The Bender Bunch

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Chair Clearance & Stock Images Free for 7 Days!

Well my blog template took a poop a couple of days ago! Thanks to Brie from "Breezy Special Ed" for informing me about it! I purchased the template from "Simply Fabulous Premade Blog Templates" last June who apparently had used Photobucket to host my template and must not have had a premium account. Don't understand it completely, but apparently Photobucket only allows a certain amount of views each month. I attempted to contact the seller of my template, to find that her shop was for sale and she has apparently gone out of business.

So for now, it's gonna have to look like this. I did manage to upload the same background as luckily I had made and saved it to use on my FB page, but the rest is history. I have really been wanting a new custom design anyway, so this will probably push me to finally do it! I wanted to use "Bird in Hand Designs," but she does not have an opening until NOVEMBER!! I also really like the designs by TCBOTB Custom Designs, but they seem a little pricier and their site doesn't indicate how long the waiting list is. Still going to do some shopping around!

Speaking of shopping...check out this HUGE deal I got today from Kohls online, thanks to Brad's Deals!

I'm so excited! I got both of these for my classroom reading area and for only $20. 20 each plus the shipping and tax. They are regularly priced at $289.99!!!!

They are going fast! Many of the colors are already sold out, so if you want to get in on this deal, hurry! Click on the Kohls link above to go directly to the chairs.

Use code "SPENDNSAVE" to get 15% off.

If you buy two, or spend at least $30, you can use code "GR8FINDS" to save another $10.

And if you are paying with a Kohl's card, which I wasn't....you can enter code "JulyMVC" to save even more!!

Also, if you're looking for stock images for free, "GraphicStock" is offering 7 days of downloads for totally FREE! And they have 7,228,790 images to choose from! You do have to put in a credit card, so get your downloading done and be sure you cancel by day 6 or 7.

Here are some of the images I've been downloading to use in some of my future projects.

And here's a look at a new item I just added to my store!

Door Hanger Signs

I'll give them to my readers for FREE! Just leave your email in your comment below if you'd like them...and I'll send them over to you!

photo 262537ca-e39d-4585-9d7c-a9633c31f18e_zps73236c33.jpg

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Get to Know a Special Educator!

A linky party for Special Educators?....why yes...don't mind if I do!

I was super excited to see this linky from "Tales of a Carolina Teacher" today! She's hosting a linky party for special educators to meet and give their best advice for the new school year! I mean a linky just for special educators! It's so hard to meet up with special educators in blogville and especially all in one place!

So here's a little about me and my top advice for special educators!

If any of you follow my blog, then you know my passion is shaping behaviors! I love the challenge and the reward that follows! I love taking the most defiant child that nobody wants in their class and shaping them into the most well-behaved child! I teach using ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) and DTT (Discrete Trial Teaching).

Here are a couple of PowerPoints I put together for my paras that share some of these strategies! You may find these helpful as well!

PPT #1
PPT #2

AND....if you're a Special Educator, click on the link at the top of my blog that reads, "Special Education Blogs," and you'll discover even more Special Education Bloggers. Be sure to link up your blog too while you're there!

Monday, July 7, 2014

A Little Bit of Everything....Cooking, Markdown Monday, Monday Meet Up, and a Freebie!

I'm linking up with 4 awesome blogs today for "Monday Meet Up," "Eating, Drinking, and Linking," "Markdown Monday," and "Classroom Freebies!"

One of my goals this summer was to actually make some of the recipes that I've been pinning all year! Yesterday I knocked two off my list!

I made French Toast Casserole!!! Great!
Here's the pin:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/142848619405905580/

And for dinner, I made Mongolian Beef. Very good as well!
Here is that pin:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/142848619404611221/

I recommend both of these! Both are very easy and delicious!

As you may know, I do alot of cooking in my classroom! My kids love it and I love it!

Cooking is not only an essential life skill, it is a great opportunity to teach students essential literacy and math skills. Through cooking and working with recipes, students are exposed to reading, sequencing, following directions, measurement, and other mathematical operations! Cooking also serves as a fabulous way to get student writing how-to, persuasive, and opinion paragraphs.

I've been working on putting together a cooking unit for the classroom; to include recipes we've made and to include some new ideas for next year since I'll have the same kiddos again!

Well it's complete! I just finished it up lastnight and would love to offer it at a discounted price for "Markdown Monday."

The recipes follow the following format and provide easy to follow step-by-step directions. Recipes that feature a girl require some cooking, while recipes featuring a boy require NO cooking!

Here's a preview of some of the learning activities included for the recipes!

This is not just an ordinary cookbook! It is about getting students engaged in learning. With these 34 timely, and simple kid-friendly recipes your students will practice sequencing, graphing, computation, measurement, and learn to write persuasive, opinion, and how-to paragraphs.

And for Markdown Monday, you can get it for $2 off through Friday!!!

You can check it out {here}.

And for your freebie.....

You can snag up these iPad Classroom Rule Posters {here}.

Click on any of the blog buttons in this post if you'd like to join their linky party!!

Friday, July 4, 2014

Five for Friday & Some HOT Deals!

Well I'm finally back in action and doing what I love....blogging and creating! My BFF left Sunday, then I was down with food poisoning and recovering Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! While I had a blast with my BFF, it was go...go...go...nonstop! We did sooooo much I'm afraid I may need more than a "FIVE" for Friday to share it all!! So let's see if I can scrunch this all into 5!!

But first, here's my lovely bff on the right! Now remember, I had not seen this girl in 25 years!!!! So it was pretty exciting!

GHOSTWALK TOUR

at the Grand Canyon Caverns!

We each got our own EMF device to measure activity!!! So fun and we were the only two that signed up....so we had the whole caverns to ourselves....in the dark....with flashlights....oh and our tour guide!

Speaking of tour guide....this is him on the right! Let's just say he got a little sick on the tour. My friend and I are convinced that he was experiencing an attack! lol. He cracked us up!

This is the suite right inside the cavern that you can actually rent and stay in.....that is if you've got $800 bucks for the night!!! It's on the top ten list for the most weirdest places to spend the night!!

We took a day trip up to Oatman, Arizona....an old ghost mining town where burros roam the streets....and the stores as you can see above...lol. They put on gun shows and there's shops everywhere!! Clark Gable and Carole Lombard stayed in the hotel and supposedly it is also haunted!

Spent quite a bit of time on our beautiful Colorado River!!! My friend and her daughter got to ride a wave runner for the very first time!!!

I took her to see the Hoover Dam!!!!
Just absolutely beautiful highlight of the visit!! Wish I had taken more photos, but I've been there so many times...you tend to forget!