The sign was on the top shelf, but Maggie could not reach the top shelf. She tried with all her might but was unable to reach her sign.
She got down on her knees to look for something to grab onto to get herself up, but she could not. She tried climbing the bookshelf, but it was too narrow and she was much too clumsy.
Her teacher saw what was happening, and she picked up the little girl and turned the sign around so that it read, "Please put your belongings on the bottom shelf so you can grab them easily later."
Her teacher asked, "Did you see the sign?"
The little girl answered, "Yes, but I don't want to get into trouble."
The teacher decided that rather than getting into trouble right away, she would give the little girl a chance to make up for her error.
She took her to the back room, sat her down and said, "I know you did not mean to do what you did and I know you are clumsy!"
"I want you to go home and put all your belongings on the floor in a neat pile so that when you come back the next day, you won't get into trouble."
Maggie thought it over and decided that she would do the task. The next day she returned to school with a neat stack of items on the bottom shelf of the bookshelf. She was no longer clumsy!
Maggie was surprised that her teacher wasn't angry. Instead, her teacher said, "My little girl did a very good job, and I am going to keep you with me in the afternoons to help with the students and to help with the library."
After Maggie finished helping out in the school library, her teacher gave her an A.