How many do you have? The count at my house is 8 but there are more in my classroom. I pared down my collection when I moved to a new house 5 years ago. Teacher mugs are the butt of many jokes but honestly they are precious. They often spark memories of the child who presented them to us with a toothless grin and holiday cheer. They sit in our cabinets mostly unused because, let’s admit it, we coffee drinkers have our favorite mug. 
This one is with me most every morning unless it’s dirty because I usually don’t let it go in the dishwasher. It’s not a teacher mug.
My collection of teacher mugs comes out at my weekly gathering of friends from church. The mugs generate some jokes from time to time but mostly they just spark memories for me as I spot them on the counter. They stand at attention shouting, “Pick me, pick me!”
This teacher mug brings me comfort right now. It was given to me by one of my students this year. She sees the good in everything and when my go to mug is dirty I bring this one out of the cabinet. She doesn’t have to shout at me she knows she usually has a good chance of being picked.
As the years go by I start to forget about the precious giver of some of the mugs. Sadly, the memories of the mugs that don’t get picked often fade. They sit unused in the back of the cabinet, the giver has moved on and new mugs have moved in. I’m feeling a little guilty now about the mugs that didn’t make the move with me 5 years ago but just like we have to make room in our hearts for new students each year we also have to make room in our cabinets for the new mugs. So how many do you have in your cabinet?
Let’s have some fun, if you can, leave a photo of one of your favorite teacher mugs in the comments. If you can’t, post a photo of one of your favorite teacher mugs to social media and tag your teacher friends. Ask them to post their favorite teacher mug using the tag #teachermugsareprecious Let’s See the Good in teacher mugs!
Teaching from an Empty Nest 
I love coffee (stereotypical teacher, right?) and, like you, have had to periodically reduce my supply of mugs over the years. In my cabinet now are two mugs I one gave my grandparents. How they loved their morning coffee. I have a mug that says “Life is good.” My current favorite teacher mug is one made like a Harry Potter/Hogwarts cauldron. 🙂
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Mugs and candles seem to be what kids gift the most! I am not sure how many I have as I have pared down over the years. My favorite is a 16 year old mug that I got from a parent before my youngest was born. Still use it all the time!
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I bet if you start writing memories about the mugs and students who gave them to you you’ll soon recall many you can’t remember. I only have three teacher mugs now. One has “I hate when I get up in the morning and Trump is still President” on the side. Love that a student gave it to me. One reads “You put the lit in literature,” and one has literary quotes. I rotate among these three. Fun post.
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I received three mugs just this past winter; there must be almost a dozen in the cupboard. I have yet to use the banned books one, the one that is redacted until you pour hot liquids into it. It has to be hand washed, and I worry I’ll forget and it will end up in the dishwasher, ruined. Others have proven handy for individual soup servings. I am seasonal with my mugs; my spring one is an owl one from my brother, with the words “be happy” on the inside rim. I’ll switch to a tall orange lattice-design mug for summer…probably more details than you wanted to know!
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I love this post and the prompt you leave for us. My two favorite teacher mugs were gifted by a student 7 years ago. They are beautiful Starbucks mugs from Japan. I use them all the time. Then one day when my dad was visiting, he asked if he could keep one of them. I hesitated but gave it to him knowing I had the other. I might have to slice about this now. Thank you again for your inspiration.
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I love this so much, Beth. It’s funny – I hardly ever get teacher mugs as gifts! A few holiday ones, maybe – but I don’t have a collection! And now that I’m not in my classroom… But I DO have favorite mugs – and I LOVE how you have described how most of the mugs wait unused in the cabinet! Our mug cabinet is packed, and we have some in a high cabinet too.. but I still buy a cool mug occasionaly, and love it when someone gives me one! This drives my husband crazy, but oh well! My favorite line was: But just like we have to make room in our hearts for new students each year we also have to make room in our cabinets for the new mugs. What a beautiful way to think about students, mugs and life!
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