Three or four weeks ago, I wrote a post about the flagged pencils that always appear on Pinterest. You know...the pencils with duct tape banners at the top. The idea is that when students borrows pencils, if the pencil has a colorful flag attached, the students will remember to put the pencil back before leaving the classroom. I teach four math classes each day with approximately 100 students so, I was excited to see if this simple idea worked.
I placed 5 flagged pencils in a container on a shelf. I instructed my kiddos what I expected and left the poor pencils defenseless against a flurry of 9 year olds coming in and out of my classroom all day.
Result: After 3 weeks, I still have all 5 pencils. No, I am not kidding. They are still intact. I have had a couple of the pencils leave my room, only to be brought back by an apologetic student.
The pencils three weeks ago...before students were let loose on them. They looked so pretty. :)
NOW!
As you can see from the picture below, the pencils, (and flags), have seen better days.
Actually, I think these pencils are in really good shape, considering what they go through daily.
I am convinced this is something I will continue to do each year. The days of missing pencils seem to have have disappeared!
No comments:
Post a Comment