Pencils

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Home : 2003 : January : 21

Pencils
By Lynn

I'm throwing in my two cents for what it's worth. I used to do the trade idea: a shoe for a pencil. However, I found that many of my students were too embarrassed to part with their shoe (holey socks, dirty ones, etc.)
so while it worked in order to get my pencils back, it caused too much negativity for the students.
I have gone to giving away 'found' pencils. The custodians are usually a great source for these. I also have a box of golf pencils. They're only about 3 - 4 inches long without erasers. These were given to me as a gag gift one time but they work perfectly. When a student takes one

and tells me there's no eraser I kindly point out that they need to a)remember their own b) borrow one from a friend or c)not make any mistakes. I always say it with a smile on my face and it seems to help drive home the point that they need to be responsible without my having to continually remind them.