Is it possible to cram years’ worth of appreciation into one week? Teachers say no.
But as May rolls around, every year, school and district leaders scramble to create new ideas or fall back on traditional tropes to celebrate teachers. This year, teachers posting on social media were vocal about ideas they loved, hated, or laughed at—especially now that artificial intelligence is part of the mix.
On Reddit, one teacher’s post drew a horrified reaction from their peers: “Starting off the week strong with water bottles (all exactly the same color) and an AI portrait of each of us taped to our door. Middle schoolers are running the halls, gawking and chortling at the AI slop. Mine has me wearing an extremely tight shirt, blazoned with “Inspine through teaching” and Bratz-doll like head-to-body proportions.” (Yes, the the spelling was wrong.)
Using a teacher’s image to create an AI likeness, without their permission, is a definite non-starter. So are gift cards with no money on them, single, unwrapped pieces of candy, and recycled snacks leftover from a student event, according to teachers who posted on social media.
Even well-intentioned ideas can backfire. Danielle Ambrosia, the 9th grade principal at State College Area High School in central Pennsylvania, used to organize a raffle for teachers during the week. But she soon realized that only a handful of the 100 teachers at her school would win gifts.
“That was a little tricky. I appreciate that [teacher] perspective. Good intent, but it didn’t roll out the way we wanted it to,” said Ambrosia. The school still pursues other ideas—a coffee bar, light breakfast, and a drinks cart that rolls up to classrooms during the 2-hour lunch block.
Principals may be left guessing, but teachers have a clear idea about what they’d like for Teacher Appreciation Week, and what they’d rather avoid.
Food is always welcome. But not as an afterthought
Food is almost always appreciated, but some teachers, on social media, said they often miss the window when the food is put out, or the food is substandard. Teachers also ask their administrators to stay away from food-related puns.
Worst: cup of Ramen that said you are “souper.”
Potluck for teacher appreciation week. The school will provide the meat/main dish, but teachers need to bring a side.
We got coffee and donuts yesterday morning, then we were told at the staff meeting at 3 that our high school was being closed at the end of this school year. Yeah, not fun.
My old principal once gave us apples that had obviously been taken from our students' free lunches.
We had donuts from Walmart that still had “CLEARANCE” stickers on them. 🤣
I got a pack of Extra gum with a note that said, 'Thanks for going the Extra mile.'
In our mailboxes we each had a fun size bag of chips with a note attached that said 'you’re all that and a bag of chips.' The chips were clearly pulled from the same boxes they have to give students snacks for after school activity snacks.
Dress-up debacles
The last thing many teachers want toward the end of the school year is mandatory dress-up days. Yet, some school leaders organized an “Underground Spirit Week,” where teachers dress up according to a theme, and students guess who they are dressed as. Teachers say these activities can feel burdensome because they often have to dip into personal funds to buy clothes.
For underground week, the office decided one day would be 'white lie' day, where they asked the teachers to share a white lie, it was printed on t-shirts, and we were expected to wear them.
One of the days during homecoming week was 'wear cocktail attire' to see if the students noticed. It was ridiculous. Students thought the teachers were dressed up to go to a funeral.
Our PTO literally used ChatGPT to create an appreciation week for our school. It’s 90’s theme, and we have to dress up and spend our plan time making friendship bracelets.
Teachers want the week to themselves
Even when appreciation efforts miss the mark, or feel hastily assembled from an online search, teachers still want a week of celebration that’s exclusive to them.
They don’t want to share it with student-focused events or diluted celebrations. What matters most is feeling seen, respected, and genuinely appreciated.
The fact that it is Teacher Appreciation Week and our district includes everyone in the drawings for prizes: crossing guards, cafeteria workers, janitors, and on and on. It does say 'Teacher' right?
Our staff appreciation week includes literally every adult in the building including admin. It used to be a week for admin, a week for all support staff, and a teacher week. But they just smashed it all into one so now it just feels like a vague 'thank you adults' day.
I'm elementary, so not as many different positions. However, most of them still get their own day: Administrative assistants day, Para day, secretary's day, etc. I absolutely appreciate the hard work they do and celebrate. But either let us have our spotlight or everyone gets one day/week.
