8. Roscoe Riley, Superteacher

Chapter 8 Roscoe Riley, Superteacher Maybe you think it's easy being a teacher. I used to. After all, they get to boss around little kids all day. How hard could that be? Well, here are some things you should know in case you ever become a teacher: 1. Do not grouch at your students. Even if they stop their learning so they can chew their tail.

2. Do not try to make them learn everything in one day. On account of their brain might explode. Or they might take a nap. 3. Don't forget to praise your students when they do something right. A treat is a good idea. A cookie for the teacher is always nice, too. I might even have given up teaching when my student tried to eat a book. That can be pretty hard on a teacher. But I kept seeing a beautiful picture in my head. It was me at the dog trick contest. With Goofy by my side.

And a judge handing me a gigantic trophy. The contest was Saturday. And today was Wednesday. I didn't have a lot of time to teach Goofy to read like Edward. The first thing I had to do was find the right book for Goofy.

I let him come with me to my bedroom. In case there was a book he especially liked. For example, I like to read about dinosaurs. Also superheroes. I found some books about dogs. (Because Goofy is one.) And cars. (Because he likes to ride in them.) And cats. (Because he likes to chase them.) I put them on the floor in front of Goofy. "Which one do you like, Goof?" I asked. He didn't answer. He was sniffing a dirty shirt on the floor. It had a nice, tasty spot of dried spaghetti sauce on it. I picked a book called Bad Cat Goes to the Vet. I figured Goofy would get a kick out of that.

We went to the kitchen. I stuffed my pockets with dog treats. And grabbed a banana for me. "Where are you two going?" Mom asked. "I'm teaching Goof to read," I said. "After that, could you teach him to do the dishes?" she asked. As soon as we got outside, Goofy saw Hector. Hector is a squirrel who lives in a big oak tree behind our house. He loves to tease poor old Goofy. Hector made some "Come and get me, doggie!" sounds. Goofy flew across the yard. His ears were flapping. His tongue was flapping. Hector waited.

And waited. And waited. When Goofy was just a couple feet away, Hector zipped up his tree. He made some more noises that said, "You moron! Why don't you ever learn, dogface?" Goofy stared up at him, panting.