Monday, December 1, 2014

Ahhhhhh, Yes; The Pencils


I thought I had this figured out but I guess i was wrong. Last year, my students went through about 100 pencils in the first five months of school (See my January 16, 2014 post). I suspected they were using them as building supplies.

This year is no different. At least one person in every single class needs a pencil. Talk about being prepared for class. I mean, think about it, if you’re a student here’s a list of what you need in every single class:
          1. Pencil
          2. Piece of paper
It’s like a carpenter showing up at a construction site, “Hey man can I borrow a hammer?”

I don’t get it, unless it is the first block of the day, you just came from a class. Didn't you have a  pencil in that class? Did you lose it walking across the hallway?  If that's true, why isn’t the hallway littered with pencils?


I thought I had it figured out this year. Instead of providing full-sized pencils with erasers, pencils that students might be tempted to keep, I ordered a box of 100 mini-golf pencils. They’re four inches long and have no eraser. No one wants to use, never mind keep, these pencils and yet, they are almost gone and it’s not even Christmas.

I have no idea what happens to pencils in a school but I am beginning to suspect there may be a room chock full of pencils somewhere in the basement. 

Has anyone checked, is our heating system fueled by pencils?

3 comments:

  1. I think that sometimes people are too lazy to go in there backpacks and get a pencil. And then they keep saying that they don't have them, But when they are done using the pencils they take it buy accident or it falls on the floor but usually the person ends up losing it!! Tipcaly when they go to another class they use there own pencils~MG, Carr Crew

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  2. Okay, this is strange. You have golf pencils in your room? Anyway, I seem to have the same problem!! My pencils keep running away from me also. Started off with 5 pens, and 10 pencils, and 2 sharpies. Now I have 2 pencils, 2 pens, and zero sharpies. With your pencil problems, I'm thinking that people see the pencils as unimportant, and it's "okay" to leave them on a table or throw on the ground, break, or take for themselves. "One out of the bunch isn't much, theirs like, 1000 more!". Another reason might be that they think the pencils are there FOR taking, not for giving back, for the same reason.

    -NMB Carr Crew

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  3. My pencils disappear too. I have one I keep for myself; it's a [blue] mechanical pencil that I love and always have with me. However, people always ask me for pencils -not pens very much though- and even though I started with 5 or 6 pencils I have none left except for the blue mechanical pencil. I agree with NMB that pencils might just be viewed as unimportant; I loaned someone a very nice mechanical pencil and they didn't give that back! Another part of this problem is where the pencils go after they have been used, not just the using of the pencils. I can't even remember where all the pencils that I lose myself in my room go. Maybe they're all growing legs. RM, McKellar Crew

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