I've been thinking about doing something special for my teacher assistant on the first day of school. I have no idea who she is yet, but I just want to set a very warm and appreciative tone right off the bat. I thought about a basket of supplies or something. Have any of you thought of this or have any suggestions?
Well, I know I have a little boy who has special needs coming into my class, but she is soley his aide. I hope it's his aide from last year; I got to know her through subbing and I like her.
I don't know what to get -- that is super-nice that you are thinking of her. I like the supplies idea: something useful is always nice.
But I share her with the other 2 second grade teachers. I also have a PRT everyday for an hour and a half! I haven't met either one yet but I hear they are great!
I never thought about a gift at the beginning of the year. I was planning to bring in something like brownies to share with my team/assistant/PRT and the janitorial staff!! Gotta keep those guys on your best side!
Does she have her own desk or workspace in your classroom? Supplies would be nice or maybe some type of desk organizer. Or maybe just a nice bouquet of flowers. I love flowers and if I can afford it I plan to have a small bouquet on my desk all the time. I think it really makes a room cozy and cheerful.
Well, I haven't put a great deal of thought into this considering I don't have a T.A., however normally I would say get a gift card to a place the person really enjoys (some say giftcards are impersonal - but I don't think so - I would more often then not get a gift card to a place then a gift I might not care for all that much)! However, since you don't know this woman yet that might not be the easiest thing pull off!
I think a basket of supplies would be a cute idea (as you suggested - pens, highlighters, pencils, sticky notes, a cute mug - I don't really know - useful stuff is always nice) or if you have a teacher store in your/her area maybe a giftcard to that?
Well, I would approach a TA the way I would a student teacher. Make sure she has her own desk/area with her own supplies. I love the idea of a supply basket. Maybe a TA survival kit?
This site has a bunch of back to school survival kit ideas that you might be able to adapt.
You mention of a teacher/student reminded me of what I got as a going away gift as an intern and I wanted to share it with everyone because it was the best thing by far I could have ever gotten...
The last wk. of my internship my directing teacher sent home letters in envelopes w/all the students (I didn't even know that the envelopes ever existed but all of the students did - and they knew what was inside!). It was a brief later stating that Fri. would be my last day and she wanted to create a "teacher basket" for me. So she was asking that everyone bring in pencils, pens, sticky notes, paper, envelopes, anything like that and the basket would be presented to me that Friday. (Now, I must tell you I interned in a low economic area so it's not like this could only be done in more wealthy areas.) It ended up that I had two baskets full!!! I was so moved by the gesture!!!!!!!!!
This was by far the best gift I could have ever gotten from them. I now know that my directing teacher did this because for one she was creative and two because this would be better than getting a whole bunch of gifts that I really didn't need. You know the stuff I'm talking about.
I just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone who ever has internship/student teachers!
My CT put together a scrapbook of the students! She put a bunch of pics in there of the kids as a group and then had each kid make a page for me. Their page included a picture of them plus a letter they wrote to me telling me what they learned from me, what they will miss about me, etc. I was so touched! I cried like a baby!!
The rest of the team teachers put together a giant gift bag of teacher supplies for me - pencils, post-its, borders, notepaper, index cards, you name it, it was in there!!
A few students also gave me individual gifts. This was a low income school and the gifts were stuffed animals from their own collections. That made me cry, too! I have washed these guys up and they will have a prominent place in my new classroom.
Flowers or plant. with a small bag of M&Ms.
***** M&M Pills for Teachers
Eat a brown M&M to temporarily calm your carving for chocolate
Eat a red M&M at the first sign of meeting overload.
Orange minimizes “Mental Block” during long range planning.
Eat a Green M&M to calm your frustrations while arranging the room
If you feel a head ache coming on while doing lesson plans eat a yellow M&M.
Blue M&M’s reduces Bulletin Board fatigue.
Directions: Take as needed. If all symptoms occur at the same time eat the whole bag. Warning: May cause weight gain.
I think I got this idea from a post at the end of the school year. I had a TA and she did most of my grading, gave extra help to students, helped with bulletin boards, etc. Needless to say-she was a big help to me. I gave her a big bowl (actually looked like a popcorn box-from Dollar Tree), several bags of microwave popcorn, some movie candy, and individual bottles of soda and a gift card for movie rentals. I got everything at Dollar Tree, except the gift card. I gave a card that said something like "Thanks for allowing me to be able to spend more time with my family. Enjoy time with yours!" Of course, you could modify your message since it's at the beginning of the year!
5th4me: You won't believe...I'm doing a movie theater theme! Your idea fits PERFECTLY. However, I don't have a good Dollar Tree in my town, but was told to travel to one for great teacher stuff. I wonder if I could still find that popcorn box you described? This is great!
Thanks for all the ideas everyone.
I, too, received a wonderful supplies basket from my CT when I completed student teaching. It was so thoughtful...and practical! I almost cried when they surprised me my last day.
What a cute webpage! The more of these I look at, the more I want to create my own. That might be another project for the weekend, lol. I may have to get some advice in here. I have a subscription to college live text. I had to have this for my online portfolio when I student taught. The subscription is good for three years. I was told you could create a webpage for your class on it. Guess I'll have to search the site and figure it out. Could be a VERY fun project!
I also agree that it would be great for your TA to have her own space--maybe you could combine that with the flowers/plant? Sort of a housewarming gift for your class.
Thanks for all the ideas! Still trying to make up my mind. If she's been a TA already (which she most likely has) there will be certain things she already has, ya know? Gonna figure it out soon.
07-11-2007, 07:58 PM
I haven't met either one yet but I hear they are great!
However, since you don't know this woman yet that might not be the easiest thing pull off! 
Simple View
