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 