17 July 2015

Helping students keep track of their pencils!

I don’t know about you, but kids not having the supplies they need to do their work drives me CRAZY! Crazy, I tell you.  The problem is that I GIVE them everything they need. EVERYTHING and they lose it, eat it, leave it on the floor, claim, “It’s not mine!” and let their neighbor take it. So one kid has 6 pencils and another has none.

Enter Vodka.

Actually enter this brilliant idea! I flag my pencils with masking tape, write the child’s name on the pencil flag,  and reward the child for keeping track of their pencils until they are all used up.

No more lost pencils

So what are you waiting for? Grab some masking tape and let’s do this. Simply wrap tape around the pencil and fold the tape back in on itself. Trim the edge for a nice clean finish.  This is a great job for a parent volunteer. I have used many kinds of tape to make the flags. I have found that masking tape works best. It’s easy to work with, write on, and though it can rip, it is pretty durable! I keep about 100 at the ready all the time.

100 pencilsYou can hand out the awards in many ways. I like to give a child an award when they use up a pencil. You can also surprise the class with a pencil check. Anyone who still has their pencil gets a responsibility award.

reward them

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10 comments:

  1. KristiJuly 19, 2015 at 10:59 PM

    Love this idea! Thanks for sharing and for the awesome freebie! I will definitely be putting it to use this year.

    Kristi
    Teaching in the Tropics

    ReplyDelete
  2. christineJuly 20, 2015 at 12:27 AM

    Where do you buy your eraser-less pencils? They are significantly much more expensive than pencils with erasers so even though I could do without the erasers, I just can't justify the expense.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Katie KnightJuly 20, 2015 at 8:01 AM

    I buy my pencils through our school warehouse. They are called Ticonderoga Laddie pencils. Here is an Amazon link:
    http://www.amazon.com/Dixon-Ticonderoga-Intermediate-Pencils-13040/dp/B00006IEFT
    They are more expensive than normal pencils. But they are fatter, last forever, and the leads don't break unless a child is doing it on purpose.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Delaney WinborneJuly 20, 2015 at 10:44 AM

    Love this idea! I will have to look into those pencils, too! Pencil sharpening/losing/eating, etc. is the bane of my existence!!

    Fervent First Grade Frenzy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Deborah CasilioJuly 31, 2015 at 1:46 PM

    Great idea! So if they DO lose a pencil, they just start again?

    ReplyDelete
  6. MPughAugust 2, 2015 at 11:49 AM

    Great idea on how to keep up with pencils. Great post. So funny and relatable. Thanks for the freebie.

    ReplyDelete
  7. angieNovember 10, 2015 at 6:18 PM

    I love this idea! My prek class must be selling their pencils at recess because we start the day with a pencil but after lunch somehow the pencils have disappeared! I'm trying this tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sarah PaulNovember 10, 2015 at 8:24 PM

    I love this idea! I need to flag all of my pencils. :) And I think I need to give myself a reward for when I don't lose my whiteboard pens! I'm always walking around and setting down my whiteboard pens. Ha

    ReplyDelete