Philip likes to think that by goofing off in class, he's doing everyone a favor by keeping them awake. Otherwise, school lessons would be more than a little boring.

Not surprisingly, that's not how his teacher Miss Narwin sees things. She rightly regards Philip as an inveterate troublemaker who's just trying to undermine her authority. Fairly soon, the two are locked in a battle of wills that will only escalate as the book progresses.

In chapter 4, "Monday, March 19th," Phillip escalates his conflict with Miss Narwin by writing a silly, sophomoric answer to an English question set by her on The Call of the Wild. To a question relating to the potential symbolism of Buck in the story, Philip answers that the dog is actually symbolic of a cat. He then goes on to express the opinion that the book itself is a dog.

When Miss Narwin reads Philip's childish answer, she ticks him off for his "unacceptable" response and tells him that he's required to give The Call of the Wild respectful, thoughtful attention even if he doesn't actually like the book. Despite her strong criticism of his answer, she gives him a C minus, which, under the circumstances, seems rather generous.

Later on in the story, in the chapter entitled "Thursday, March 29th," the conflict between Miss Narwin and Philip escalates further when Philip sings the national anthem when everyone in class is supposed to be listening in silent, respectful attention as it is being played. Miss Narwin tells him in no uncertain terms to stop singing, but Philip insists, somewhat disingenuously, that he's only being patriotic.

This particular conflict will come to have great significance later on, as Philip will turn Miss Narwin's prohibition on singing the national anthem into a nationwide media sensation.