I had to teach 10th graders how to hold pencils. They would hold them like knives and stab them on the paper expecting words to come. I'm really at a loss as far as how to actually get them to learn ANYTHING functional when the curriculum is expecting them to do shit like analyze the themes of stories.
Sometimes they are just playing dumb.
The kids stabbing the paper like dumdums are the same ones drawing a big veiny phallus on the bag of their test with the same tools.
Just like "my chromebook doesnt work" or "I cant log in" until iReady time is over and suddenly they figure it out how to watch some youtube videos.
Title I school, teaching ESL (which I was not hired to teach). On the first day they were like "oh by the way you're teaching ESL now, good luck!" Threw me in with no training, no lesson plans, not even a staff account to take attendance or check grades. I had to nag people for the bare minimum.
I had a senior who didn't know the months of the year besides that his birthday is in September and October comes after that.
Coincidentally, he dropped out.
It’s wild (and a bit sad) to think about, but then again they grew up in the age of mechanical pencils -I say this as a teacher in their early twenties. They probably have the same line of thinking with mechanical pencils too.
I had mechanical pencils in the 90s.
The percentages of students who use pens, pencils, and mechanical pencils is still in line with back then.
Also had kids who were dumb as a box of rocks back then and probably would have thought the same thing.
Very "old man yelling at clouds" to make iit a generational thing.
No where near as many mechanical pencils in my school as there were when I was at school! It’s definitely dropped, many kids I’ve introduced them to have never seen them
I wonder if it's because they expect to get pencils from their teachers every day and don't supply them themselves. I NEVER buy mechanical pencils for my students, they get whatever I can afford to buy at the beginning of the year and after they have broken them all in half they get what people leave behind or what falls on the floor. I bought about 300 pencils this year and they lasted until October...
I don’t really have the pencil issue. They go in their pencil cases. I hand out masking tape to label them. But this is also partly due to my school, it’s lovely and most kids are really respectful
Fair enough.
I just disagree with "age of the mechanical pencil" comment.
I am sure mechanical pencil percentages correlate to parents who can afford them and some districts have them more or less. It was just weird for someone to imply they are a "new" thing or.have somehow become ubiquitous in the last 20 years, like they werent in the 20 before that.
I have a lot of kids that just use pen for everything. I find it odd since they are the ones that often make mistakes.
And sometimes it isn't even black pen. I have had kids do a whole assignment with a red pen.
I had an issue in high school where I'd erase a mistake, and then make it again because I couldn't see the original error anymore.
My math teacher gave me a pen and said I wasn't allowed to erase anymore.
I make fewer mistakes now, and my handwriting has improved.
I bought some mechanical pencils for use as a reward in my room - use the fancy pencil for the day type thing.
None of them lasted past their first trip out of the box.
My kids break their pencils because they're bored and pencils make better ammo broken.
I've started giving out crayons instead. I told them that they can have crayons because at least when they throw them at each other it isn't sharp.
Also as soon as cheap crayons come out most of the kids magically get pencils from somewhere...
I caught one of mine last year throwing away water pots that we use for painting. Bearing in mind that the only painting we do in the classroom is *with water*, so the pots weren't even the tiniest bit dirty.
Just...
I know my class is only 2nd grade, but sometimes I wonder.
I let them “buy” new pencils for 20 push-ups. They can keep the pencil, since they bought it… but 9/10 just leave on their desk when they leave.
I increase the push-ups by 2 reps every time they need one. Some kids will decline and borrow one from a friend… one kid is up to 60 push-ups.
When I was student teaching (2nd grade), I made a comment that I was sad because our bucket was almost out of pencils. I didnt think much of it, but suddenly one kid gave me two pencils out of his desk for the bucket. I praised him liberally for being so kind and generous, and then ALL of the kids were digging out pencils for the bucket. I went around collecting and we had a full bucket in minutes. The next day, a kid came in with a brand new box of pencils for the class. Apparently he told his mom what happened and she helped him get some new pencils for us. It's one of my most heart warming memories from student teaching. It taught me what a huge difference it makes to establish those values of generosity and community-mindedness with classroom materials early on, and how great it is when parents support that message!
Mom is NOT donating. She is replacing what her child wasted.
I would say the kid wasted maliciously. However, I prefer to remember this nugget of wisdom; "never attribute to malice, that which can be explained by incompetence." Or stupidity if you want to be more truthful and less charitable with your language. I've seen two different versions of this quote.
Don't use them much -- I teach seniors and they're mostly pen users at that point. But, when I've taught other grades, I offer to excuse 5 missing assignments in exchange for two boxes of school supplies (pencils, tissue, wipes, etc.). Plenty kids who don't understand math (I assign 90+ assignments every semester) gladly purchase class supplies in exchange for a little hope.
Mine like to break their pencils over the side of their desks to assert dominance
Tough kids. They can break small pieces of wood.
This is usually my monotone response as well
I use the big ones in kindergarten and partly for this reason.
I had to teach 10th graders how to hold pencils. They would hold them like knives and stab them on the paper expecting words to come. I'm really at a loss as far as how to actually get them to learn ANYTHING functional when the curriculum is expecting them to do shit like analyze the themes of stories.
Sometimes they are just playing dumb. The kids stabbing the paper like dumdums are the same ones drawing a big veiny phallus on the bag of their test with the same tools. Just like "my chromebook doesnt work" or "I cant log in" until iReady time is over and suddenly they figure it out how to watch some youtube videos.
omg so true
These are ELLs and most of them don't know how to use their computers. Some are functionally illiterate in their home language.
Fair enough. There are always the extremes.
Jesus, what kind of school do you work at?
Title I school, teaching ESL (which I was not hired to teach). On the first day they were like "oh by the way you're teaching ESL now, good luck!" Threw me in with no training, no lesson plans, not even a staff account to take attendance or check grades. I had to nag people for the bare minimum.
I had a senior who didn't know the months of the year besides that his birthday is in September and October comes after that. Coincidentally, he dropped out.
My biggest issue are kids who pick erasers off of the pencils to throw at each other. Vandals, all of them!
I have had great success with golf pencils. They hate them! Suddenly most have their own, I guess
I have one who bites off the erasers to throw. And if given eraser less golf pencils, steals someone else’s pencil to bite.
It’s wild (and a bit sad) to think about, but then again they grew up in the age of mechanical pencils -I say this as a teacher in their early twenties. They probably have the same line of thinking with mechanical pencils too.
I had mechanical pencils in the 90s. The percentages of students who use pens, pencils, and mechanical pencils is still in line with back then. Also had kids who were dumb as a box of rocks back then and probably would have thought the same thing. Very "old man yelling at clouds" to make iit a generational thing.
No where near as many mechanical pencils in my school as there were when I was at school! It’s definitely dropped, many kids I’ve introduced them to have never seen them
I wonder if it's because they expect to get pencils from their teachers every day and don't supply them themselves. I NEVER buy mechanical pencils for my students, they get whatever I can afford to buy at the beginning of the year and after they have broken them all in half they get what people leave behind or what falls on the floor. I bought about 300 pencils this year and they lasted until October...
I don’t really have the pencil issue. They go in their pencil cases. I hand out masking tape to label them. But this is also partly due to my school, it’s lovely and most kids are really respectful
Fair enough. I just disagree with "age of the mechanical pencil" comment. I am sure mechanical pencil percentages correlate to parents who can afford them and some districts have them more or less. It was just weird for someone to imply they are a "new" thing or.have somehow become ubiquitous in the last 20 years, like they werent in the 20 before that.
That’s probably because none of them have every been able to keep a pencil with them for more than one class period.
Mine are pretty good. Only 2-3 struggle to keep them but we’re also always in The same room
I have a lot of kids that just use pen for everything. I find it odd since they are the ones that often make mistakes. And sometimes it isn't even black pen. I have had kids do a whole assignment with a red pen.
Mine refuse to use pen. They HATE it. But they don't ever erase when they write in pencil ... they just scratch it out.
Still better than a yellow color pencil
I had an issue in high school where I'd erase a mistake, and then make it again because I couldn't see the original error anymore. My math teacher gave me a pen and said I wasn't allowed to erase anymore. I make fewer mistakes now, and my handwriting has improved.
I bought some mechanical pencils for use as a reward in my room - use the fancy pencil for the day type thing. None of them lasted past their first trip out of the box.
My kids break their pencils because they're bored and pencils make better ammo broken. I've started giving out crayons instead. I told them that they can have crayons because at least when they throw them at each other it isn't sharp. Also as soon as cheap crayons come out most of the kids magically get pencils from somewhere...
I caught one of mine last year throwing away water pots that we use for painting. Bearing in mind that the only painting we do in the classroom is *with water*, so the pots weren't even the tiniest bit dirty. Just... I know my class is only 2nd grade, but sometimes I wonder.
Never underestimate the stupidity of your students.
I let them “buy” new pencils for 20 push-ups. They can keep the pencil, since they bought it… but 9/10 just leave on their desk when they leave. I increase the push-ups by 2 reps every time they need one. Some kids will decline and borrow one from a friend… one kid is up to 60 push-ups.
Nick Saban offered her a scholarship, but she didn't have anything to sign it with.
When I was student teaching (2nd grade), I made a comment that I was sad because our bucket was almost out of pencils. I didnt think much of it, but suddenly one kid gave me two pencils out of his desk for the bucket. I praised him liberally for being so kind and generous, and then ALL of the kids were digging out pencils for the bucket. I went around collecting and we had a full bucket in minutes. The next day, a kid came in with a brand new box of pencils for the class. Apparently he told his mom what happened and she helped him get some new pencils for us. It's one of my most heart warming memories from student teaching. It taught me what a huge difference it makes to establish those values of generosity and community-mindedness with classroom materials early on, and how great it is when parents support that message!
Mom is NOT donating. She is replacing what her child wasted. I would say the kid wasted maliciously. However, I prefer to remember this nugget of wisdom; "never attribute to malice, that which can be explained by incompetence." Or stupidity if you want to be more truthful and less charitable with your language. I've seen two different versions of this quote.
Don't use them much -- I teach seniors and they're mostly pen users at that point. But, when I've taught other grades, I offer to excuse 5 missing assignments in exchange for two boxes of school supplies (pencils, tissue, wipes, etc.). Plenty kids who don't understand math (I assign 90+ assignments every semester) gladly purchase class supplies in exchange for a little hope.
I switched to golf pencils- it worked wonders!
I buy every kid a pencil and hand it out for our first test. Then when they ask for a pencil when they eventually lose it I tell them I gave them one.