The Think Aloud Cloud: Sunday Smorgasbord and Freebie

This Sunday Smorgasbord is brought to you by Michelle at Fabulous in First. I will add the link at the bottom so that you can link up too!

1 - In Case You Ever Forget...
You have an influence that could last for years.

Here is a pic of my daughter (on the right) with her two dearest friends on graduation day a couple of weeks ago. The matching adorable necklaces that they are wearing were given to them by their former 5th grade teacher the night before. She told them to wear it at their first job interview.

Love her!! I tear up every time I think about the "Mutual Admiration Society" that has formed amongst them.

That 5th grade year was the only year that all three girls were in the same class for all of grade school. LOVE.THOSE.GIRLS!

As a matter of fact several of their elementary teachers came to their graduation parties. It meant so much to the girls and to me as a mom. This 5th grade teacher certainly had a long-lasting influence on the girls' lives. Thank you Elena Kaye! Also, thank you to all of their other teachers as well. I would have to dedicate an entire post to her High School Band Directors and their staff...truly wonderful people! They GREATLY influenced my daughter in many positive ways.

Thank you to ALL of you teachers out there who truly want to make a difference in the students' lives! Your dedication does not go unnoticed.

2 - "Not-So-Random" Acts of Kindness
In order to thank teachers in our school, I had my students write letters to them during "Valentine's Day Season" (It is a season, right?) to be sent through our in-school mailing system. So I made some friendly letter templates to help them out with the format. Don't they look nice?

You can grab a copy of the FREEBIE sample here if you would like.

The kids wrote the nicest letters to the teachers. Some of the sweetest were to our specials teachers. It was heart-warming!

My plan was to do some "Not-So-Random" Acts of Kindness for teachers and for students. There are also some quick notes for the students to send each other as well in the full pack. You can check it out here.

Note: After I posted this, I found a great blog that suggested a mentor text titled, Sincerely Yours: Writing Your Own Letter. I'm so glad that I found it to go along with my Friendly Letter Templates. Check out the post at the blog, Hoot N' Hollers, by Courtney and Sarah.

Speaking of random...here are my next three things in this smorgasbord line-up.

3 - My Favorite Restaurant
My husband's family introduced me to Longhorn years ago and it has been a favorite since then. Who knew that you could get a steak salad?! Look what my students gave me!

4 - My Favorite Songs
In general, most songs from Journey. I particularly like "Forever" by Randy Travis. Of course, I love Phil Collins as well.

I can't decide...

5 - Favorite Yogurt
Coconut on granola cereal. It is my latest comfort food every day after school. Love that stuff! (Trying to only eat half at a time.) :-)

Eat a few mini saltines afterward and you truly have the taste of macaroons going!