>Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, made an amazing contribution to children’s literature when he decided to write and illustrate books that were both readable and fun. His birthday was March 2nd, and many schools celebrate Read Across America in his honor. Just for fun, and Dr. Seuss was all about fun, here’s a little Seuss Trivia. Answers will be posted later this week.

1. How many words did Dr. Seuss use in writing The Cat in the Hat?
2. Name one of Dr. Seuss’ rare non-rhyming books.
3. The fox in Fox in Socks tries to interest what character in attempting several tongue-twisters?
4. What is the name of the little boy in To Think that I saw it on Mulberry Street?
5. (This one’s a toughie) Dr. Seuss wrote a poem called “The Perfect Gift.” What did he recommend as the perfect gift?
6. Name the con man who talks the Sneetches out of their money by removing and attaching stars (upon thars).
7. Dr. Seuss did not illustrate this colorful book, published posthumously.
8. Finish this phrase. “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An ____________’s faithful, one hundred percent.”
9. In The Sneetches and other stories, you’ll find a story about a woman who named all her children this.
10. How many hats did young Bartholomew Cubbins inadvertently wear?

I’m sure many of these are out there on the Internet somewhere. If you’re up for some low-tech fun, dig into a stack of Dr. Seuss books instead.

>I spent the day catching up. No, I spent part of the day catching up. I still had to teach, and to do that I had to plan for today. Since I missed all of my prep time last Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday was a staff development day (which I missed due to flu), I had nothing in my plan book. Blank page.
So…I was juggling at least four balls. I caught up a little on the stacks of paper at my desk (one ball) while the kids took a math test and watched a science video. I got a little ahead on tomorrow’s plans (the second ball) while eating lunch at my desk. By my first regular prep period this afternoon at 2:15, I was ready to fall over and nap at the computer. Instead, I ran the latest test scores and placement procedures for math and analyzed them (a third ball). Tomorrow I’ll have the names ready for acceleration testing.
Actually teaching my class was the fourth item juggled. The students were as antsy as a group can be after a four day weekend. It reminded me of yet another metaphor: having 29 corks in a sinkful of water and trying to keep them all underwater at the same time. My friend Lu used to describe the scene as trying to keep 29 frogs in a bucket. Either way, the teacher attempting to subdue the masses gets rather wet or slimy in the process.
Just like juggling on the home front, sometimes on-the-job juggling throws in something fresh, flaming, or fragile. The unexpected juggling item today wasn’t flaming, but it was fragile and unforgiving. The egg I juggled (along with the four balls) was providing work for a rather edgy student on a long term in-school suspension. In between planning, teaching, grading, and analyzing, I set aside work for this one and emailed the specialist with ideas for using this time productively so this particular frog wouldn’t hop out of her bucket or start eating bugs. No chance of a prince here, I’m afraid.
Yesterday I predicted I’d start my workweek by joining a roller coaster in midride. It was really more like a tilt-a-whirl. I was going so many different directions at once that I’m still not sure I got everywhere I needed to be. But I kept most of my corks underwater. Just hand me a towel — I’m not ready to throw mine in quite yet.