Caught Red Handed

My student teacher was sick today.  That meant I was running the show today.  The day went relatively glitch free until the very end.  The final class of the day is first grade.  They are painting their very own Starry Night pictures using oil pastels.

At least, they are SUPPOSED to be painting their pictures.

One little boy decided to paint something else, instead.

His hands.

Red.

He got caught literally 'red handed' during clean up time.  I have to tell you.  I am not the nicey-nice teacher when I catch someone who has misbehaved.  I made him look me in the eye and tell me exactly what he did.  Of course, I already knew... I just wanted him to squirm over having to confess.  Then, after ascertaining that he was a 'later gator' (a B-track student heading to recess from my class instead of an A-track student heading for home), I informed him that he would just have to give up his recess, stay in the art room, and scrub his hands clean... because oil pastel doesn't come off very easily.

Oh, you should have seen the hang-dog look on his face!  You would have thought his pet dragon had died.

So, after seeing all the rest of the students out the door when the bell rang, I walked over to the sink where he was waiting with a very gloomy look on his face.

I asked. "What have you learned?"

"I don't know."  He mumbled tearfully.

My older students know I won't let them go until they are able to give me a satisfactory answer on that one, but I cut the 6 year old some slack.  So, I patiently guided him through the thought process that oil pastels are for paper, not skin, and that he would NEVER EVER want to do it again!

Then we scrubbed his hands clean and I sent him out the door with a high five and a smile...


 ...to enjoy the rest of his recess.