School supplies, if bought at the right time, are pretty cheap. I can get folders for dime, or pencils and notebooks for a penny. Because of my thrifty shopping, I give students anything they need to get the job done. I even instruct them to grab these items as they enter room without asking. It can be frustrating to give the same person a pencil daily. I can get past this; if they just do it themselves and not remind me DAILY they lack supplies. How can some students lose a pencil a day is beyond me, but I don’t question them as long as they take care of these needs quickly and on their own. It wastes class to take collateral, like a shoe or an agenda (I know of teachers who have collected both). If the students could just remember to grab them from the various places in the room before the bell rang, the world would be a perfect place.
Of course, it does take a little bit of time to get use to what each teacher expects. A month into school and some students are still trying to figure it out. Patience is definitely something I should work at, but I really do try. However, some students get “lucky”; they have me for 7th and 8th grade. They don’t have to learn my expectations all over again.
One student has had the pleasure of having me two years in a row. He probably doesn’t consider it enjoyable because I have been emailing his mother weekly for twelve months (at this point). Most days this particular student is on top of things. He does struggle to get motivated and does space out at times, but he knows BETTER.
He asked me for a pencil; I actually didn’t have any stocked. I quickly and happily grabbed him a brand new pencil. I started the class in today’s journal. At which point, the students write in their journal, listen to announcements, and get ready for the next task listed on the board without my direction. It’s a routine that has been in action for a month, and for second year students for twelve months.
After the journal, the class begins to open their books and get out their discussion guides. On this day, I was reading aloud, so I read and stopped and the class answered questions on their guides. As I finish the chapter and the students are feverishly answering their questions, I notice this boy isn’t doing anything. When I question his actions, he shows me the pencil I gave him twenty minutes earlier in class.
The pencil is not sharpened.
I ask him how he could do his journal with a unsharpened pencil. He said he didn’t. I asked him why he wasn’t writing down answers as I read. He said his pencil wasn’t sharpened. Needless to say, I sent him to the hallway to finish the assignments on his own. I still am pretty sure he never sharpened the pencil. A lengthy lecture, emails to his study hall teacher and his mother ensue. At least, his life was spared; thanks to the handy-dandy hallway.
It is clear why I can’t get my work caught up.
Mishaps Today 