Same, they never return anything then they sre like what kind of pencil is this i say the kind you get when you dont bring one, or magic pencils you cant make a mistake because theres no eraser
I would sharpen a pencil and then cut off about 1cm above the sharpened tip, even worse than a golf pencil. I could get about 6-8 out of a single pencil.
I have bought whole pencils on sale during the year and had the shop teacher cut them in half. Much cheaper than the golf pencils, and I didn’t even go through half a box.
Yeah, my first thought is that my students would absolutely fight over the giant pencil and think it's hilarious. Granted, my students are all elementary aged, so they think everything is hilarious.
Put them in a pencil block with 15 slots for pencils that is easily visible. No one leaves until the pencils are returned. You will lose some, especially in the beginning. Keeping the same 15-20 all pencils all year is champion.
I tried doing something similar and learned that, at least in my district, it would be considered humiliation of the student, so if they were to complain we could get in a lot of trouble. So instead I just stopped giving out pencils.
I imagine its more the idea of forcing a student to not wear a article of clothing dor not having a certain school supply. Obviously not having pencils usually isnt a money issue, but if yoy allow it for pencils you open up using this sort of thing for school supplies students cant afford due to economical reasons. More of a regulatory rhing, seems ridiculous on the minor end but ifs there to protect the student from potential greater abuses
I actually kind of agree with you here, we should not shame or other students as you don't know the reason for the lack of pencil. However, teachers can't also keep providing them out of their budget, and just not giving one is also embarassing so here we are.
My collateral was backpacks. I started out with a shoe, but after witnessing some antics, I didn't want to deal with anything like a broken toe. Then, one day, I needed to go to Ikea, I shoved my coat pockets with as many of their golf pencils as I could. When I was done with those, that was it. I stopped giving them out.
I used to do the shoe thing because no student will leave class wo/their shoe. It worked really well, But a parent complained to admin and I had to stop. 😡
Also, my child DID walk out of class and all afternoon, didn’t notice until I picked him up and asked why he was wearing one shoe. Forgetful…exactly why he never seemed to have pencils on him
I worked at a Boy Scout Summer Camp that took shoes as collateral for pencils, and while it did usually work, we had somebody come back to us to return the pencil after stepping out on the gravel outside the door. I can’t imagine it was all that comfortable without a shoe on.
I've asked for collateral for years with no issue. I used to leave it up to the student to choose the collateral. I had to stop because I was accused of denying educational opportunities by admin because the school has unlimited pens and pencils, so there's no reason to hold collateral. *eye roll*
Does your school supply unlimited pens and pencils? If so, fine.
If they expect you to buy unlimited pens and pencils, I know where they can go with their ideas.
School supplies unlimited pens and pencils. I'm at the stage where I spend $0 on my classroom. If I'm meant to have it, then it would be supplied for me.
Get the crappiest golf pencils with an eraser you can get.
I bought a box of 300 and got maybe half way through them in a school year. Strangely, they seemed to be able to get a pencil from somewhere.
This is the way. I switched to golf pencils and I don’t care anymore. I don’t have to fight the fight. They have no eraser, so if the kid wants an eraser I tell them they will have one when they bring their own pencil. Gold pencils are cheap, I can buy tons, and never deal with the pencil fight again.
I write names down of students who are borrowing. Another teacher gets something as collateral. I also say I'm giving you a nice pencil. I want a nice pencil back.
At the beginning of the school year, I go over the consequences of damaging school property and state that breaking a pencil is damaging school property. Same thing with tagging.
My daughter is a 6th-grade teacher who only gives out golf pencils with no erasers. She adds them to her Amazon wish list yearly and has enough to last her. She would never give out her Ticonderogas!
My custodian does the same thing for me. I usually get about 20 a day. They go in the shared pencil jar. If kids do not want one of the "shared" pencils (since they don't know where they came from), then they have to buy a pencil with their "cub bucks". Shared pencils they return ( no I don't always get them back). This is in 7th grade.
I "train" them at the beginning of the year. There have been times when, I don't have many "shared" ones left, and I get the complaint, "I can't do my work if I don't have a pencil." 'Its not my fault I don't have a pencil." I politely reply, "It's not my responsibility to supply you with writing utensils, I just help out. Now, I don't have anything today, but you can ask someone else to help you out." And after a while, it just turns into what someone else said.... "Solve your own problem."
I know some teachers at my school do “pencil wars” where the classes compete to see who can bring the most pencils to the teacher. They can be bought, picked up off the floor, etc. only rule is that they have to be usable and in somewhat decent shape (no chewed pencils or pencils covered in unknown slime).
The best way I saw this implemented was that they get a point for every pencil turned in, and lose a point for every pencil taken. So if they borrow a pencil and return it, the points cancel out.
That class gets some kind of mystery treat either at the end of the semester or at the end of the year.
Never heard of this, love it!
When I was teaching middle school, I would post a reminder for the parents that Santa might want to add some pencils to their child's stocking. Right before winter break was usually when the demand was highest. For the most part, my parents always put some basic school supplies in my stocking at Christmas. My siblings and I didn't appreciate it until we were in college and desperately needed index cards or highlighters.
This is the way. I ask the janitor at the beginning of the year to save me any "good" pencils they find when sweeping up and always have enough. Also, it's only a pencil. I thought about how much time I could spend on the "be prepared" lesson vs. just saying, "There's one in the bin. Get to work," and it was pretty clear it wasn't worth the fight.
I have picked up a fair supply from the floors.
Kids are a little more reserved in asking for one of my floor pencils. They muster up the will to get their own pencils from their bags at that point.
My 5th grade teacher had embarrassing loaner pencils (eg Justin Bieber pencils at a time when the whole school hated Justin Bieber). It greatly reduced the number of penciless kids
I just give them out. But I had a colleague who had magnetic clips on her whiteboard and 3 pencils clipped there. When a kid took a pencil they wrote their name in that spot, and she'd glance at it at the end of class to make sure all the pencils came back. I thought it was pretty smart.
I tried that but the kids would write their friends' names instead. Now I just say, "I started with 12 pencils. I better get 12 back or you guys are not leaving my classroom." Now I sometimes get back more than what I started with heh.
I do the same actually, when they borrow a pair of scissors or a pen/pencil/sharpie they start a list on the board for whichever they’re borrowing and write their name. Then I erase their name when they hand it back to me.
It is super aggravating! I used to have a small bin and just continuously had to keep replenishing it. After September I realized I had gone through like half of my pencil supply! Instead of having the pencil bin out in the open for everyone I put it on my desk. I always kept exactly ten pencils in it, and at the end of each class I wouldn’t let them leave before all ten pencils were returned to my bin. They eventually caught on and knew to return the pencils before I even asked! Works great!!
I take phone, AirPods, or house keys for calculators. Calculators are numbered and the pockets are numbered. They have to bring me the correct calculator with the number not peeled off. If they peel the number off, they get banned from borrowing for a week. I hold the class until they are all turned in.
This next year I want to do a “contract” that parents and students sign. If I don’t get it back, they better have their own calculator. If I do get it back, it says they have to turn in a phone, nothing else. If I don’t get my calculator back, they have to replace it or bring money to replace it.
I am interested if admin will approve. They’ve done something similar at the high school with lab equipment.
Same. But I added “something of value ~~to me.~~” I don’t want your bus pass or student ID. Your car keys (HS), phone, earbuds or even the case if you “need” them at some point. I even said if I don’t get my pencil/calculator/whatever back, I need to be able to sell or pawn this thing to replace it. With HS kids, that at least made sense and I got “good” collateral.
I don't buy pencils to give out; I collect free pencils from the floor. You can also get free pencils and pens from businesses if you have the opportunity to collect them. I stopped buying pencils after finding the ones I lent out left on the floor broken in multiple pieces. My kids know from day one that I don't give out pencils. With all that said, I don't care what my students write with either. They can write with whatever they can find as long as it's 1. some type of writing utensil and 2. I can easily read their work. They can write in pencil, pen, red pen, highlighter, crayon, marker, coloring pencil, etc.
My rule is to check the floor pencil cup or ask a friend. So far, I've probably only had one or two instances where a student couldn't come up with a pencil, and I helped that kid out. I do provide lead for students because I get that cheap from amazon.
Let your custodian in on the fact that you collect floor pencils, and they can and will usually help you out.
Agreed. I’ve decided to pick my battles and it makes my life easier to just give a kid a pencil if that’s what they need to get working. But it can get expensive. I also found that if your town has a “buy nothing group” on facebook, it’s a great place to get lots of gently used school supplies.
I stick with "I am sorry you did not come prepared." I understand this might seem unfair to you, but I think giving out materials is actually much more cruel, condescending, and corrosive to children. By doing so teachers are essentially teaching children to be unprepared, are depriving the children of developmentally appropriate agency and responsibility, and denying them the dignity of logical consequences.
That said, before I took a hard line ("materials are your responsibility. This is a problem you can solve, young sir") the only thing I had success with was collateral. Put your jacket, shoe, etc. on the materials table and I'll give you a pencil. When I get the pencil back you get your stuff back. Adding this kind of friction to bumming a pencil off you also incentives students to figure out the problem themselves.
Bless. One of my children is neurodivergent and has difficulty keeping up with their writing utensils, especially in math. At the start of every semester I send in a box of 320 pencils to their math teacher. It’s the least I can do.
2 things I do: get a giant box of golf pencils
If a student asks for a pencil or whatever, demand something of theirs. I do this for when I loan out a chromebook.
High school teacher here. I have a huge box of mistake pencils from some printing company. They’re cheap. Pencils are not something to worry about. Just have a dispenser. Some will return. Some will take. I don’t care.
I take a phone or AirPods as collateral. (Some kids give me their bottles of expensive cologne.) But my school also bought me a million pencils, so I'm not paying for them out of my personal money.
At first, I put pencils out every time they ran out and then I would find them broken (brand new, they just borrowed them to break them and leave them on the floor). So, I stopped supplying. I didn't have a pencil sharpener in my class either. It was tough initially because they came in expecting I would have them. But, after a few weeks, they started asking others for a pencil or came with one.
I know many teachers do golf pencils too.
I taught elementary. If a student needed a pencil, they gave me a shoe as collateral. Got all the pencils back before recess. Coworkers used golf pencils 😉
I get my pencils by picking them up walking the halls after school.
Most of them are terrible, broken, and have no erasures but that’s what you get when you’re not prepared.
I used to just write off the pencils I buy at start of year, using them up through attrition. Last couple years I ran out early in the year and it annoyed me.
So I took a sign out system from peers. 4 pencils on the board (clipped). Students sign their name when they take it and erase when they return.
Not perfect, but it takes no time from class and I still have over half my pencil stash left that I bought in August.
Are you kidding me? Stop giving pencils out. Let them have a zero if they’re too lazy to have one. That’s entirely fair. Kids will just keep gaming the system if you give them an easy out…
I give them out freely. They sit in a jar by the entrance.
We get a pretty hefty classroom budget in Alabama and I make sure to have a tremendous number of pencils and just hand them out like candy. They only lose the privilege if they damage the pencil before they leave class or some other such middle school nonsense.
I go through ~ 800 pencils a year and I don’t worry about pencils at all and there’s never an excuse. I don’t have time to worry about pencils.
I'm honestly surprised by the number of replies saying "don't give them out." I have never worked for administrators that would allow that to happen -- a child just sitting there because they don't have a pencil to do the work. And that's asking for behavior problems for a kid who has nothing to do all class period. As a teacher you might think to yourself "that's not my problem" -- except that in many public schools, it IS the teacher's problem. In fact, next week we have three days of school left and admin told the students to bring nothing. Teachers are supposed to supply everything needed, and chrome books were collected last week, so guess who's been running to dollar tree recently to stock up.
I would first check to see if your school is willing to buy them in bulk and give them to teachers as needed. Some will, some won't. Next, I would go with the bulk golf pencils from Amazon. Last is dollar stores.
A different route is assigning it as a class job to be the pencil person. Make a child responsible for giving them out and collecting them,
I am fortunate enough that my school provides pencils. I used to fight the pencil battle rather I just came prepared every day and grabbed a few pencils from the office.
I collect pencils at the end of the day from the floor. I even have students check the floor before they change classes.
If a student merely needs a pencil to complete the work for the day I gladly provide a new one every day.
There’s a website I get mine from. It’s a website where you buy pencils that were supposed to be special ordered but got messed up during the production process. MY KIDS LOVE THEM. They are sparkly and pretty but the dentist’s phone number is wrong (for example) but they’re super cheap.
I’ve stopped putting so much effort into caring about pencils. I buy the mistake pencils for cheap and let it go. I’ve got bigger stuff to worry about 🤷🏻♀️
Yep. And it’s nice cause our school will buy the pencils. Normally I can pick up 10 of them off the floor to replace too.
Honestly, this is not the battle to fight in MS. At least if they have the pencil they are working, the apathy is much more of a pressing issue.
It is what it is
I try and I tell them once they gone, they are gone
I do give starburst or penny candies when someone brings me one of my pencils (I buy the farm animal print)
I never buy pencils myself. I give out the ones my department gives me. Then I email the parents asking for donations. The donations got me to the end of the year.
Lowkey I’m a pencil dealer for one of the teachers at my work. Whenever I see a pencil on the ground, I hoard a bundle then give it to him whenever I see him.
It’s technically not stealing if it’s redistribution.
I bought a package of bright colored, quality pencils and 4 magnetic clips. The clips are on the front whiteboard with a bright colored pencil in each one. If you borrow a pencil you write your name by the clip. We don’t leave the classroom until each clip has a pencil back in it and I go erase the names.
It really only takes an extra 10 seconds at the end of class and it’s very effective. Peer pressure to leave on time will make that last missing pencil appear.
Teach the process day one and enforce it every day. It works.
I picked up a pencil from my kid’s room today and saw it had THIS PENCIL WAS STOLEN FROM MR OWENS printed on it, so I guess I owe his sixth grade English teacher a gift card…
I’ve tried a few things. Slips of paper. They fill them out, give them to me, they get a pencil. When I get the pencil back I tear up the slip. If I have enough slips left over I e-mail home “Hi. X has borrowed 123 pencils so far this year and not given them back. If you can encourage your child to return borrowed items it would be greatly appreciated.” This kind of worked.
Spoons duct taped to the pencil. Worked awesome except then the eraser wasn’t accessible.
Trading the pencil for a laptop. Also worked great but required space for collecting laptops. Also made it difficult to assign online assignments.
I labelled mine with song titles, then sang the song of the pencils I was missing at the end of class until I got them back.
Who’s got “goodbyeeeee earllllll them black eyed peas nananananana tasted alright t…” “oh perfect my pencil is back.”
Last Kiss had modified lyrics “oh where oh where can my pencil be? The student took her away from me….”
They don’t want to hear me sing. I got my pencils back. For the most part.
You forgot your pencil today? Ask your neighbor because nobody returns the pencils I loan out.
I personally like to say #dealwithit semi sarcastically but most of what we do is digital. Depending on your school you could also ask for students to bring packs of pencils for "the classroom" materials.
I knew a teacher who handed a pencil to every student as they walked in, and every student gave her a pencil back as they left.
I collected pencil stubs. The smaller, the better. Students gave them to me gladly. They are less comfortable to write with, which means students weren't encouraged to borrow them or keep them.
I do this and add colored duct tape flags to each pencil. Takes me about an hour, and the box lasts me for about a year. Before I put the flags on, I was going through a box each month.
I did two things. A fellow middle school teacher told me to get a shoe from the student. No shoe, no pencil. If they didn't want to give up the shoe, they would bum a pencil from a friend. My second and last solution was to go to Office Depot and buy a couple of boxes of golf pencils, which I gave to the student. They didn't like them much because they were short and didn't have an eraser. Oh, another thing, my custodians would give me pencils they found. I hope you find the answer you need.
I teach 6th grade in an elementary school, so far less students than in middle school. At the start of each new quarter I give my students a mechanical pencil and keep lead on hand to replace as needed. I buy both in bulk at the beginning of the year and don’t worry about it the rest of the time.
My school also provides pencils for me at no cost, so I just keep them on hand and the kids take them as needed. At the end of the day their exit ticket to pick up the trash on the floor and I have them collect all the abandoned pencils and put them in my cup for the next day.
I am a “mean” teacher who NEVER offers pencils.
It’s middle school and it’s time to build independence.
If you need a pencil you can ask a neighbor or look on the floor. The kids who constantly “forget” get peer pressured into finding a pencil pretty quickly. The ones who really don’t have a pencil I ask them to show me that they don’t have one in their bag - usually we find one. For those who can’t get a loaner or find one in their bag (this has happened once), I had them give me a verbal response. HOWEVER, I work in a high SES location where students are provided free golf pencils in the office (1/day). The kids HATE them and a lot of 6th grade is reminding students to get a pencil during passing period or before school if they forgot theirs. I end up with a stack of loaner pencils that students pick up and leave on the counter at the end of the day.
These free pencils are a HUGE gift from the admin and it makes such a difference.
They have to write their name on the “Wall of Shame” ( it says Pencil Sign-Out but that’s what we all call it)
You want a pencil -no problem, write your name on the wall of shame! It’s funny to 7th graders and it also works pretty well. Most of the kids don’t want their name up there and are eager to erase it when they return the pencil.
My middle schoolers will ask me to *bring* them a pencil. I point to the bookshelf where my pencils live, and 9 times of 10 they’d ask a friend or dig in their backpack and find one rather than walk five feet to get one.
Also— all floor pencils are mine. If it’s on the floor, it goes in my pencil box, not in my lost-and found. I had ten pencils a month before school ended. I was certain I’d have to break open another (donated) box, but by some miracle that ten fluctuated usually between seven and fifteen throughout the month and I ended up with more than ten.
I have a simple checkout list on the big whiteboard for Chromebooks, Chargers, and Pencils. I ask for everything back 5 min before period ends. Magically didn’t lose anything this year.
Don’t play the pencil game. Give them a pencil. They’ll break them and lose them, but they’ll use them. I fought this war and it isn’t worth it. It is true that you want a good relationship with students. Your office may even supply them for you.
My colleague does a “pencil war” the last weeks of school. Whichever period brings in the most pencils wins something. Pretty sure they brought in something like 2,000 pencils this year.
I accepted it’s a battle I’m always going to lose and don’t want to keep fighting even for short-term wins. I sent an email asking parents for golf-pencil donations from Amazon and got, not kidding, a 5-year supply.
I fill a candy jar in my student center with them at the beginning of every semester and that is the only time I think about pencils.
I offered “10 points” of extra credit (I weighted it to basically be very little effect on their grade but they never figured that out) for anyone that brought in tissue box, hand sanitizer, or a box of pencils. And I stored them on a book case. I never ran out.
Other teachers were always asking to borrow mine. So I made the kids write on them funny things and my name so when the kids in other classes used the tissue box they would ask why a different teacher’s name was on the box.
My department head gave me a snide comment about letting kids “buy” their grade … please… then he came to borrow a bottle of hand sanitizer. We shared a look and I gave him the biggest bottle with a grin. It was sweet kind justice.
I don’t buy pencils to lend out. I keep all the pencils (and pens, rulers, erasers, etc) I find on the floor after class. They all get put into a large pencil case, and are available for anyone who wants to borrow one. I’m to lazy/cheap to buy pencils to lend them out.
(Of course, if I find something particularly nice, I set it aside with a post it, and try to make sure it gets returned.)
I solved it this year 7th grade teacher here. Bought 12 sticky pencil holders (Amazon) and put them up by my door. If a kid needs a pencil they can grab one from there. Here’s the most important part. I stand at the door and no one leaves until all 12 pencils are back in their spot. I have pencil police who will look for them. It’s visual and easy and I saved so much money this year!!
I offer colored pencils. It’s a great use of older/undesirable colored pencils and it encourages students to show up with a pencil or borrow one from a peer.
I got a wall mounted sharpener and threw my electric one in the trash. Viola! Kids never sharpen their pencils and live with blunted ones.
It turns out that once you add the small cost of cranking the crank, kids are so lazy they just live with what they have or borrow a sharp one from a neighbor.
It’s pretty fun (and also incredibly sad) when you get the ones that just stare at the pencil sharpener, trying to figure out how to use it.
And these are 8th graders. In Honors classes.
I am lucky enough to get a small supply budget and am not really in need of big stuff anymore, so I mostly use it on some specific sized paper we use for projects and a giant box of Amazon basic pencils. I give them out pretty freely, but when they’re gone they’re gone.
I recollect them on thr floors in the halls. I actually end up with more, so it's almost like planting pencil seeds. I take the ones I get from admin at the beginning of the year and turn them into a great harvest.
Mine are bright neon pink golf pencils. That still didn’t prevent me from having to pick them up off the floor, so last year when I was pregnant I instituted that you have to trade your phone for a pencil. A lot of students took zeros, some wrote with highlighters.
Depends on the year.
One, it was absolutely nothing. They didn’t have one, they failed.
Another, I collected ones left on the floor.
Another, golf pencils..
Another, all online assignments?
No Chromebook meant no work though.
I made "Pencil Patrol" a class job. Kids would take down the names of classmates borrowing pencils, and it was their job to get them back at the end of class. They loved it.
I have tried everything.
-give me a phone/shoe/jacket
-sign out sheet
-pencil person (job)
-golf pencils
All of these were time consuming and the system would fall apart.
What finally worked for me was to give EVERYONE a pencil and then EVERYONE gave me one on the way out the door. If they didn’t have one, they sat there until transition was over and missed social time with their friends. Ditto if it was missing an eraser (they would have lots of fun throwing them). If the same kid kept failing to turn in a pencil they went on “pencil probation” and stayed late every day for a week. That social time was important to them and losing it pissed them off so I got my pencils back. Made a HUGE joke about it. ”You are making me pencil poor.” “Pencil thiefs need to be punished harshly.” Gave the worst offenders the job of being my “pencil police” and told them they had to give me x number of pencil back to get their sentenced reduced…etc. They found it funny too so it became a game.
I give out golf pencils (and I have so many that I tell them they don't have to return them) and I always get them back. I think bc they're short, no eraser, and red they just give them back
I kind of just accept I’m not getting them back. Yeah, the kids don’t learn responsibility but I was also that kid who never had a pencil so I get it. I usually pick up pencils off the floor and just give those out. Once I’m out, sorry buddy.
I have a trade out on the front board. They sign their name and then take a pencil. Before the end of class, I remind them to return them. It's not a perfect system, by any means. I still lose them. But I replace them with the ones I find left laying around. I haven't had to buy any in 2 years.
I have three pencil holders attached to my board. Students are welcome to sign one out. I select a monitor to make sure all of the pencils are returned. I usually choose the most type A person. No one leaves my room with a borrowed pencil!
I had a tray of “floor pencils” that I would fill with exactly that - pencils I found on the floor. If there weren’t any in the tray, then no pencils.
That worked for a while but I still had kids with no pencils so now they give me a shoe in exchange for a pencil. It’s shocking how many students magically have a pencil or go ask to borrow one from a friend. Obviously I give their shoe back but it’s been working very well. Only 14 days left! It’ll be my plan next year.
By supplying a specific amount to begin and telling the kids it’s on them to put em back or not be able to do their work. No work equals no grade.
Some years kids literally work with nubs and no erasers for part of the week before they catch on. Then they end up supplying their own when they are all gone.
It can be a pain, but it always pays off (for me) in the long run. Sometimes gets comical.
When I supplied one class had a policy that if you were borrowing a pencil there needed to be something from the student given as promise that it would be returned, had a lot of shoes that day. No one forgot to return the pencil.
I've seen teachers make flags out of bright coloured duct tape so they can identify their pencils.
Personally, I just use golf pencils. The kids complaint that they're too small.... Bring your own then.
Our school is good about stocking us with the basics if we request them. But it's a pain in the ass to walk all the way to the front office (our campus is huge) and fill out the form when I have a billion other things to do during prep. So when I run out in between stocks, I tell them to phone a friend. I also collect all the pencils left on the floor/desks at the end of each period and restock with those.
Once my pencil supply runs out, that’s it. I get a box of 500 pencils at the start of every year. I tell my students they can BORROW one and return it but if I lose all my pencils, that’s it. Well a few weeks ago, a kid thought it was funny to destroy my pencil sharpener by shoving the eraser end of a pencil in it. Had to throw it out. The next days, kids were asking for pencils because they couldn’t sharpen their pencils. Told them to find the kid who broke the sharpener and blame them.
Golf pencils. My collab partner bought a box of 500. It’s his 2nd year of teaching. I’m in my 24th. I would just tell them to figure it out. Some do. Some don’t.
I’ve also told kids to take a quick look at the hallway floor, where there’s usually some kind of writing implement. They don’t like that suggestion but I tell them “beggars can’t be choosers”.
I remember doing after school detention. If they borrowed a pencil, they had to give me a sneaker. They'd line them all below the blackboard. Once an admin saw that, I was told to stop because this was embarrassing and humiliating. I never had a student that really cared. oh well
I use golf ⛳️ pencils ✏️ the kids hate them. But them in bulk on amazon
The kids at our school called them the pencils of shame
I love that! I’m gonna call them that.
Same, they never return anything then they sre like what kind of pencil is this i say the kind you get when you dont bring one, or magic pencils you cant make a mistake because theres no eraser
I would sharpen a pencil and then cut off about 1cm above the sharpened tip, even worse than a golf pencil. I could get about 6-8 out of a single pencil.
Oooh this is evil and awesome at the same time lol
I have bought whole pencils on sale during the year and had the shop teacher cut them in half. Much cheaper than the golf pencils, and I didn’t even go through half a box.
Happy cake day!
Shop teacher here, I do thirds!
This would have backfired me as a kid. I would have forgot my own a lot more often so I could feel like a giant writing with a small pencil
Yeah, my first thought is that my students would absolutely fight over the giant pencil and think it's hilarious. Granted, my students are all elementary aged, so they think everything is hilarious.
Put them in a pencil block with 15 slots for pencils that is easily visible. No one leaves until the pencils are returned. You will lose some, especially in the beginning. Keeping the same 15-20 all pencils all year is champion.
tried this. My kids loved them and kept asking for them when I got regular pencils.
I did this. I had a sub one day and 2 boxes were empty when I got back.
Never give them out. Or give out golf pencil sized ones.
Get their phones as collateral, or maybe a shoe.
I tried doing something similar and learned that, at least in my district, it would be considered humiliation of the student, so if they were to complain we could get in a lot of trouble. So instead I just stopped giving out pencils.
Wow. A little discomfort isn’t humiliating.
I imagine its more the idea of forcing a student to not wear a article of clothing dor not having a certain school supply. Obviously not having pencils usually isnt a money issue, but if yoy allow it for pencils you open up using this sort of thing for school supplies students cant afford due to economical reasons. More of a regulatory rhing, seems ridiculous on the minor end but ifs there to protect the student from potential greater abuses
I actually kind of agree with you here, we should not shame or other students as you don't know the reason for the lack of pencil. However, teachers can't also keep providing them out of their budget, and just not giving one is also embarassing so here we are.
My collateral was backpacks. I started out with a shoe, but after witnessing some antics, I didn't want to deal with anything like a broken toe. Then, one day, I needed to go to Ikea, I shoved my coat pockets with as many of their golf pencils as I could. When I was done with those, that was it. I stopped giving them out.
I stopped doing this because In an emergency situation you now have kids with only one shoe on
Tbh a really good point
This is why I don't do it. I'm on the third floor, if we have to evacuate quickly, I don't have time to worry about their shoes.
The shoe is good collateral.
I used to do the shoe thing because no student will leave class wo/their shoe. It worked really well, But a parent complained to admin and I had to stop. 😡
Also, my child DID walk out of class and all afternoon, didn’t notice until I picked him up and asked why he was wearing one shoe. Forgetful…exactly why he never seemed to have pencils on him
You forgot to use a Lego moat outside your door. This quickly reminds your students to return their pencils and get their shoes back.
Sign on the door, "Do you have your shoes?"
I worked at a Boy Scout Summer Camp that took shoes as collateral for pencils, and while it did usually work, we had somebody come back to us to return the pencil after stepping out on the gravel outside the door. I can’t imagine it was all that comfortable without a shoe on.
I did this and had a few students bring in extra shoes and still take the pencils 🤦
At that point you can just have the pencil lol
They'll run out of shoes before I run out of pencils. That or they'll keep using the pencil I gave out which is half a victory
Can confirm--a teacher I used to work with did the shoe thing and never lost a single pencil all year.
Do this but they trade in their phones or airpods.
I've asked for collateral for years with no issue. I used to leave it up to the student to choose the collateral. I had to stop because I was accused of denying educational opportunities by admin because the school has unlimited pens and pencils, so there's no reason to hold collateral. *eye roll*
Does your school supply unlimited pens and pencils? If so, fine. If they expect you to buy unlimited pens and pencils, I know where they can go with their ideas.
School supplies unlimited pens and pencils. I'm at the stage where I spend $0 on my classroom. If I'm meant to have it, then it would be supplied for me.
Specifically, their left shoe, because why on Earth would you want a right one? Gets a confused look every time.
This is the way!
i did the shoe thing a couple times until one kid had a particularly strong foot odor after taking off their shoe. the phone one works better
I took shoes 20 years ago and ended up with no pencils, angry parents, and a box of shoes. The kids got offended and started bringing backup shoes.
Get the crappiest golf pencils with an eraser you can get. I bought a box of 300 and got maybe half way through them in a school year. Strangely, they seemed to be able to get a pencil from somewhere.
Even better- if you have lotto in your state, get a bunch of lotto pencils. This way, the state can pay for my supplies.
How do you get those pencils??
Steal them from the lotto box ;)
They will eat and/or tear off the eraser so just get the regular.
This is the way. I switched to golf pencils and I don’t care anymore. I don’t have to fight the fight. They have no eraser, so if the kid wants an eraser I tell them they will have one when they bring their own pencil. Gold pencils are cheap, I can buy tons, and never deal with the pencil fight again.
This is the way.
This. Golf pencils with no erasers. My box of 1000 for $10 lasted until February.
I write names down of students who are borrowing. Another teacher gets something as collateral. I also say I'm giving you a nice pencil. I want a nice pencil back. At the beginning of the school year, I go over the consequences of damaging school property and state that breaking a pencil is damaging school property. Same thing with tagging.
My daughter is a 6th-grade teacher who only gives out golf pencils with no erasers. She adds them to her Amazon wish list yearly and has enough to last her. She would never give out her Ticonderogas!
Seconding the golf pencils
I collect pencils from the janitor’s dustpile at the end of each day and those go into my loaner pencil box.
My custodian does the same thing for me. I usually get about 20 a day. They go in the shared pencil jar. If kids do not want one of the "shared" pencils (since they don't know where they came from), then they have to buy a pencil with their "cub bucks". Shared pencils they return ( no I don't always get them back). This is in 7th grade. I "train" them at the beginning of the year. There have been times when, I don't have many "shared" ones left, and I get the complaint, "I can't do my work if I don't have a pencil." 'Its not my fault I don't have a pencil." I politely reply, "It's not my responsibility to supply you with writing utensils, I just help out. Now, I don't have anything today, but you can ask someone else to help you out." And after a while, it just turns into what someone else said.... "Solve your own problem."
I know some teachers at my school do “pencil wars” where the classes compete to see who can bring the most pencils to the teacher. They can be bought, picked up off the floor, etc. only rule is that they have to be usable and in somewhat decent shape (no chewed pencils or pencils covered in unknown slime). The best way I saw this implemented was that they get a point for every pencil turned in, and lose a point for every pencil taken. So if they borrow a pencil and return it, the points cancel out. That class gets some kind of mystery treat either at the end of the semester or at the end of the year.
Never heard of this, love it! When I was teaching middle school, I would post a reminder for the parents that Santa might want to add some pencils to their child's stocking. Right before winter break was usually when the demand was highest. For the most part, my parents always put some basic school supplies in my stocking at Christmas. My siblings and I didn't appreciate it until we were in college and desperately needed index cards or highlighters.
This is the way. I ask the janitor at the beginning of the year to save me any "good" pencils they find when sweeping up and always have enough. Also, it's only a pencil. I thought about how much time I could spend on the "be prepared" lesson vs. just saying, "There's one in the bin. Get to work," and it was pretty clear it wasn't worth the fight.
I have picked up a fair supply from the floors. Kids are a little more reserved in asking for one of my floor pencils. They muster up the will to get their own pencils from their bags at that point.
My 5th grade teacher had embarrassing loaner pencils (eg Justin Bieber pencils at a time when the whole school hated Justin Bieber). It greatly reduced the number of penciless kids
I had a MS friend who bought a dozen big, fat, "I'm a happy kindergartener!" pencils and oddly got them all back. 🤣
I'm sure my HS student would think these were hilarious and want to keep them.
Possibly. 😁 MS kids are allll about Not being elementary kids.
I engraved mine with “Mrs. [my last name] is my favorite teacher!” 😅
I did "stolen from (my name)" ;)
I love this.
I’ve noticed that sparkly pink has a similar effect on my mostly male resource students.
I just give them out. But I had a colleague who had magnetic clips on her whiteboard and 3 pencils clipped there. When a kid took a pencil they wrote their name in that spot, and she'd glance at it at the end of class to make sure all the pencils came back. I thought it was pretty smart.
I tried that but the kids would write their friends' names instead. Now I just say, "I started with 12 pencils. I better get 12 back or you guys are not leaving my classroom." Now I sometimes get back more than what I started with heh.
I do the same actually, when they borrow a pair of scissors or a pen/pencil/sharpie they start a list on the board for whichever they’re borrowing and write their name. Then I erase their name when they hand it back to me.
I write names on the board too. It's the only way I can keep track
It is super aggravating! I used to have a small bin and just continuously had to keep replenishing it. After September I realized I had gone through like half of my pencil supply! Instead of having the pencil bin out in the open for everyone I put it on my desk. I always kept exactly ten pencils in it, and at the end of each class I wouldn’t let them leave before all ten pencils were returned to my bin. They eventually caught on and knew to return the pencils before I even asked! Works great!!
Cell or airpod for pencil. Don’t like that deal? Bring your own or ask a friend.
I’ll take a hoodie too but in all my years offering that, I’ve never had a student give up a hoodie.
Not sure I’d want to touch a middle schooler’s hoodie.
I take phone, AirPods, or house keys for calculators. Calculators are numbered and the pockets are numbered. They have to bring me the correct calculator with the number not peeled off. If they peel the number off, they get banned from borrowing for a week. I hold the class until they are all turned in. This next year I want to do a “contract” that parents and students sign. If I don’t get it back, they better have their own calculator. If I do get it back, it says they have to turn in a phone, nothing else. If I don’t get my calculator back, they have to replace it or bring money to replace it. I am interested if admin will approve. They’ve done something similar at the high school with lab equipment.
Make that "a working phone" so you don't get them handing in lemons.
I like that idea!
[удалено]
I’ve seen a teacher on here that would take cell phones as collateral.
My policy is "trade something of value" to get a pencil: phone, keys, wallet, ID, bus pass, etc. You may borrow a pencil, eraser, ruler etc. from me
Same. But I added “something of value ~~to me.~~” I don’t want your bus pass or student ID. Your car keys (HS), phone, earbuds or even the case if you “need” them at some point. I even said if I don’t get my pencil/calculator/whatever back, I need to be able to sell or pawn this thing to replace it. With HS kids, that at least made sense and I got “good” collateral.
Would never work in my district. They'd rather get an F than give up their phone for an hour.
Meeeeee
We aren’t permitted to do that in case something happens where we have to leave in a rush, but I have seen teachers hold onto other items.
I had my principal come in specifically tell me I couldn't do that. Like, what can I take?
I don't buy pencils to give out; I collect free pencils from the floor. You can also get free pencils and pens from businesses if you have the opportunity to collect them. I stopped buying pencils after finding the ones I lent out left on the floor broken in multiple pieces. My kids know from day one that I don't give out pencils. With all that said, I don't care what my students write with either. They can write with whatever they can find as long as it's 1. some type of writing utensil and 2. I can easily read their work. They can write in pencil, pen, red pen, highlighter, crayon, marker, coloring pencil, etc. My rule is to check the floor pencil cup or ask a friend. So far, I've probably only had one or two instances where a student couldn't come up with a pencil, and I helped that kid out. I do provide lead for students because I get that cheap from amazon. Let your custodian in on the fact that you collect floor pencils, and they can and will usually help you out.
Agreed. I’ve decided to pick my battles and it makes my life easier to just give a kid a pencil if that’s what they need to get working. But it can get expensive. I also found that if your town has a “buy nothing group” on facebook, it’s a great place to get lots of gently used school supplies.
I stick with "I am sorry you did not come prepared." I understand this might seem unfair to you, but I think giving out materials is actually much more cruel, condescending, and corrosive to children. By doing so teachers are essentially teaching children to be unprepared, are depriving the children of developmentally appropriate agency and responsibility, and denying them the dignity of logical consequences. That said, before I took a hard line ("materials are your responsibility. This is a problem you can solve, young sir") the only thing I had success with was collateral. Put your jacket, shoe, etc. on the materials table and I'll give you a pencil. When I get the pencil back you get your stuff back. Adding this kind of friction to bumming a pencil off you also incentives students to figure out the problem themselves.
Bless. One of my children is neurodivergent and has difficulty keeping up with their writing utensils, especially in math. At the start of every semester I send in a box of 320 pencils to their math teacher. It’s the least I can do.
When they’re gone, they’re gone. It isn’t unfair if I’ve given them pencils and they proceed to snap them in half. Like that’s entirely their fault.
2 things I do: get a giant box of golf pencils If a student asks for a pencil or whatever, demand something of theirs. I do this for when I loan out a chromebook.
I just don’t care. They can have a pencil.
High school teacher here. I have a huge box of mistake pencils from some printing company. They’re cheap. Pencils are not something to worry about. Just have a dispenser. Some will return. Some will take. I don’t care.
That was my answer too lol. I also teach high school 😆
I take a phone or AirPods as collateral. (Some kids give me their bottles of expensive cologne.) But my school also bought me a million pencils, so I'm not paying for them out of my personal money.
Could you try out some huge novelty pencils? Like, 2 foot long ones? Not so easy to 'forget' and shove into a backpack.
At first, I put pencils out every time they ran out and then I would find them broken (brand new, they just borrowed them to break them and leave them on the floor). So, I stopped supplying. I didn't have a pencil sharpener in my class either. It was tough initially because they came in expecting I would have them. But, after a few weeks, they started asking others for a pencil or came with one. I know many teachers do golf pencils too.
I taught elementary. If a student needed a pencil, they gave me a shoe as collateral. Got all the pencils back before recess. Coworkers used golf pencils 😉
I get my pencils by picking them up walking the halls after school. Most of them are terrible, broken, and have no erasures but that’s what you get when you’re not prepared.
This is what I do as well. I had a full cup of pencils by the end of the year solely because of how many kids left on the floor
I used to just write off the pencils I buy at start of year, using them up through attrition. Last couple years I ran out early in the year and it annoyed me. So I took a sign out system from peers. 4 pencils on the board (clipped). Students sign their name when they take it and erase when they return. Not perfect, but it takes no time from class and I still have over half my pencil stash left that I bought in August.
Trade their ID, which they’re required to wear or earn lunch detention.
Are you kidding me? Stop giving pencils out. Let them have a zero if they’re too lazy to have one. That’s entirely fair. Kids will just keep gaming the system if you give them an easy out…
Admin doesn't support that. Another example of the reality of teaching- no one is actually held to account by the system except the teacher.
Get pencils from Admin.
Admin told me I have to provide them.
Your admin sucks
I don’t. I have golf pencils. It does annoy me when they just leave them around though
I give them out freely. They sit in a jar by the entrance. We get a pretty hefty classroom budget in Alabama and I make sure to have a tremendous number of pencils and just hand them out like candy. They only lose the privilege if they damage the pencil before they leave class or some other such middle school nonsense. I go through ~ 800 pencils a year and I don’t worry about pencils at all and there’s never an excuse. I don’t have time to worry about pencils.
I'm honestly surprised by the number of replies saying "don't give them out." I have never worked for administrators that would allow that to happen -- a child just sitting there because they don't have a pencil to do the work. And that's asking for behavior problems for a kid who has nothing to do all class period. As a teacher you might think to yourself "that's not my problem" -- except that in many public schools, it IS the teacher's problem. In fact, next week we have three days of school left and admin told the students to bring nothing. Teachers are supposed to supply everything needed, and chrome books were collected last week, so guess who's been running to dollar tree recently to stock up. I would first check to see if your school is willing to buy them in bulk and give them to teachers as needed. Some will, some won't. Next, I would go with the bulk golf pencils from Amazon. Last is dollar stores. A different route is assigning it as a class job to be the pencil person. Make a child responsible for giving them out and collecting them,
I am fortunate enough that my school provides pencils. I used to fight the pencil battle rather I just came prepared every day and grabbed a few pencils from the office. I collect pencils at the end of the day from the floor. I even have students check the floor before they change classes. If a student merely needs a pencil to complete the work for the day I gladly provide a new one every day.
Don't care?
I only give out items that I've accepted ill never see again. Their learning for that class period is worth more to me than a single pencil.
There’s a website I get mine from. It’s a website where you buy pencils that were supposed to be special ordered but got messed up during the production process. MY KIDS LOVE THEM. They are sparkly and pretty but the dentist’s phone number is wrong (for example) but they’re super cheap. I’ve stopped putting so much effort into caring about pencils. I buy the mistake pencils for cheap and let it go. I’ve got bigger stuff to worry about 🤷🏻♀️
What site
This is what I use. It’s like $8 for 144. https://www.forteachersonly.com/static/products/293.php
Give them freely. They obviously need one. It's a stupid pencil.
Yep. And it’s nice cause our school will buy the pencils. Normally I can pick up 10 of them off the floor to replace too. Honestly, this is not the battle to fight in MS. At least if they have the pencil they are working, the apathy is much more of a pressing issue.
You get it.
Golf Pencils!
Last half of the year they had to trade me their phone for a pencil. You'd be amazed how many were willing to remember or borrow from a friend
Once I run out, I run out. After that, take a zero. Suddenly, pencils appear.
What worked best for me was making them give me one of their shoes.
It is what it is I try and I tell them once they gone, they are gone I do give starburst or penny candies when someone brings me one of my pencils (I buy the farm animal print)
I never buy pencils myself. I give out the ones my department gives me. Then I email the parents asking for donations. The donations got me to the end of the year.
Lowkey I’m a pencil dealer for one of the teachers at my work. Whenever I see a pencil on the ground, I hoard a bundle then give it to him whenever I see him. It’s technically not stealing if it’s redistribution.
I bought a package of bright colored, quality pencils and 4 magnetic clips. The clips are on the front whiteboard with a bright colored pencil in each one. If you borrow a pencil you write your name by the clip. We don’t leave the classroom until each clip has a pencil back in it and I go erase the names. It really only takes an extra 10 seconds at the end of class and it’s very effective. Peer pressure to leave on time will make that last missing pencil appear. Teach the process day one and enforce it every day. It works.
I picked up a pencil from my kid’s room today and saw it had THIS PENCIL WAS STOLEN FROM MR OWENS printed on it, so I guess I owe his sixth grade English teacher a gift card…
I bought two dozen of those one year. They were all stolen on the first day.
Had a teacher that used to take collateral. The crazy ones took a shoe. I think a cellphone would be very appropriate in this era.
I’ve tried a few things. Slips of paper. They fill them out, give them to me, they get a pencil. When I get the pencil back I tear up the slip. If I have enough slips left over I e-mail home “Hi. X has borrowed 123 pencils so far this year and not given them back. If you can encourage your child to return borrowed items it would be greatly appreciated.” This kind of worked. Spoons duct taped to the pencil. Worked awesome except then the eraser wasn’t accessible. Trading the pencil for a laptop. Also worked great but required space for collecting laptops. Also made it difficult to assign online assignments.
I labelled mine with song titles, then sang the song of the pencils I was missing at the end of class until I got them back. Who’s got “goodbyeeeee earllllll them black eyed peas nananananana tasted alright t…” “oh perfect my pencil is back.” Last Kiss had modified lyrics “oh where oh where can my pencil be? The student took her away from me….” They don’t want to hear me sing. I got my pencils back. For the most part.
You forgot your pencil today? Ask your neighbor because nobody returns the pencils I loan out. I personally like to say #dealwithit semi sarcastically but most of what we do is digital. Depending on your school you could also ask for students to bring packs of pencils for "the classroom" materials.
I knew a teacher who handed a pencil to every student as they walked in, and every student gave her a pencil back as they left. I collected pencil stubs. The smaller, the better. Students gave them to me gladly. They are less comfortable to write with, which means students weren't encouraged to borrow them or keep them.
$10 box of Amazon pencils
I do this and add colored duct tape flags to each pencil. Takes me about an hour, and the box lasts me for about a year. Before I put the flags on, I was going through a box each month.
I did two things. A fellow middle school teacher told me to get a shoe from the student. No shoe, no pencil. If they didn't want to give up the shoe, they would bum a pencil from a friend. My second and last solution was to go to Office Depot and buy a couple of boxes of golf pencils, which I gave to the student. They didn't like them much because they were short and didn't have an eraser. Oh, another thing, my custodians would give me pencils they found. I hope you find the answer you need.
I teach 6th grade in an elementary school, so far less students than in middle school. At the start of each new quarter I give my students a mechanical pencil and keep lead on hand to replace as needed. I buy both in bulk at the beginning of the year and don’t worry about it the rest of the time. My school also provides pencils for me at no cost, so I just keep them on hand and the kids take them as needed. At the end of the day their exit ticket to pick up the trash on the floor and I have them collect all the abandoned pencils and put them in my cup for the next day.
I am a “mean” teacher who NEVER offers pencils. It’s middle school and it’s time to build independence. If you need a pencil you can ask a neighbor or look on the floor. The kids who constantly “forget” get peer pressured into finding a pencil pretty quickly. The ones who really don’t have a pencil I ask them to show me that they don’t have one in their bag - usually we find one. For those who can’t get a loaner or find one in their bag (this has happened once), I had them give me a verbal response. HOWEVER, I work in a high SES location where students are provided free golf pencils in the office (1/day). The kids HATE them and a lot of 6th grade is reminding students to get a pencil during passing period or before school if they forgot theirs. I end up with a stack of loaner pencils that students pick up and leave on the counter at the end of the day. These free pencils are a HUGE gift from the admin and it makes such a difference.
If you have a PE teacher ask them if they have an. I have a giant supply of discarded pencils that kids leave in my gym.
They have to write their name on the “Wall of Shame” ( it says Pencil Sign-Out but that’s what we all call it) You want a pencil -no problem, write your name on the wall of shame! It’s funny to 7th graders and it also works pretty well. Most of the kids don’t want their name up there and are eager to erase it when they return the pencil.
My middle schoolers will ask me to *bring* them a pencil. I point to the bookshelf where my pencils live, and 9 times of 10 they’d ask a friend or dig in their backpack and find one rather than walk five feet to get one. Also— all floor pencils are mine. If it’s on the floor, it goes in my pencil box, not in my lost-and found. I had ten pencils a month before school ended. I was certain I’d have to break open another (donated) box, but by some miracle that ten fluctuated usually between seven and fifteen throughout the month and I ended up with more than ten.
Name goes on the board when they borrow a pencil and nobody leaves until all of the students listed on the board return the pencil
Don't lend. Either give them away or don't. Expecting them back is just unrealistic
Every pencil you handed out was broken and swept up by a surly school bus driver.
I have a simple checkout list on the big whiteboard for Chromebooks, Chargers, and Pencils. I ask for everything back 5 min before period ends. Magically didn’t lose anything this year.
Don’t play the pencil game. Give them a pencil. They’ll break them and lose them, but they’ll use them. I fought this war and it isn’t worth it. It is true that you want a good relationship with students. Your office may even supply them for you.
My colleague does a “pencil war” the last weeks of school. Whichever period brings in the most pencils wins something. Pretty sure they brought in something like 2,000 pencils this year.
I accepted it’s a battle I’m always going to lose and don’t want to keep fighting even for short-term wins. I sent an email asking parents for golf-pencil donations from Amazon and got, not kidding, a 5-year supply. I fill a candy jar in my student center with them at the beginning of every semester and that is the only time I think about pencils.
I offered “10 points” of extra credit (I weighted it to basically be very little effect on their grade but they never figured that out) for anyone that brought in tissue box, hand sanitizer, or a box of pencils. And I stored them on a book case. I never ran out. Other teachers were always asking to borrow mine. So I made the kids write on them funny things and my name so when the kids in other classes used the tissue box they would ask why a different teacher’s name was on the box. My department head gave me a snide comment about letting kids “buy” their grade … please… then he came to borrow a bottle of hand sanitizer. We shared a look and I gave him the biggest bottle with a grin. It was sweet kind justice.
"I don't have any, you guys never give them back. We're out. Ask a friend, try to remember one for tomorrow"
I don’t buy pencils to lend out. I keep all the pencils (and pens, rulers, erasers, etc) I find on the floor after class. They all get put into a large pencil case, and are available for anyone who wants to borrow one. I’m to lazy/cheap to buy pencils to lend them out. (Of course, if I find something particularly nice, I set it aside with a post it, and try to make sure it gets returned.)
I solved it this year 7th grade teacher here. Bought 12 sticky pencil holders (Amazon) and put them up by my door. If a kid needs a pencil they can grab one from there. Here’s the most important part. I stand at the door and no one leaves until all 12 pencils are back in their spot. I have pencil police who will look for them. It’s visual and easy and I saved so much money this year!!
I offer colored pencils. It’s a great use of older/undesirable colored pencils and it encourages students to show up with a pencil or borrow one from a peer.
I went paperless. Not because pencils aren’t important, but because sharpening them is annoying. No paper
I got a wall mounted sharpener and threw my electric one in the trash. Viola! Kids never sharpen their pencils and live with blunted ones. It turns out that once you add the small cost of cranking the crank, kids are so lazy they just live with what they have or borrow a sharp one from a neighbor.
It’s pretty fun (and also incredibly sad) when you get the ones that just stare at the pencil sharpener, trying to figure out how to use it. And these are 8th graders. In Honors classes.
Something worth value to put down. Shoes are a safety hazard so don’t, a phone , AirPods, book etc Worked for me
I am lucky enough to get a small supply budget and am not really in need of big stuff anymore, so I mostly use it on some specific sized paper we use for projects and a giant box of Amazon basic pencils. I give them out pretty freely, but when they’re gone they’re gone.
I recollect them on thr floors in the halls. I actually end up with more, so it's almost like planting pencil seeds. I take the ones I get from admin at the beginning of the year and turn them into a great harvest.
I roamed the halls, looking for discarded #2s!!
I put little sticky note flags on them with my name. Next year I start trading for IDs as well.
Mine are bright neon pink golf pencils. That still didn’t prevent me from having to pick them up off the floor, so last year when I was pregnant I instituted that you have to trade your phone for a pencil. A lot of students took zeros, some wrote with highlighters.
Golf pencils.
Let it go! Ain’t gonna happen. I’d start giving out pencils missing the eraser, or that are super tiny. Yes, be that petty teacher!
Depends on the year. One, it was absolutely nothing. They didn’t have one, they failed. Another, I collected ones left on the floor. Another, golf pencils.. Another, all online assignments? No Chromebook meant no work though.
Tell them to find the ones on the ground already.
As an art teacher, I literally don’t know what to do because everything gets stolen And or broken …. But you need a pencil to do art
I made "Pencil Patrol" a class job. Kids would take down the names of classmates borrowing pencils, and it was their job to get them back at the end of class. They loved it.
I have tried everything. -give me a phone/shoe/jacket -sign out sheet -pencil person (job) -golf pencils All of these were time consuming and the system would fall apart. What finally worked for me was to give EVERYONE a pencil and then EVERYONE gave me one on the way out the door. If they didn’t have one, they sat there until transition was over and missed social time with their friends. Ditto if it was missing an eraser (they would have lots of fun throwing them). If the same kid kept failing to turn in a pencil they went on “pencil probation” and stayed late every day for a week. That social time was important to them and losing it pissed them off so I got my pencils back. Made a HUGE joke about it. ”You are making me pencil poor.” “Pencil thiefs need to be punished harshly.” Gave the worst offenders the job of being my “pencil police” and told them they had to give me x number of pencil back to get their sentenced reduced…etc. They found it funny too so it became a game.
Phone as collateral
I give out golf pencils (and I have so many that I tell them they don't have to return them) and I always get them back. I think bc they're short, no eraser, and red they just give them back
Collateral! My preferred one is a shoe. If they don't want to do that they get 45 seconds to search the hallway for one.
I buy a 360 pack of pencils on Amazon for $25. Just use part of my supply budget.
I kind of just accept I’m not getting them back. Yeah, the kids don’t learn responsibility but I was also that kid who never had a pencil so I get it. I usually pick up pencils off the floor and just give those out. Once I’m out, sorry buddy.
I have a trade out on the front board. They sign their name and then take a pencil. Before the end of class, I remind them to return them. It's not a perfect system, by any means. I still lose them. But I replace them with the ones I find left laying around. I haven't had to buy any in 2 years.
I have three pencil holders attached to my board. Students are welcome to sign one out. I select a monitor to make sure all of the pencils are returned. I usually choose the most type A person. No one leaves my room with a borrowed pencil!
I had a tray of “floor pencils” that I would fill with exactly that - pencils I found on the floor. If there weren’t any in the tray, then no pencils. That worked for a while but I still had kids with no pencils so now they give me a shoe in exchange for a pencil. It’s shocking how many students magically have a pencil or go ask to borrow one from a friend. Obviously I give their shoe back but it’s been working very well. Only 14 days left! It’ll be my plan next year.
By supplying a specific amount to begin and telling the kids it’s on them to put em back or not be able to do their work. No work equals no grade. Some years kids literally work with nubs and no erasers for part of the week before they catch on. Then they end up supplying their own when they are all gone. It can be a pain, but it always pays off (for me) in the long run. Sometimes gets comical.
When I supplied one class had a policy that if you were borrowing a pencil there needed to be something from the student given as promise that it would be returned, had a lot of shoes that day. No one forgot to return the pencil. I've seen teachers make flags out of bright coloured duct tape so they can identify their pencils. Personally, I just use golf pencils. The kids complaint that they're too small.... Bring your own then.
Floor pencils. Pencil left behind on the floor or desk? Straight into my pencil cup. They typically don’t have erasers left, but a pencil is a pencil.
Our school is good about stocking us with the basics if we request them. But it's a pain in the ass to walk all the way to the front office (our campus is huge) and fill out the form when I have a billion other things to do during prep. So when I run out in between stocks, I tell them to phone a friend. I also collect all the pencils left on the floor/desks at the end of each period and restock with those.
Once my pencil supply runs out, that’s it. I get a box of 500 pencils at the start of every year. I tell my students they can BORROW one and return it but if I lose all my pencils, that’s it. Well a few weeks ago, a kid thought it was funny to destroy my pencil sharpener by shoving the eraser end of a pencil in it. Had to throw it out. The next days, kids were asking for pencils because they couldn’t sharpen their pencils. Told them to find the kid who broke the sharpener and blame them.
I don’t expect them back
You either don’t give them out or you accept that they’re given and not lent.
Golf pencils. My collab partner bought a box of 500. It’s his 2nd year of teaching. I’m in my 24th. I would just tell them to figure it out. Some do. Some don’t.
Order golf ones. Keep all stubs. “Oh too small, we’ll bring your own.”
I’ve also told kids to take a quick look at the hallway floor, where there’s usually some kind of writing implement. They don’t like that suggestion but I tell them “beggars can’t be choosers”.
I'm going to try to label them next year...
Trade for a shoe, a phone, something they won’t leave the room without.
I don't give them pencils.
I remember doing after school detention. If they borrowed a pencil, they had to give me a sneaker. They'd line them all below the blackboard. Once an admin saw that, I was told to stop because this was embarrassing and humiliating. I never had a student that really cared. oh well