Top 10 Blog Posts of 2016 Linky!!!

Happy New Year Friends!! In case you missed some of my posts this past year, today I'm featuring my "Top 10 Blog Posts of 2016." It's also a chance for me to reflect on what you, my friends, were most interested in in 2016, so I can hopefully deliver more of that content in 2017! 

Here goes....and ordered from lowest to MOST Popular!  

Read it here!

Read it here!

Read it here!

Read it here!

Read it here!

Read it here!

Read it here!

Read it here!

Read it here!

Drumroll...........my #1 MOST POPULAR blog post of 2016 is.....

Read it here!

If you have a blog, use the image above and link up your "Top 10 in 2016" below! The linky will be open the whole month of January! 

Happy New Year from The Bender Bunch!

An InLinkz Link-up

SPEDtacular Sunday Freebies!!

Welcome to SPEDtacular Sunday Freebies!! Every Sunday I host this freebie link up here on my blog for Special Education Teachers! Visit every week to download free resources for your classroom! If this is your first time visiting, you can access all of the freebies from previous link ups by clicking on "SPEDtacular Sunday Freebies" under "My Files" on my right sidebar. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If you're a TPT seller, blogger, or resource creator, I invite you to link up and share your own freebie using the link up tool below! 

Link Up Rules

1. All resources must be FREE! It can be free for the day, but please delete your link once you mark it back to paid.
2. Your freebie may link to your blog or store.
3. Freebie does not have to be related specifically to SPED, but should be practical for SPED.
4. If you are linking up from your blog, using this image in your post and linking back to my blog is not required, but is greatly appreciated! Be sure to share this image on your social media so others can see your freebie!

*I recommend using an image of your freebie & not your button when linking up. 

 Feel free to share the image above all over your social media to let other teachers know about these freebies! 

The link up tool will close on Saturday each week, but "forever" freebies will remain accessible! Come back every Sunday to link up or download new freebies!

Due to next Sunday being Christmas Day, there will be no SPEDtacular Sunday freebies next week!

Merry Christmas!

An InLinkz Link-up

SPEDtacular Sunday Freebies!!!

Welcome to SPEDtacular Sunday Freebies!! Every Sunday I host this freebie link up here on my blog for Special Education Teachers! Visit every week to download free resources for your classroom! If this is your first time visiting, you can access all of the freebies from previous link ups by clicking on "SPEDtacular Sunday Freebies" under "My Files" on my right sidebar. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If you're a TPT seller, blogger, or resource creator, I invite you to link up and share your own freebie using the link up tool below! 

Link Up Rules

1. All resources must be FREE! It can be free for the day, but please delete your link once you mark it back to paid.
2. Your freebie may link to your blog or store.
3. Freebie does not have to be related specifically to SPED, but should be practical for SPED.
4. If you are linking up from your blog, using this image in your post and linking back to my blog is not required, but is greatly appreciated! Be sure to share this image on your social media so others can see your freebie!

*I recommend using an image of your freebie & not your button when linking up. 

 Feel free to share the image above all over your social media to let other teachers know about these freebies! 

The link up tool will close on Saturday each week, but "forever" freebies will remain accessible! Come back every Sunday to link up or download new freebies!

Also be sure you're following The Bender Bunch Advent Calendar this month! I'm giving away prizes and offers every.single.day through Christmas Day. Take a look at what I've given away already...and there's many more fabulous offers and giveaways to come! Today is $$$ deals! Visit my TpT store and search "dollar deals" for some great savings all day long! Happy Holidays!

An InLinkz Link-up

SPEDtacular Sunday Freebies!

Welcome to SPEDtacular Sunday Freebies!! Every Sunday I host this freebie link up here on my blog for Special Education Teachers! Visit every week to download free resources for your classroom! If this is your first time visiting, you can access all of the freebies from previous link ups by clicking on "SPEDtacular Sunday Freebies" under "My Files" on my right sidebar. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If you're a TPT seller, blogger, or resource creator, I invite you to link up and share your own freebie using the link up tool below! 

Link Up Rules

1. All resources must be FREE! It can be free for the day, but please delete your link once you mark it back to paid.
2. Your freebie may link to your blog or store.
3. Freebie does not have to be related specifically to SPED, but should be practical for SPED.
4. If you are linking up from your blog, using this image in your post and linking back to my blog is not required, but is greatly appreciated! Be sure to share this image on your social media so others can see your freebie!

*I recommend using an image of your freebie & not your button when linking up. 

 Feel free to share the image above all over your social media to let other teachers know about these freebies! 

The link up tool will close on Saturday each week, but "forever" freebies will remain accessible! Come back every Sunday to link up or download new freebies!

After you grab your freebies, be sure to scroll down to my next post for something exciting and to enter my Smarty Symbols giveaway!

An InLinkz Link-up

Smarty Symbols Giveaway!

Have you heard the news!? The Bender Bunch is giving back every single day from now until Christmas Day! That's right...25 days of giveaways, offers, and prizes! So far I've given away a laminator, a Starbucks gift card, held a BOGOF day, and tomorrow, thanks to the generosity of Smarty Symbols, I'm giving away a personal Smarty Symbols yearly subscription! 

As special education teachers, we have to create visual schedules and communication boards for our students. Smarty Symbols makes this so easy to do! 

Smarty Symbols features over 19,000 high quality symbols to choose from...and they even take image requests! You can download unlimited images and save them to your own computer or even create visual materials directly on their website. Let me show you just how user-friendly Smarty Symbols is.

Simply go to the "Download Hub" and search the category you are looking for.

Click on the image you'd like and download. That easy! I love that you also have the option to choose PNG or JPEG and you can choose color or B & W for your image. This is a great feature if you are creating worksheets or don't have access to a colored printer.  

You can also create visuals right on their website by visiting the Printing Center. Choose from many pre-made templates or design a custom template.

Choose your template and simply drag & drop your images where you want them. Save your creation and print.  

Another awesome feature is the Activity Library! You can save yourself time by downloading tons of visual supports already created by other Smarty Symbols users in the Activity Library. 

And as you can see, new visuals are continuously being added! These were just added this week.

Another plus is that they offer both a personal and a commercial subscription!

This is a huge plus for those of us that sell resources on Teachers Pay Teachers! Boardmaker and Symbol Stix have very strict limitations about selling resources that use their symbols and are not near as user-friendly either! So if you're planning to create and sell resources on TpT, then the Smarty Symbols commercial subscription is most definitely the way to go! 

You can learn more about Smarty Symbols and purchase your subscription here. If you'd love to use Smarty Symbols to create visuals for your own personal use and for your classroom, I'm giving away one personal subscription to one of my readers (courtesy of Smarty Symbols)!  

Entering is super easy! Just pin the image below on Pinterest and leave your pin URL in the comments below along with your email so I can contact you if you're selected!

Be sure you follow my advent calendar every day through Christmas on my FB page for a new giveaway or offer announcement every.single.day! Happy Holidays and good luck!

***Winner Announced*** 

Jean1Brown is the winner! Thanks everyone for entering!! I wish everyone could win, but stayed tuned as I have 21 more days of offers & giveaways coming your way!

SPEDtacular Sunday freebies & A Gift Card Blog Hop!

Welcome to SPEDtacular Sunday Freebies!! Every Sunday I host this freebie link up here on my blog! Visit every week to download free resources for your classroom! If this is your first time visiting, you can access all of the freebies from previous link ups by clicking on "SPEDtacular Sunday Freebies" under "My Files" on my right sidebar. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

If you're a TPT seller, blogger, or resource creator, I invite you to link up and share your own freebie using the link up tool below! 

Link Up Rules

1. All resources must be FREE! It can be free for the day, but please delete your link once you mark it back to paid.
2. Your freebie may link to your blog or store.
3. Freebie does not have to be related specifically to SPED, but should be practical for SPED.
4. If you are linking up from your blog, using this image in your post and linking back to my blog is not required, but is greatly appreciated! Be sure to share this image on your social media so others can see your freebie!

*I recommend using an image of your freebie & not your button when linking up. 

 Feel free to share the image above all over your social media to let other teachers know about these freebies! 

The link up tool will close on Saturday each week, but "forever" freebies will remain accessible! Come back every Sunday to link up or download new freebies!

BUT, before I let you grab your freebies, I have a huge announcement to make!

The TpT Cyber Sale starts tomorrow and runs through Tuesday! Save up to 28% in all participating stores!

Wanna win some extra spending $$$!

Grab your freebies and then scroll on down to participate in our TpT Gift Card Giveaway blog hop!

An InLinkz Link-up

TpT Cyber Sale Gift Card Blog Hop

Happy Holidays from The Bender Bunch! The TpT Cyber Sale is here! Save up to 28% in all participating stores on Monday and Tuesday! 

Wanna win some extra TpT spending $$$ for the Cyber Sale!? Click through all of our blogs and enter to win a separate gift card on all of our blogs! There's no limit on how many gift cards you can win! Winners will be announced Monday night at midnight (PST) or Tuesday morning, giving you all day Tuesday to shop the sale!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click the button below and head over to "Momma with a Teaching Mission" and enter to win another TpT gift card!

Happy Holidays from The Bender Bunch!!!

Behavior Goal Wall, IT WORKS!

I love using a Behavior Goal Wall in my classroom! It is so effective for reinforcing positive behaviors each day and reminding students of what they need to work on and holds them accountable. This is the third year I have used a Behavior Goal Wall and it has become a non-negotiable in my classroom! 

It is also a great visual and reminder for your aides to keep everyone on the same page and a great reminder for me of the goals and behaviors I am reinforcing each day!

For my student that is non-verbal, I am able to place his goals on his iPad in Proloquo 2 Go, so that he can also state his daily goals. 

Each day during our Morning Meeting, my students state their behavioral goals. I call on each student individually and say, "What are your goals _______?" They state their goals and we have a brief discussion on how they are doing.

Here are two specific examples currently being used in my classroom!

 Goals may be anything that the child needs to work on. Here are some examples of goals that have been used in my classroom:
Stay in my space.
Sit properly.
Keep lids on markers.
Keep chair legs on floor.
Work independently.
Use my words.
Try harder.
Share with others.
Get right to work.
Take responsibility for my actions.
Follow my schedule. 

I even encourage them to set goals for me, but they rarely have any. LOL! I must be doing good! HaHa! I tell them that even I, have goals that I need to work on in my life. And that everyone always has areas that they can improve in. 

This has been an effective tool in my classroom the last 3 years! It seems super simple, and is, but the difference it makes is amazing! I love how it not only holds students accountable for their own behaviors, but also provides a visual for them, my aides, and myself! 

Try it in your classroom! It doesn't take much to implement this! You can simply write your students' goals on a sheet of paper and hang them on the wall! But if you want something a little more colorful like my display, you can take a look at my editable Class Goals Display below!

Holding your students accountable and having them set goals for themselves is so important! What are some ways that your students participate in goal setting and their own learning?