Write a letter from you and your child expressing how much the teacher means to both of you. Make sure you are personal and specific, and most importantly that the letter is heartfelt. Don't write a lengthy letter out of obligation. Make sure your feelings of gratitude and friendship are honest and expressed genuinely. If you are organizing a class gift, you can ask that each family write a letter and bind them all in a scrapbook for the teacher.
If your child's teacher has a specific passion or cause that she works for, make a donation in her name to a charity working for the same cause. Since all teachers aim to create lifetime learners in each of their students, ask the librarian what type of books the library needs and make donations in the teacher's honor to the school library. Place a placard in each book stating that it is in honor of the teacher from her eighth grade class of that year.
Before you subscribe a teacher to any publication or book club, find out her interests and her existing subscriptions. It would be a shame to buy her a magazine she already receives. Many magazines offer affordable rates for annual subscribers. If you are organizing a special gift from the entire class, take up a collection from each family and purchase a subscription to a high-end book club.
Teachers have a lot of letters to write home to parents and thank you notes to send for gifts. Personalized stationery makes these notes a little easier and makes them feel slightly more professional than using a sheet of ruled notebook paper. Order note cards and envelopes with the teacher's name emblazoned on top and your child's teacher will be reminded of your child each time they reach for one.
If you know what your child's teacher has planned for the summer or winter break, make her a gift basket with things that will be useful for their plans. If the teacher is going on a beach vacation, pack a beach tote full of sunscreen, a towel, a good summer paperback book and a pair of flip-flops. While none of the items alone will break the bank, the gift will be personal, useful and memorable.
Gift cards may not seem like a terribly personal gift, but with teachers often making low salaries, they don't get the chance to treat themselves to indulgences that often. Find out the teacher's favorite local bookstore, coffee shop or restaurant and purchase a gift card for them. If the class wants to go in on a group gift, buy the teacher a massage or a day at the spa. Consider buying a few gift cards so the teacher can pamper herself and a friend or loved one with a night on the town. For example, purchase a card for dinner at a restaurant, one for a massage or facial, and one for the local playhouse or movie theater. Display the cards in a gift basket or make a bouquet on pipe cleaners with the gift cards stuck to paper flowers.