Do your students sometimes give you and end of the year teacher gift? I really do prefer a handwritten note over anything. Over the years, parents have been most generous and thoughtful. I know they are the ones who put "teacher gift" on their to do list and carve out time to select and purchase something or bake a family treat.
I once received this shiny golden apple at the end of the year. It came with a preprinted award paper for Best Teacher. It did not make any sense to me because it didn't reflect the taste of the child's mother as I knew her.
Her child, a boy I will never forget, is quiet, smart, humble, and fiercely competitive in sports. He is well-liked and respected by all. Mature beyond his years, his contributions in class inspired his classmates to think and raise the bar for themselves. I put it aside and wondered.
A few days later his mother grabbed me in an exercise class and pulled me over.
"I need to explain your gift. He saw this apple in a catalog and INSISTED that it was the gift he wanted for you. I tried to steer him to something else, but he wouldn't budge. I wouldn't have selected the gift, but my son had made up his mind."
I was so touched. And honored. And I melted. For this 3rd grade boy who was so bright and more sophisticated than his peers, to zero in on this golden apple? It meant so much to me. In his childlike perspective he believed this shiny ceramic apple would make me happy. It still does.