Xmas/ holiday card for teacher?

[rlyons]

I would like to give my ballet teacher a holiday card and put in it how much I love my classes and how they have really changed my life for the better. Would that be silly/ schmaltzy or innappropriate? My classes are adult classes with no exams by the way! So this is NOT for schmoozing!

Would love some opinions! Thanks!

[Hans]

I think that is a very nice gesture.

[wembley]

I usually give teachers a card, sometimes a small gift as well.

[Claude_Catastrophique]

Oh my God, schmaltzy, I love that word! And schmoozing too!

 

No, I do not think so. I always give my teachers some homemade christmas cookies and tell them (I am not good in writing cards) how much joy their classes brought me over the year. I would also appreciate that as a teacher. I think it is very nice and usually we just say something when there is something going wrong. But every human being needs sometimes compliments and some schmaltzy things hihi.

[Reepan]

There's still this little group of people (me included) in my Saturday class who started dancing at the same time, and we usually buy something nice for our teacher together. And every time she's so moved and hugs us all

[luceroblanco]

Nothing wrong with it. I gave my teacher a card and small gift last year and will do it again. I usually give homemade cookies for these small gifts (to work colleagues, secretaries, etc.) but I did not give my teacher cookies because I know he/she is weight conscious. Students tend to give gifts to my teacher when they go to performances as well--autographed pointe shoes, programs, calendars, photos, etc.

[Serendipity]

I will be giving gifts to my teachers. They've helped me SOOO much this year! Some of them are even holding classes over the holidays, including one who's offered semi-private classes at the regular rate, just so those of us who want to can stay in shape!

[TemptressToo]

I went out on the deep end Christmas shopping for Ms. D. I found three original pieces of Ballet Russe promotions...framed them in float frames (so you can see the back). Felt a little crazy but they were too cool to pass up. So, to tone down my extremities, I invited some of my classmates to contribute, making it a group gift. Everyone will get to sign the card.

 

One of the three items is an October 1956 program that lists the dancers on tour (my teacher included) and the pieces/characters they were presenting.

 

I'm really tickled pink!

[Marjolein]

That's an awesome gift TempressToo!!

[rlyons]

TemptressToo, now I am envious;)

My paltry card will pale in comparison....LOL

 

FAB gift! Well done:)

[TemptressToo]

To finish my tale, my fellow adult classmates were more than happy to jump upon the bandwagon. They thought it was a great idea. We gave it to her as a group last night. Ms. D was THRILLED....she gushed for 15 minutes on what she remembered of the pieces she danced and how beautiful the three items were, etc. I heard that she showed her morning adult class this morning and said that she was going to get our studio handy-man to build her a special shelf to house the items.

 

So, next year, I will tone it down.

[Balletlove]

Lovely lovely gift TemptressToo, wow!

 

I always give my ballet teacher a Christmas present some years bigger than others as well as a small gift for our pianist, she is so sympathetic towards us when we are dancing exams (one year she even showed me with her hands what the exercise was while the examiner was writing because I had a blank moment and couldnt remember and I had gone into the exam by myslef) that saying thank you at the end of the year only feels right.

 

Ps also love the word schmaltzy, new one for me!

[Merry]

What a lovely gift, TemptressToo! A real one off - I can understand why your teacher was thrilled.

 

Balletlove, you are SOOOOO lucky to have a pianist. I think that's what I really miss from my current classes. I also remember being helped in exams by our pianist - Ooccasionally mouthing things or making a gesture. We learned to look at her reflection in the mirror rather than directly at her! She was a fabulous concert pianist so we used to have some really beautiful music and she always dressed the part in full length evening gowns and six inch heels, even for morning classes.

[RobynC]

What a perfect present, TemptressToo! I would have loved to have seen your teacher's face when she opened it!

 

We have had a running joke in class about having t-shirts printed with some of the silly little sayings that come out, either from the teacher or the students. Things like: "Ballet...exercise for intelligent people", "A long balance is better than sex", "Ballet - the most fun you can have with your clothes on", "Who gives a flic-flac?" and stuff like that.

 

So I had a shirt made up for our teacher with a Logo of "The <teacher's abbreviated name> Collection", with the ""Ballet...exercise for intelligent people" slogan, and a line drawing of a dancer on it. We also had matching camisole tops printed for all the students who wanted them.

 

We had pre-Christmas drinks for the class, and presented the shirt to our teacher, from all of us and with a card which we all signed saying how much we enjoyed his classes and what a great teacher he is. He was thrilled with both the card and the shirt, and he wears the latter often in class. So yes, I think it's really appropriate to make sure that our teachers know how much joy their classes give us.

 

Maybe there's also a separate thread there for slogan suggestions?