December is filled with gifts.
It’s the end of the semester, most likely. It’s the end of the calendar year. We are inching towards a long break.
With all of this in mind:
Figure out what to say and do about gifts–NOW.
Ideas for the classroom:
- Create a center for card-making, picture-making, etc. Extol the merits of a handmade gift, after all there is nothing else in the world quite like it.
- Be creative. We live in a materialistic world, and it can get extra materialistic around this time of year.
- Gifts I “gave”: homework passes, extra recesses, no shoe hour, bring a stuffed animal to school day
- Favorite responses when asked what I wanted:
- in kindergarten: “Greatest gift in the world is knowing all your sight words.”
- “I have everything I need.”
- “A clean desk.”
- “Tissues.” (or some other school supply for the classroom)
Advice for the rest of the school environment:
- No one says you have to attend the party
- No one says you have to contribute to a potluck, a gift card for administration/office staff, etc.
- If you can afford it great, but if you can’t then don’t feel you have to buy anything (treats, clothing for spirit days, decorations, etc.)
Gifts are beautiful. However, they are not expected–not from you, and not from your students. Just make a plan–figure out what you can say and do to be kind, gracious, and generous in your own way.
C is for Camacho 