As my class exited the room, I saw it. Someone had drawn a huge X on the rug with an Expo marker. My brand new, stain-free rug was now imperfect.

As my class returned from specials, I had post- it notes at each person’s seat. I had the kids write I did it or I did not do it so the truth could come out privately. Sure enough, one of my kiddos fessed up. Once out in the hall with me, he simply said, “It was me, and I don’t know why I did it.”

His consequences were to explain to Mr. Val what he had done and to help Mr. Val clean up the stain. When Mr. Val came to my room to see what happened and to help my student clean up the carpet, the whole class was present. My student went up to Mr. Val and sheepishly said he was sorry for what he did as he looked down at his feet. Mr. Val very kindly said, “When you apologize to a person, you look them in the eyes.” My student apologized again, and Mr. Val thanked him for the apology. Then he said to the whole class, the secret to removing a stain is to blot, not rub.

The class watched as if a fascinating science experiment were taking place before their very eyes. The mark was successfully removed. When Mr. Val looked up, all of my students had written on their personal wipe boards, “Thank you, Mr. Val!” It was touching to see their appreciation. So many lessons were learned by all of us, especially for my little friend that caused the incident.

Maybe the advice of blotting rather than rubbing would be good advice in many situations if not taken literally. Learning truly takes place in many ways at Trinity. Thank you Mr. Val for being a part of the learning in my room!

Learner, Thinker, Writer: Stacey Goss serves as a Second Grade Lead Teacher for Trinity School