Teachers have a quiet pile somewhere in their house. It's the gifts they got that they'll never use — the apple-shaped paperweights, the personalized highlighters, the third "World's Best Teacher" plaque. Most of it ends up in the staff-room "free table" by January.
This guide is the other kind. Gifts that don't pretend a teacher's whole identity is teaching. Gifts that acknowledge the human under the lanyard — the one who's tired, witty, and probably caffeinated.
The rule we used
If we wouldn't give it to a friend who happens to be a teacher, we didn't include it. That filters out 80% of teacher gifts on the market.