Back to school season usually starts off with students being organised and ready to go! However, as time goes on the novelty of the new stationery soon wears off and pencils soon stop making as many appearances in lessons... Well, this year I am trying something new to discourage this pattern!
I usually purchase a new pack of fresh pencils every year as "back ups" for students but really, it's not teaching them to be organised knowing I have them covered with freshly sharp pencils. Last year I tried just handing out a scabby set of second hand pencils that I collated from the lost and found in my classroom over time but honestly, that wasn't really much of a deterrent for most. So instead, I have hunted for the most hideous pencils that a teenager would ever want to use let alone keep in the hopes that they decide it's not worth the humiliation! (P.S. All images are clickable to download straight from Amazon.)
1) "The Teacher's Pencil - Return pencil to teacher". Awesome. Not exactly the coolest pencil to be carrying around and no way will this ever "accidentally" slip in anyone's pencil case. Plus the instructions on what to do with the pencil at the end of the lesson are written in front of their face - no excuses!
1) "The Teacher's Pencil - Return pencil to teacher". Awesome. Not exactly the coolest pencil to be carrying around and no way will this ever "accidentally" slip in anyone's pencil case. Plus the instructions on what to do with the pencil at the end of the lesson are written in front of their face - no excuses!
2) "The giant pencil". Not sure how practical this is, but hey, that might be a great lesson for them! If my pencils are too awkward and embarrassing to use, then bring your own next time!?
3) "My Little Pony" pencils - or anything that a teenager would find patronising. And before anyone says I'm mean, hey, no one is forcing them to use these pencils, they do have the option to bring their own you know...!
4) Personalise your own pencils - this way, you can write your name or even something witty and clever to encourage them to never want to use it again! Even something along the lines of "I want to marry Justin Bieber" might have the right effect on teenagers...! The beauty of these, is that choice is yours.
So there you go, some ideas on awesome, hideous pencils to deter your teen students from "borrowing" yours all the time - I will definitely be trying these out. I'm tempted to go for the My Little Pony ones first...! If you have tried this or decide give it a go, share the results in the comments below!
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