End the Pencil War
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- In this video I show you the only way I’ve found to manage pencils successfully. No more finding them on the floor. Or watching kids sharpen them down to the nubbin pencil. Or crying on the inside as they snap off all the erasers. 😫
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I'm a middle school math teacher in my 60's, so my students are learning about going from class to class and bringing their own supplies. I can admit that the pencil situation was maddening, I would hand out 400 pencils a year and every day I would find broken pencil parts throughout the classroom. My rules: no use of the electric sharpener during class, I have manual sharpeners for students to use during class. I now only do mechanical pencils, and I glue pipe cleaners or plastic flowers to my pencils - and viola, the students bring and care for their own pencils and don't want to be seen using one of my silly pencils. For students who repeatedly will not bring a pencil to class, I get one of their shoes that they cannot get back until all of the other students have left the classroom. I've found that serial pencil forgetters loath being the last one to leave class.
Haha! Your comment reminded me of when I taught middle school and made labels for all my pencils that said, “Ms. Desrosier is my favorite teacher.” 😂 Most of the pencils never left my room and when they did, the other teachers knew who to return them to! Eventually I just let them all write in pen, which they loved, and they never lost their own pens. Oh, well. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to watch and comment! I really appreciate it. 🙌🏼✏️☺️
This sounds great. I have a question. If all of a student's pencils are dull before the end of the week, is there a way for them to refresh their pencils? Or do they come to you (in the middle of a lesson interrupting instruction) to ask you for more pencils? I'm trying to problem solve before I try this out/ also I really don't want to be responsible for sharpening pencils.
Great question! If all of their pencils are dull or break, I just trade them out for them quickly. I have a stash of sharpened pencils (maybe 10 or so) that are ready to be traded out throughout the week. But I’ve found that it’s pretty rare a student will go through all 5 pencils before the end of the week. If the students are still working on fine motor skills and are pressing too hard or snapping them, then that may be a skill that needs a bit more time and practice. So you may have to have a few extra back up pencils until that gets solidified. Hope that helps!
Awesome idea. Work in high school and this year had to deal with students taking pencils apart during class, as well as using the hand held sharpeners to take off the erasers. So crazy I had to take the pencils off the desks for a while. Never seen anything like this, its like the pencils became the new fidget toy.
Oh no that sounds like a mess! Who knew pencils would be such an issue at all grade levels?! 😆 Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. I really appreciate it! 💗
Love this. Doing it. That simple. I'm so done with pencil buckets and the chaos that goes along with buckets. Nobody sane can manage the endless drama. It becomes a Shakespearean tragedy.🎭
Haha! Love the metaphor. I definitely felt like I was becoming Iago until I figured out the pencil situation. 😉 Thank you so much for taking the time to watch and comment. I appreciate it!
I have subbed in many grade levels and can confirm that there are issues with pencils at every school and every grade level.
Haha! That makes me feel a bit better…I think. 😆 Maybe that’s our million dollar idea: figure out how to manage ALL the pencils. ✏️
@@TheTimeCrunchedTeacher middle schoolers are the worst. Many will engage in "pencil war" and break each other's pencils. In high school you have the repeat offenders. Students that never have a pencil even if you have them a dozen yesterday. You just have to be patient many struggle with ADHD or are still developing their organizational skills.
That sounds like the Great Pencil Challenge. I did that this year with my 5th graders. It didn't really work. Trying to make them individually responsible for a set number of pencils was a nightmare. They've still lost them. I got so frustrated. I bought golf pencils for them to use because they must complete their wirk somehow. So next year, I'm going back to the sharpened v. dull pencils. They belong to everybody.
Yes! Every year/grade can be so different. Some years I don’t have to manage pencils at all, and other years it feels like a full time job! 😆
Do you have the smelly pencil fund raisers in your district? Or purchase orders to buy the good pencils ?
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced smelly pencils. Do tell! 😂
But our district does provide the Ticonderoga pencils for us, which I consider to be the good pencils.
I assign one person to sharpen all at end of day. I will color code pencils. One color per table. A table captain is responsible for making sure all their pencils are in the box in the middle of the table. Erasers are color coded to match pencils, mini erasers match. They are to clean up at the end of the day. Pencil boxes are color coded and always in the middle of the table at the start of the day. This limits kids getting up and not being responsible and asking each day for a pencil. Kids do not have free reign of the sharpener.
What a great way to teach student responsibility! Love the color coded system. 🌈 Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment and share your ideas! 🥰
YAY!!
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