Pencils were ruining my day. I started the morning out grumpy because no one had a pencil, so we were searching the floor, my desk, and book bags to come up with enough pencils to start the day.
In the past I have tried the sharp and not sharp cups, spoons taped to the end of pencils, and even lead pencils without any success.
About a month ago I was browsing office depot and saw these pencils. I've used the Staedtler pens, so I knew they would be high quality. I picked up a pack, but they were a little pricey and I didn't want them walking out my door. That's when the Ultimate Pencil Swap idea was born.
I sharped those amazing pencils, put polka dot flags on them, and put them in a cup on my desk.
In order to use one of my pencils I have to keep something of yours at my desk until the pencil is returned. Simple enough. It freaked them out at first. I really think they believed I was going to keep their stuff! It made not having a pencil fun as we joked about snacks I might eat or odd things kids swapped out.
Now that we've been doing the swap about a month I don't even deal with pencils. It is the student's responsibility to swap and they know just what to do. It makes for one happy teacher.
The best part: I still have the 9 original pencils I started with. First. Time. Ever. In the history of my teaching career have I kept 9 pencils that long!!
I'm linking up with Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper.
How do you deal with the no pencil syndrome?
