teacher's lunch where the parents cover the classes and we have a buffet set up for them to have lunch together.
But this year I think we need to involve the kids more. We thought about a walk of fame the kids would write something and the teacher's walk down a red carpet.
