Sunday, March 26, 2017

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!

Thanks for dropping by!


Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Need Resources? No Budget? Get What You Need!

Need supplies for your classroom? Have a limited budget? Have you heard of Donors Choose?

I often assume that all teachers know about Donors Choose, but recently discovered that many teachers out there have never heard of it! Especially newer teachers!

Well let me just tell you...you want to know about this fabulous organization! Donors Choose is a place where teachers can post their classroom projects and supply requests and donors can choose to fund your request. While not every project gets funded, I have posted 4 projects/requests on Donors Choose, and 3 of the 4 have been fully funded! According to Donors Choose, 70% of projects are fully funded! So that's a pretty high chance!

And project funding just keeps growing!



Here are the projects I have had funded!




Donors Choose is completely free and works on a point system. The more points you earn, the more options you'll have and the more funding you can request. You can even request funds for a field trip and a class visitor, once you've earned enough points, or even seek funding for professional development for yourself such as curriculum guides, books, workshops, seminars, and even courses!



After you create an account and create your project, you'll shop and select the resources you need from their online vendors and if and when your project is fully funded, Donors Choose automatically ships the resources directly to you! Choose from many popular vendors that you know and love like Scholastic, Lakeshore, School Specialty, Amazon, Nasco, Kaplan, Best Buy, just to name a few!


Here's how easy it is! Select your project type.
Then tell a little about your students.

Next, choose your vendor and start shopping.

Summarize what's in your cart and continue.

Give your project a title and explain how your project will impact your students.
And that's it! Submit and Donors Choose will review your submission within 5 days and either approve it or provide you with suggestions or corrections that need to be made to help you have the greatest chances of being funded. 

Once it's approved and posted, sit back and wait for it to be funded! Sometimes your project will receive multiple donors, as donors can choose to partially fund your project or simply donate a few dollars. Each time a donor gives to your project, you will receive an email notification. 

You'll also receive a custom URL to share your project with others and if you start a project for submission and don't have time to finish, it will be saved to your drafts to return back to later.

Projects do have an expiration date and only remain on the site for a few months...unless it has changed, it was 4 months. If your project is not fully funded, your points used will be returned to you and any donors that donated will be credited. 

The only requirement Donors Choose has is a mandatory thank you package if your project is funded. You must upload an impact letter and pictures of the resources in action to Donors Choose within a certain timeline that will be forwarded on to your donor(s). They respect student privacy, don't allow last names or uniform logos to show and provide photo releases for parents to sign. 

It doesn't get much easier than that! Donors Choose has allowed me to obtain resources for my students that I otherwise would not have been able to provide for my students. They are making a difference and impacting the lives of so many children! Allow them to make a difference in the lives of your students and submit your project TODAY! :)

Pin or share with others!

Sunday, March 19, 2017

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!

Thanks for dropping by!



Wednesday, March 15, 2017

My TOP IEP GOAL BANKS


IEP Goal Banks! Sometimes creating a goal from scratch for our students can be a difficult task. My district's previous IEP program, ENCORE, had a built in goal bank, which was very nice! Even though I had to tweek them a bit to meet the needs of each student, it was a good foundation and a great place to start. 

Well, this school year, my district adopted a new IEP program, Infinite Campus, and there are no Goal Banks provided. So when I'm stumped and at a loss for a specific goal, I've had to venture out and search for ideas! 

If you've ran into these same obstacles, and I'm sure you have, these are my top "go to" IEP Goal Banks that have been very helpful for me when writing IEP goals!


This site is great when looking for goals for your students that are mostly working on a functional curriculum that includes articulation and communication goals. I love that you can also contribute to this Goal Bank by emailing your goals to the moderator and having your goals added to the bank. This allows you to easily refer back to them later!


This is a frequent "go to" IEP Goal Bank! Not only are IEP goals provided for Math, Reading, Writing, Communication/Language, Functional, and Social/Emotional....each goal is attached to an activity or lesson to help your student's achieve the goal! 


Bridges 4 Kids offers one of the largest Goal Banks that targets not only the areas mentioned above, but also, Vocational/Career, Independent Living, Study Skills, Recreational, and Motor Skills. Their Goal Bank offers a wealth of goals that are broken down into specific strands. This is my most frequent "go to" for writing my IEP goals!

While there are many other IEP goal banks out there that I could list....I have found these three to be the most useful and too many resources can sometimes be cumbersome! So don't overwhelm yourself! I like to find 2-3 "go to" resources and stick with that. Otherwise, you'll find yourself feeling overwhelmed and having too much to manage! 

These 3 Goal Banks should provide you with all of the basic, foundational goals that you will need to write the appropriate goals for your students at those times when you are at a complete loss of words!

Do you have other "go to" Goal Banks for writing your IEP Goals? If so, please share! 



Sunday, March 12, 2017

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!

Thanks for dropping by!



Sunday, March 5, 2017

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!

Thanks for dropping by!