Pencils. Talk Amongst Yourselves.

I'm not sure how the teachers who write the manuals seem to do it. In their lessons, every kid arrives ready to learn with a "writing utensil" in hand. Why is this concept so foreign to me? My students NEVER have pencils! They arrive penless, pencilless, and more often than not, penniless. "How hard is it to bring something to write with?? You're (fill-in-the-blank-teen-years) old for goodness sake!" it was enough of a pain in my side that last year my entire family got me pencils for Christmas. In January, I had well over 2000 pencils. Enough to last my entire career, right? Riiiight.

Fast forward to September. The remaining 750 pencils were parceled out to needy students. I admit, I am a softie, and when students look at me with those mischievous teenage eyes and claim to want the only thing standing between them and a compete science education is a pencil......well, who am I to stifle their inquiring minds.

So here it is January, and all 750 beautifully sharpened pencils have done their duty, destined to forever sit at the bottom of a backpack, stashed in the depths of a locker, or broken an swept off to parts unknown. Yet, a full 6 months of engaging, dramatic, and fully aligned science lessons await. Houston? We have a problem.

Enter Desperate Times. Desperate Times, I have been told, call for Desperate Measures. And in this case, desperate measures involve $2 worth of fake flowers, a glue gun, a few cap erasers, and a stash of Halloween pencils purchased in the 90% off bin at a local office supply store.

Brilliant! But of course I can't take credit. I admit I saw it on Pinterest. The kids either love it or hate it, but they
NOTICE it. On the first day, one very masculine, very brusque boy says to me, "Ms. A, no dis(respect), but I'd rather DIE then use a flower pencil. I'll just get one out of my bag." Ahhhhh, the sweet smell of success! In addition, no one wants to accidentally carry the flower pen around, and those kids who accidentally forget what is and isn't theirs...are instantly reminded...this pencil ISN'T mine. In four weeks, I have only lost one and sadly, it's remains were located, carefully hidden amongst the dirty glassware. At one pencil every four weeks, the 48 pack of pencils I purchased should last for years!

My next quest will be to make more scientific models using obnoxious pencils...perhaps a porcupine with pencil spindles? A retrovirus with pipe cleaner antigens? A valentines bouquet of pencils with large hearts that say, "I <3 science class!" in any case, we can check pencils off my to-think-about list....

Introduction

I'm a public school science teacher in a small rural high school. For years I have been playing with blogs in an attempt to organize my reflective conversations about teaching. But in recent weeks I have actually found something worth writing about! It seems that resources for teachers at the high school level around classroom management, creative learning spaces, and organization are missing. It's not surprising, the environment of every high school I have ever been in is hurried, frantic, and by nature, stressed. High school teachers rarely have time to make creative displays, add creature comforts, and decorate beyond the basic necessities much less use innovative and structured method to organize their classrooms. Because I am fortunate enough to have a student teacher this semester, I thought I would take the opportunity to share some of my methods and pose questions for those sticking issues left unsolved. Enjoy, browse and most of all...share!