Miss Pat looked up and saw Hector throwing a piece of paper on the floor. Wow, she thought, Hector doesn’t tidy up after himself; he expects others to clean up after him.
Miss Pat said, “Hector, what are you doing?” Hector turned red and said, “Nothing Miss Pat.” Miss Pat walked over to where he was sitting and picked up the paper he had crumpled up and thrown on the floor. She handed him the paper and said, “Hector where does this paper belong?” Hector mumbled, “In the trash Miss Pat.”
Miss Pat looked at Hector and said, “Well, if you know where it belongs why throw it on the floor?” Hector answered, “It was easier to throw it on the floor than get up and go put it in the trash basket.” Then he got up and put the paper in the trash.
Miss Pat told the class to tidy up their table areas before going to lunch. When she came back in the room after lunch she was not happy to see that a couple of the “Can Dos” had left their areas messy. So…when the class came back in after lunch it was time to have a talk about how to tidy up after yourself.
“Class,” said Miss Pat, “I was disappointed to see that some of you don’t know how to tidy up after yourselves. Annie raised her hand and asked, “What does tidy up mean?” Miss Pat smiled and answered, “Well, its a term that my grandma used to use all the time when I was a little girl. It means, clean up.”
Miss Pat thought a minute and then said, “I am going to go around the room and ask each one of you what you do at home to tidy up after yourselves.” As she went around the room there were answers such as…I put my toys away, I throw my dirty clothes in the laundry basket, I make my bed, I clean my dishes off the table after eating, I hang up my coat and hat when I get home.
A few of the “Can D0s” could not think of anything they do at home to tidy up after themselves. Not good thought Miss Pat, especially since these were the “Can Dos” who left their table areas messy. Maybe they don’t know how to tidy up, she thought.
Miss Pat announced, “Children, I have a way we can practice tidying up. It’s a game and we can play it on the computer. Everyone go to your computers. The “Can Dos” were all excited. They loved using the computers.
