"I'm Done!" Jar & "Hey, that's MY pencil!"

Last year, I wrapped a recycled can in scrapbook paper and covered it with mod podge to be used as a pencil can.  Students would just take my pencils as they pleased, and most never returned them.  It got to the point where I was putting an entire package of pencils in the jar almost daily.  RIDICULOUS.  So, I decided to retire the pencil jar, and add a special touch to make it into something more useful.  I also have a new idea for the pencil problem I will share later in this post.  

So, I wanted a jar in which students knew where to go to get extra activities if they happen to finish before others, or even just 5 minutes before class is over.  (We all know that 5 minutes for a 5th grader that has nothing to do can mean an eternity for the teacher who is trying to keep the class on task.)  All I did was buy some chalkboard paint, which will serve many uses this year, and paint a small square on this can.  You have to paint horizontally and wait an hour, then add another coat vertically.  After that was finished, I took some chalk and wrote "I'm Done!" on the jar (even though we know that is not proper English!).  I am making an exception for this because there's not enough room to write finished, and we all know students always say, "I'm Done, now what do I do?"  Well, now they will know what to do.  No questions asked.  I wouldn't miss that statement if I never heard it in my classroom again.  So, here it is:

I plan on printing out tasks on strips of paper and folding them up for students to grab.  Hopefully, this will help students who finish early use their time efficiently as well as remind students that rushing through your work doesn't mean there is a prize at the end.  It means you get more math to practice!  hehe...

So, now I had a brand new system in place, but my pencils were homeless.  No problem, I had a wonderful new idea in mind for those pencils.  I created a "Pencil Hospital" in which students are allowed to place their broken, run-down, "sick" pencils for repair or re-sharpening and will not waste class time finding another one.  There, right below the Pencil Hospital, would be a whole drawer full of lively, newly sharpened pencils.  Ahhhh  <---- sigh of relief!

But wait, you say, won't kids now run off with your newly sharpened pencils just like last year, and leave you with their sickly pencils?  Interestingly enough, I have an idea (although it has not been kid-tested or teacher-approved... yet) to fix this pencil problem.  I have secured duct tape (bought for an earlier project) to the ends of all "MY" pencils.  If a student is caught "stealing" one of these, it will be obvious.  This may not fix this never-ending pencil problem, but it will very likely cut down on the number of pencils "stolen" to never be seen again.  So here are my duct-taped pencils.  :)

The Pencil Hospital I spoke of is still under construction, but I will give you a sneak peek of what I am working on.

Simple.  Just two drawers- one labeled "Pencil Hospital" and one labeled "Ready Pencils."  The top will have plenty of erasers for when the pencils are fine, but the erasers are worn out.  As you can see in the last picture, the cute scrapbook paper I chose to print on is too busy and dark to be able to read the words clearly, so I will be finding a new design to print on.  I will update with pictures when I find the perfect paper.  

-CJY-