Tried It Tuesday: Photo cards as "Thank You" notes!

This week, I'm once again linking up with Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for her Tried it Tuesday linky party! I always get so many great ideas from the other teachers! This is truly one of my favorite and most practical link-ups.

Today, I wanted to share a great idea my teaching partner had last year since holiday season is approaching fast. On our team we love how generous our students are during the holidays but writing all the Thank You notes before the end of the day or during plan can make my hand hurt! I see 53 students but we have 100 students on our "team." That means, I could potentially be writing 53+ "Thank You" cards. Plus, the math and science teacher on my team are writing up to 100 Thank You cards during the holiday season... Wowza!

So last year, we decided to split the cost of photo holiday cards to give out as Thank Yous. So many sites like Picaboo, Shutterfly, TinyPrints, and Simply to Impress have many different "holiday" options! Even Walgreens has photocards now! Plus, many are offering great deals before December! This year we were able to score a Groupon for Picaboo! For $30 dollars we can get 100 cards. Now, this is more expensive than my One Spot Thank You's, but they are personalized and after splitting the cost - it's less than $10 a teacher!

Last year, the homeroom teacher was in charge of writing out a thank you to just her homeroom's students. We all met during plan to collaborate on the notes and make sure we had similar gifts. But then we wrote and signed ONE note from all of us. Students who did not bring in gifts, still got a a holiday card as well on the day before break. This made our lives much easier and the students really seemed like like our  Merry & Bright cards.

Here's our card from Picaboo & pic from last year: (sorry about the glare, it's in my scrapbook)

This year, we're going to do a Christmas sweater picture for the kids. Check out some of the photocard sites! Many are offering discounts plus free shipping! Don't forget to also check out RetailMeNot to see if there is a coupon code. It's a an easy want to say "Thanks" without getting a hand cramp!

How do you handle "Thank Yous" at the holidays?