Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger (Wayside School 3)

Deedee still didn’t trust her.

“Okay,” said Mrs. Drazil. “Before we get started I want to say one more thing. I enjoy teaching so much that sometimes I get a little carried away. I talk too much. So if I start to get boring, will somebody please raise your hand and tell me.”

“For real?” asked Todd. “You want us to tell you to stop talking?”

“And we won’t get in trouble?” asked Bebe.

“No, of course not,” said Mrs. Drazil. “You’ll be helping me and the rest of your class. You’re not going to learn anything if you’re bored.”

“Cool!” said Terrence.

“Oh, I suppose when I first started teaching, I used to be a little more strict,” said Mrs. Drazil. “I even worried about things like whether my students had clean fingernails or if their shirts were tucked in.” She laughed. “But times have changed. I’ve changed. Besides, the kids were a lot worse back then. At least some of them.”

For just a second her sweet face turned sour as she looked at her notebook on her desk.

Then she smiled again. “I believe teaching requires mutual cooperation. I will cooperate with you, and you need to cooperate with me. If we work together, we will have a very enjoyable learning experience.”

Her face turned sour again. “But if you cross me, you will be very, very sorry.” She ran her fingers over her blue notebook. “Oh, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday I will get you! You can run, but you can’t hide.”

She smiled. “Okay, let’s get started.”

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Chapter 14

A Light Bulb, a Pencil Sharpener, a Coffeepot, and a Sack of Potatoes

“Galileo was a great scientist,” said Mrs. Drazil. “He was born in Italy in 1564 and died in 1642. He was the first person to use a telescope to study the stars. And he also helped figure out the laws of gravity.”

“Oh, I know about gravity,” said Joe. “Mrs. Jewls pushed a computer out the window. It fell a lot faster than a pencil.”

“I don’t think so,” said Mrs. Drazil. “Galileo proved that all objects fall at the same speed. He conducted a very famous experiment. He dropped lots of different objects off the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is in Italy. It was built in—”

Todd raised his hand. “You’re getting a little boring,” he said.

“Oh, my goodness, am I?” asked Mrs. Drazil.

Rondi, Leslie, Paul, and Calvin nodded their heads.

“I’m sorry,” said Mrs. Drazil. She thought a moment. “I know!” she exclaimed. “Let’s do the experiment here!”

The children cheered. They loved experiments.

Mrs. Drazil rubbed her hands together. “Let’s see. We’ll need a coffeepot, a pencil sharpener, a light bulb, and …” She thought a moment. “We need something heavy.”

“An elephant’s heavy,” said Benjamin.

“There are no elephants in Wayside School,” said Mrs. Drazil.

Everyone laughed.

“How about a sack of potatoes?” asked Ron. “I bet Miss Mush has one.”

“Go see,” said Mrs. Drazil.

“There’s a coffeepot down in the office,” said Stephen.