Contributed by Info Guru Jennifer Andrews

Teachers have the important job of educating youth and up and young adults with valuable knowledge and skills.

Although many teachers are respected, appreciated and loved, it is sometimes easy to forget to show appreciation and physically, verbally or visually acknowledge them. Teachers’ may be taken for granted as they are paid for the work they do to make a living. Furthermore, some students may actually have mixed feelings about teachers, veering toward feelings of dislike particularly when they are made to do homework and take pop quizzes! However, teachers spend much of their own time working hard to plan lessons, activities and formulate ways to make learning more interesting and enjoyable. In addition, many teachers spend numerous unpaid hours volunteering on school committees, coaching after-school sports or directing drama theatre classes.

Whether you are a student, parent, colleague, boss or school board member, be sure to show a teacher or many teachers recognition with simple rewards. Check out the following top 10 rewards for teachers and show some teacher love today!

10. Bonuses

Teachers may be rewarded for their hard work by their employers and school boards. A bonus may be given based on a specific bonus scheme whereby a teacher is given extra pay at the end of a school year for meeting specific criteria related to student grades or awards received. Sometimes, teachers may be rewarded with special Christmas holiday bonuses as well or have a pay increase concomitant with the number of years they’ve been working. Parents and other members of the community can support bonuses and other monetary rewards by speaking at board meetings or writing letters.

9. Student satisfaction

Most rewards for teachers are not associated with money or cash at all. Rather, a teacher is most often rewarded with the satisfaction of helping students to achieve their highest potentials. This is particularly true with students who present more challenges, such as kids who hate studying to kids with learning disabilities. Teachers who put extra time and effort into nurturing these kids studiously are rewarded when their efforts pay off and good grades or improvements are seen.

8. Treats

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but it can also be a great reward for a teacher! Although apples are most well-known as teacher treats given by students, step outside of tradition and reward a teacher with either a tempting coffee and tea gift basket or a tasty home-made treat. Bake homemade muffins or a quick bread with healthy but tasty ingredients such as a warm banana-walnut loaf to surprise a hard-working and caring teacher.

7. Independence

Many teachers are personally rewarded everyday just by stepping into their own classroom. Teachers are given the responsibility to educate kids and young adults, of which they must follow certain guidelines. However, they also have the independence to teach the material in new, interesting and even fun ways to increase learning potential and make the classroom less boring.

6. Summers off

One of the ultimate rewards for teachers is most easily, hands-down the fact that they get summers off! There are very few jobs where people actually get the opportunity to not work during the summer and have nearly anywhere from a month to two months of free days. Enjoy time off by planning a solo or family vacation or stay budget-friendly by sticking close to home but visiting nearby tourist attractions.

5. Holidays

In addition to summers off, teachers have most major holidays off as well. Day holidays such as the fourth of July can make for an extra-long weekend if it falls on a Friday or Monday. Still other holidays can give teachers a week – or two! – off such as Easter and Christmas.

4. Security

A teacher may be rewarded for his or her hard work with increased job security. Teachers, who do well, have a good work ethic, are well-liked by parents and colleagues are most likely to secure their job as a full-time position. This decreases the stress of potential job loss or having hours of work cut in the future.

3. Hours of work

Although the hours of work may vary, most teachers work hours that are conducive to a good work-life balance. Most teachers work during the day, from early morning to late afternoon leaving them enough time to get home and take the kids to soccer practice and cook up dinner for the evening. Although many teachers do prep work or grading in the evenings or on weekends, this is usually during the first years of teaching and gets better over time.

2. Knowledge

Teachers are rewarded daily with the ability to teach what they know but also to learn more than what they know! Teachers may put in extra study time towards a subject to ensure they know it well for effective teaching. Furthermore, they tend to take in knowledge and absorb new information whether it’s reading the daily news, keeping up to date on current research or connecting with other like-minded learners.

1. Future

The ultimate reward for teachers is that they are making a contribution to the world by helping inspire and educate the youth of today. The young kids they teach today will become the new generation of business and career-oriented people entering the workforce.