Mechanical Pencils

Warning. This post will borderline a soapbox rant-like entry. I apologize. Please feel free to skip reading.

Pencils are a learning tool in our classroom. Students need a pencil that works. As a general rule, I don't really care about wooden pencils or mechanical pencils. I want students to have a tool that supports their learning.

Every year, students discover mechanical pencils. In the beginning, it isn't a very big deal. One student has one (or a package), other students notice. Soon, the use of mechanical pencils spread. Great! Everyone has a tool they can use to learn.

Then the problems begin. There are scenerios that play out repeatedly:
 * There are containers of lead. These are spilled. There are now four fourth graders crawling on the floor, picking up microscopic-like leads. They break. The owner gets upset. What was a helpful team clean up, becomes hurt feelings ("My leads are broken."), more hurt feelings ("I was only trying to help."), and now the whole class is involved.

* There are the mechanical minded students, who like to know just how things work. They spend class time, taking apart their pencils into pieces and trying to put them together. Somewhere across the room, someone notices, and they want to see how their pencil functions. Soon it is an epidemic, with pencil pieces rolling all over, left behind, and cracked, and broken.

* There are the pencils that don't work.

* There are the generous students who have a package of many pencils that share with a friend, and it becomes the "have" and "have nots".

* There are more situations ... like stolen pencils


Honestly, I don't care about wooden pencils or mechanical pencils. I care when I spend more time managing "pencils" than helping students learn. WE reached this point. I said if there was "one more issue with mechanical pencils", we were finished. It happened. No more mechanical pencils. A week ago.

Then one family had a concern. They REALLY felt it was beneficial for their student to use pencils. It helps their student write neater. It is motivating. There are many sincere benefits. I said that one student could use a mechanical pencil, because really, I don't care. I just want students to be successful.

Slowly, one to two students a day come and ask if they can also be an exception. "I am responsible. I am not distracted." Yep. That works.

Now there is half the students concerned, why do some students get to use pencils and other student do not.

Again, wooden or mechanical pencils. I really don't care. What I do care about, for the second time in a week, I am having to use CLASS TIME to talk about mechanical pencils. It drives me CRAZY! Figure it out. Do what is right.

(This is the end of the pencil ramblings. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We will now return to our regularly scheduled CLASS LEARNING time!)