What I did By Kathy

My general answer when they said they weren't feeling well was to be very sympathetic and say, "Oh, I'm sorry. Why don't you lay your head down and see if you feel better in a bit?" That always stopped them in their tracks since it wasn't what they wanted. My rule of thumb is that if they say they want to lie down as we're going to recess they probably really are not feeling well!

As far as the pencil sharpener goes--We have an electric pencil sharpener and I only leave it out first thing in the morning. They are supposed to have 2 sharpened pencils to begin the day. If they need a sharpened pencil during the day they somehow have to solve that problem.

It's been amazing that when I place the problem back on the student, (As in, "Teacher, I don't have a pencil." "Oh, that's a problem. How are you going to solve it?")they always manage to come up with a solution.