Shelly and Isador have their new home!

Thanks to the support of the students and staff at Hackensack Middle School, Shelly and Isador have been able to move into a new (used) 125 gallon tank with plenty of room to swim and play!

Moving to the new tank is definitely an adjustment for both Shelly and Isador. Not only do they have to get used to a larger tank with a higher water level (as it's supposed to be), they are now living in the same tank for the first time ever. Adjusting to a new roommate is probably the biggest challenge of all!

The tank looks pretty bare right now, but as we continue to raise money by covering textbooks, more decorations will be added to Shelly and Isador's new home.

Fundraiser

I hope that everyone had a great start to the school year...can you believe that we are 3 school days down, 177 to go? Tomorrow, most of us teachers will be getting back to reality and start assigning the "real" work and beging teaching the curriculum. So, hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen, it's going to be a wild ride!

I've been talking in class about the fundraiser that I will be kicking off on Monday - Shelly's Textbook Covering Service. Signs are posted throughout the school, emails have been made to the HMS faculty, and I've been talking your ears off about it. For the measly price of $1, I will gladly cover your textbook with a paper grocery bag (generously donated by Pathmark in Hackensack). Your textbooks need to remain covered throughout the year in an effort to preserve their condition for years to come, so why not have me do it for you?

If you'd like for me to cover your textbook for $1, please:

1. Purchase a ticket during the day in room 241A(before/during homeroom, during 5th period, in the hallway between classes).
2. After PM homeroom, come to room 241A with the textbook that needs covering. I will only take the tickets that were previously purchased and will not accept money afterschool.
3. Leave with an amazingly covered textbook!

You may be asking "What is Ms. Tiboldo raising money for?". Excellent question, and you should always ask that when someone says that they need money for a fundraiser. Currently, Shelly and her brother Isador reside in separate plastic containers with their water filters, basking platforms, basking lamps, and heater (in winter). Isador is doing fine in the tank so far (but he is growing - lost 12 plates over the summer), but Shelly has outgrown the "tank" tremendously and needs more space to move around. I am raising money to purchase a tank large enough to house both turtles together (they should be able to play with one another) and move around comfortably. I'm thinking that a 125 gallon tank would be suitable. The tank itself costs a couple hundred dollars, and I would need higher capacity filters and heaters for the larger tank. Pretty costly. I'm hoping to raise enough money to cover at least the majority of this expense.

This fundraiser will be ongoing throughout the year - if, at any time, your textbook cover comes off, come right on over to Room 241A afterschool with $1, and I'll recover your book for ya!

Thank you in advance for your support......I thank you, and Shelly and Isador definitely thank you. Oh, and a special shout out from Lox (the last remaining fish). He says "What's up?".

Below is a great youtube video on how I would love for Shelly and Isador's tank to look...wishful thinking!

Twas the night before school started.......

and all through her home

the teacher was preparing

a silly little poem.

Her photocopies were made

on multicolored paper

with the hope that all her students

would be happy to see her.

She wanted to tell them all

at the start of the academic year

that they can do anything

that their hearts hold dear.

And so it is with this

that I end this little rhyme:

Work hard and do your best

and you'll do just fine!

Ok, so I'm no Shel Silverstein or Dr. Seuss, but the beginning of the school year brings out a lot in a corny teacher like myself!

Each school year offers new opportunities - the opportunity to do better than we did the previous year, the opportunity to work hard and show what we're made of, and the opportunity to work on our weaknesses and make us stronger individuals.

I know that I have worked hard in the weeks prior to the opening of school to make our classroom a place where each of us is given all of these opportunities, myself included, and I hope that we can all take full advantage of them.

I consider the classroom pictures to be "before" pictures.....before I start to get a little cluttered, before I rearrange the tables into their normal quad formation, before the students come and turn the classroom into a place of learning. I look forward to the "after" pictures, because a classroom isn't a classroom without its most important feature: the students! (And all their mess!)

Here's to a terrific 2009-2010 school year! I cannot wait to meet all of you tomorrow! I should probably try to go to bed soon, before I try to rhyme again......... :)