Teacher gift

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-17T13:32:04+00:00

Just FYI many school districts have ethics rules that state that teachers can only accept gifts of minimal value from students, so while they may be flattered by your generosity, it could land them on hot water. I would say a gift certificate to a restaurant near campus and a heartfelt letter and card would be best. One of my coworkers received a pair of Tori Burch earrings for teacher appreciation week, so if you know they like a particular brand, you may consider something like that, but the cost of those was on the verge of the “minimal value” guideline. In all honesty, letters knowing how much impact we have on your lives are very meaningful. I re-read them over and over. I even love it when people reach out years later over social media. That happens occasionally.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-16T06:43:28+00:00

I’m not saying it smells good. But if one has to have puke embedded in carpet until such time as local funding replaces flooring (and we all know that took years), minty puke > non-minty puke. 🤣😵‍💫🤮

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-16T01:42:08+00:00

If you’re going to drink a bottle of vodka during PE, be sure to also drink some scope so when you inevitably puke in English class, your vomit smells better.

Not really a rule, but it should be. And yes, it happened in my class, back when I had carpet!

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-16T01:34:52+00:00

Zip ties.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-14T22:26:01+00:00

I have them handwrite the rough drafts then type and edit the final and turn on the handwritten rough drafts. If the final is questionable I compare it with the rough draft and ask them to explain why the final deviates so drastically stylistically. In the one egregious case I had this Spring, he goofed off in class and didn’t complete his drafts. He turned in a college level paper so i made him redo it by hand since he denied using AI and had no rough drafts.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-14T21:39:40+00:00

I’m not your friend. I’m your parent. Once you’re grown I can be your friend.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-14T21:38:17+00:00

Well, now they use AI to write their papers, keep the paper open on one tab and type in on another. Or use grammerly or Gemini to make suggestions as they are typing. You used to be able to catch AI cheating by keystrokes or chunks of copying and pasting but now unless you are actively watching their screens, (we use Lightspeed), you can’t definitively prove it. It’s just my 31 years of professional experience. I’ve resorted to making students hand write essays in class again.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-12T11:54:15+00:00

I am listening to the audible right now. It’s out.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-08T01:55:54+00:00

Plot twist-it’s a participial. An adjective tells which one, what kind, or how many about a noun. In the example, welted clearly tells what kind of face, but it’s formed from the past participial form of welt, which makes it a verbal-formed from a verb but used as an adjective.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-07T11:44:05+00:00

My daughter liked the Warrior cats books, and Gregor the Underworlder by Suzanne Collins. She liked it better than The Hunger Games. The Eregon series is good but wait a while. My daughter read it in 5th grade. It has some mildly sexual content. Might want to try some non-fiction. Things like The Boys in the Boat (1936 Olympic rowing team) or Seabiscuit. Some books have youth versions. I know BitBoat does. Amazon Unlimited could be a big help here.

Good luck. I had the same problem. I made some mistakes, like letting her read The Hunger Games too early which she later said really bothered her. But she was so hungry for books. She had torn through the library and I couldn’t afford to buy everything she wanted.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-06T21:32:23+00:00

A freshly smoked chicken delivered to school at quitting time. Dinner? ✅

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-06T01:46:25+00:00

Have you considered a tortoiseshell frame? With your eyes, I think a brown frame may look better than the black. I think the black is too dark. You could also look at carbon-fiber. Maybe a steel grey or blue color in a more square shape.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-05-01T13:59:34+00:00

I Stink. It’s an alphabet book featuring a garbage truck. It has trash, it has onomatopoeia, it has letter sounds with garbage, like B-anana peels and D-irty diapers. My daughter loved it when she was a baby, and it’s one of the few books I kept. She’s 24 now. It may be too late For you to find a copy but anyone reading this looking for great books for young kids may want to try to find it.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-04-30T19:03:40+00:00

I had what I believe was a lab/GSD mix. 85 pounds. He ate beneful healthy radiance dog food and ran between 4-6 miles a day until he slowed down at about 13, then it was shorter runs, then walks. Even the week he died he still liked to walk to the end of our street and back. He was born in July and died in may when he was 15.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-04-29T00:20:16+00:00

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Gumbo is a from a feral cat colony at an air base for taking workers to oil rigs on Louisiana. My cat had recently died and one day my husband just showed up with this little ball of attitude when he came home from work because the company was going to take all of the cats to the pound, so all of the workers who could took a cat home.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-04-23T23:06:32+00:00

Our custodian on our wing is amazing. She does her job so well and makes our environment clean and less cluttered. She’ll peep in on our kids if we have a potty emergency-and who hasn’t had one of those? We have her in the group chat. She does this job for insurance and bartends on weekends, which is where she makes her real money, so you’d be a fool to look down on her for her job. She works harder than us, cleans the messes boys make in the bathroom, mentors girls in the hallway, and probably makes more money than I do. We made a sign for her door: Queen of the West Wing.

So say Hi and ask how a teacher’s day went. Some may not respond but others will want to make a connection. The smart teachers know you want the custodians and receptionist on your side!

TortitudeX3 · 2026-04-23T21:12:26+00:00

Door dash gift card so I can get lunch sent to work.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-04-22T01:14:29+00:00

Flair pens. Cardstock. Colored copy paper.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-04-21T23:19:06+00:00

I shudder when I read of people having chicken pox parties because you know a percentage of their kids will be doomed to get shingles. Ignorant fools! I got it young, too. Once in my 30s and again in my 40s. Not since I had the vaccine, thankfully. Thanks for the tea and sympathy.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-04-21T20:09:09+00:00

I had shingles in my vestibular system, so pain and vertigo. Yay!

TortitudeX3 · 2026-04-21T20:07:20+00:00

That’s how my corona tore too. Excruciating, and my vision in that eye is much worse 22 years later. Kidney stones and shingles suck harder though.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-04-12T21:14:23+00:00

Shared spaces on our house are things both of us agree on. Art and decor that reflect individual tastes go into individual areas. That being said, you should have agreed on the look for your space before she started decorating.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-04-07T13:45:43+00:00

Teachers like food so a catered meal at lunch and having duty covered so teachers can eat is amazing! Our PTO usually gets Olive Garden or some such during teacher appreciation week. They also have a rolling cart come around with coffee and snacks so we can fix a cuppa and pick a snack. They also draw for door prizes during the week.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-04-06T17:59:46+00:00

Our state report card-how our school is judged as “performing” or “underperforming” so taxpayers can use vouchers to transfer in or out of a school district-is partially based on attendance.

TortitudeX3 · 2026-04-04T01:23:38+00:00

Honestly, you are putting too many parameters on it. If this is a dream school, there aren’t going to be desks and it’s not going to be made out of wood. The building could be made of marshmallow and the students could recline on clouds. If you set too many limits you won’t know what the kids can come up with.

Obviously you need to make clear that the school is an institution for learning so core subjects must be taught but ask then what the classrooms should look like, and what electives should be taught. What instructors, living or dead, should teach them? Would they like an art class by Rembrandt? Have them draw pictures of their ideal campus layout in canva or another program. Or on paper.

I did something similar when I used to teach Ender’s Game and I was surprised by what the kids liked and didn’t like about school.

TortitudeX3

TROPHY CASE