This Week and My Hollywood Themed Classroom

So this post is a mish mash of things!  It has been a crazy week.  First K got sick then I got sick and now I think my husband is working on getting sick...boo!  However despite that I did get some things accomplished.  I wanted to share some of those with you!  The first is my room, now granted we have been back to school for a month, but I don't have any pics posted.  So, I thought since my week was so crazy I would be a more showing than telling type week here.  So here is my Hollywood Themed room.

Our Classroom Mission Statement

      So we are a "Leader in Me" school.  Part of this is having creating mission statements.  I have my personal one that is posted on the front of my desk, my kids have one in the Leadership Binders, and then we have one posted in the room that we came up with together.  On the first day we created the mission statement.  Then I have props for the kids like feather boas, sunglasses, big beads, and mini statues (like an Emmy or Golden Globe - hehe) to wear and then I take their pictures.  I went to Walgreens and printed them as black and white photos.  When I got back the next day I had them sign them like they were old Hollywood headshots.  I thought it turned out super cute.

My Mission Statement

Standards/I Can Statements

 At the front of the room I have my Standards board.  I found tickets in Read and Yellow at Dollar Tree and I just stapled them in loops around the board.  Such a great way to keep the theme and cheap too!  You can see that I also used the tickets around my alphabet.

Student Work Board

Center Rotation Board/Word Wall

So on the side of my room I have my Bravo Board that I post work.  Now I know you can't see in detail, but what I did was glitter the clothes pins.  I just brushed them with Mod Podge, sprinkled with glitter, and then let them dry.  Then once they were dry I put another coat of Mod Podge so that the glitter wouldn't fall off.  I just hot glued the clothes pins onto the bulletin board paper.  So far it has been great! The other thing on the side wall is my "Award Winning Centers" I have center cards that I created along with calendar and other items that you can check out http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Liz-Ridgeway I used empty candy boxes to name my groups.  I took packing tape and wrapped it around the candy so that the boxes would stay.  So far they have kept for 2 years with no issues.

Data Board

The last thing on my side wall is my board for Data.  One of our school wide goals is to have data visible to the kiddos.  I have something up now... but this pick is from before the kids were here.  So I post our average reading test scores, our average math test scores, our goals as a class, and then scores for each week that I print from SME (Success Maker).  I will see if I can post a pic of what it looks like now soon.

View of the Back Wall

Then on my back wall I have an AR board with  little popcorn buckets I made.  I have pieces of popcorn that they add as they get AR points.  I used a piece of black foam board that I cut and then printed "Lights, Camera, Read" on it.  The yellow balls are actually ping pong balls that I painted yellow and hot glued on.  The other board I created by cutting red strips of paper and putting them up on white paper.  I hand cut the popcorn... it took way too long :)  I have pics of the kids up on it right now.  I just snap random pics while we are working.  They love it!

Paula Deen's Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

Ok, so on a totally different note I am getting ready for a little get together at my house this weekend.  My husband is going to grill, so I decided I would make some dessert, and the other folks could bring the sides.  So this "dessert" or "salad" depending on where you are from is one of my favorites.  It combines all things yummy into one delish bite.  Now, I never had this growing up, and had never even heard of it until I went to college.  I was a Pi Phi at DePauw University and the ladies in the kitchen kept us well fed with this dessert.  It combines strawberries, jello, pretzels, and cool whip.. HELLO-YUM!  Anyway Strawberry Pretzel Dessert is AMAZING!  So try it out, and find out what I was missing for the first 21 years of my life.

Ingredients

2 cups crushed pretzels
3/4 cup melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar, plus 3/4 cup sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1 (8-ounce) container whipped topping
2 (3-ounce) packages strawberry gelatin dessert mix
2 cups boiling water
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen strawberries
Whipped topping or whipped cream, to garnish

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2.  For the crust, mix the pretzels, butter, and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Press this mixture into a 9 by 13-inch pan and bake for 7 minutes. DON'T COOK ANY LONGER!  Set aside and allow to cool. In fact I usually put it in the fridge with hot pads under it to help cool it. 

3.  In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and 3/4 cup of sugar. Fold in the whipped topping, and spread over the cooled crust. Refrigerate until well chilled.

4.  While all that is setting up get out a sauce pan and bring the water to a boil.  Then remove from the heat, stir in the Jello packages.  Once that is dissolved add the strawberries.  Let this set up a bit in the fridge.  I usually wait 10 minutes, maybe a bit longer.  I want it to start to gel, but not get all clumpy.  

5.  Once is is slightly set pour over the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate until serving time.  I try to make it so that it can have overnight to set up. 

It's a lot of steps, but an easy dessert to make!  Enjoy

Liz