Pencils are the necessary tool of most schoolwork...and are the bane of most teachers' existence. In eight years of teaching I've tried pretty much every single Pinterest-suggested trick there is to solve the various problems associated with pencils:
Then one day, I stopped all the madness and just started giving kids pencils. I can't remember why or how I arrived at this epiphany, but I do remember the shift in my thinking. You see, the issue here wasn't pencils -- the issue was mindset.
I adore Jennifer Gonzalez and her website Cult of Pedagogy. I was sitting on my couch with my cup of coffee, scrolling through my Facebook feed, when I came across a post of hers where she shared an article titled Where Have All the Pencils Gone? 29 Tips for Classroom Pencil Management Anything endorsed or suggested by Jen is usually pretty great, and this being a huge pain in my side anyway, I clicked for further reading.
Here are some examples that were shared in the article:
As I read through those teachers' responses, I couldn't help but notice a few things. For starters, all of these suggestions are high-maintenance solutions, meaning they require quite a bit of teacher energy and consistency (and, in some cases, even money) to sustain. I am not about that life whatsoever, and if I'm going to bat for something, it's going to be for something far more significant than just pencils. Secondly, if you examine these responses carefully, you may notice how they are all heavily tinged with the "old school" mentality that the teacher holds all the power (or, in this case, all the pencils) and it's the student's job to please the teacher by being prepared to his/her standard. You're not doing anything to teach the kid about the responsibility of maintaining their supplies, you're just training them to respond to your wishes. That's not life-long character building. The vast majority of students understand and realize they need a pencil every day in order to do their work. They are the ones who show up to the first day of school with all the suggested supplies, and maybe a little extra. We teachers typically refer to these students as the ones who "get it", or the ones who "do school". However, there is always that small percentage of students who never seem to have it figured out, no matter which grade they're in. It's no coincidence these are also typically the ones who still haven't gone supply shopping after the second week of school, still haven't returned the signed parent forms you sent home, and - if I'm generalizing here - are usually the "shovers", meaning they don't have a delicate filing system of folders or binders in which to place their paperwork, but rather rely on the "shoving" method for putting things away. Teachers get on these kids over and over, telling them they need to "figure it out", chastising them for not knowing their basic student needs and solving their own problems (I'm guilty of giving these lectures more times than I care to admit). Needless to say, this is the main population of which most pencil woes take place. The amount of time, energy, and effort it was taking me to nag these kids was starting to weigh me down, especially once I acknowledged that no amount of lip service from me was going to suddenly whip them into shape and cause a magical moment where they see the light and go skipping off to Staples. It was also pointless to train an entire class to respond to my personal procedure for pencils when most of them already had something that was working for them. Again, if I'm going to invest valuable time and energy into something, I want it to be the most bang for my buck. Kids who are constantly losing and asking for pencils obviously have some greater issues going on, whether it's executive functioning issues, home life distractions, or, frankly, because they just don't care. Having a pencil and being ready for class is teacher priority, but not always a kid priority, especially if that child comes from an environment of trauma or poverty. I saw this poem come up in my Twitter feed one day:
I took a step back and looked at the greater issues going on with these kids and came to this conclusion: just give the kid a pencil.
Pencils aren't made of gold. A box of 30 high-quality ones costs me about $5, which I can probably get reimbursed for. I start the year by having a wish list of extra supplies, and I always put Ticonderoga pencils on there. Anytime an eager parent asks if I need anything for the classroom, I always ask for pencils. Pencils are sort of a basic need in the school world, akin to food, water, and air. So give the kid a pencil. A kid realizing he or she doesn't have a pencil can be a small hiccup in the learning process, not a major diversion. Without a pencil, student productivity comes to a grinding halt. It's a well-known fact that a kid who doesn't have a pencil = a kid who is now causing disruption, either to themselves or to the rest of the class. I personally would rather have my students stay on this course of productivity and move past the No Pencil dilemma as swiftly as possible, as opposed to capitalizing on the moment for some arbitrary life lesson about responsibility. Ease the pain of this by giving the kid a pencil. Giving a kid a pencil when they have the courage to admit they need one goes more deeply than you may think. I highly recommend taking a look at this blog post on the Teaching Tolerance website. I love this professor's insights about this topic, especially this quote: "Of course there is the chance I will be taken advantage of. I welcome this chance. I resolve to remain a patient advocate for the child even if he is testing me. When I hand him the 50th pencil and remind him there is always one here, what will be his likely impression? Has humiliation worked so far in his educational experience? Has the status quo resolved the issue? Imagine the impact of endless advocacy. We should all be extended such grace."
I've included a link below to my favorite brand of pencils. For less than the cost of a pizza, you'll have a decent supply of pencils to start off your school year.
Of course, you could eliminate the pain and suffering of pencils all together by switching to a more paperless classroom and having your students complete the majority of their work using digital tools, like Google Apps for Education. But that's a blog post for another time. How about you? What's your stance on the Great Pencil Debate? I'd love to read your insights in the comments below.
1 Comment
Josephine Wozniak
7/18/2016 09:26:31 am
Totally agree. You can't sweat the small stuff.
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