The Great Pencil Debate

Oh pencils.

Why do students consistently come to class without them? I already know through my experiences as a sub that pencils are a constant problem (especially for math class). So what can you do?

I've seen ideas like this all over Pinterest, and I just don't like them!

A great way to lose both pencils and student focus!

 I feel like students will just play with the colorful flag pencils, and with over 100 students, I don't have the time to keep track of 20 pencils that belong in my special teacher cup. I've seen other variations of this idea that involve keeping pencils at the front of the room and holding the students hostage until they are all returned, which seems both extreme and unfair to me.

The biggest issue I have with these ideas however, is that we are not teaching the students responsibility. We are reinforcing the idea to them that if they need something, someone will give it to them with no consequence. Responsibility is a BIG character trait that I want to teach in my classroom, especially with middle school students. 

I've thrown around a couple ideas in my head that will keep my sanity (and my precious pencils) intact. I've considered a bartering system where I trade one of my pencils for one of the students' items. The only issue I have with this idea is that the student is still able to borrow with almost no consequence. I also don't want to have students go back and forth to their lockers to retrieve an item to trade for a pencil. They may as well go back and get a pencil of their own, which is what I'm trying to avoid.

 Another idea I've had is to have them "buy" a pencil from me by turning in their positive behavior cards, a classroom management technique that will eventually be linked here. I like the idea of them having to "buy" a pencil from me, because it reinforces the need to be responsible for classroom materials, and it comes with a consequence. Super bonus is that I don't have to pretend to keep track of 20 magical teacher pencils that I know I will never get back. However, I am iffy about this strategy as well because I don't want students that have worked hard to fill their positive behavior card have to "sell" it to me because they forgot a pencil once the entire quarter. I've considered finding sad face stickers to cover up the punches on the card so the student "sells" me one punch instead of the entire thing. I've also considered putting negative marks on the back of the cards, but I don't necessarily want to highlight negative behaviors (or keep track of the extra positives once the card is full). I'm just not sure what to do. I will post an update when I come up with a strategy that I am happy with. 

What are some of your strategies for keeping track of pencils? Let me know in the comments. =)

-Ms. B