This works great for me. I have 6 tables of 4 kids. I bought little desk
trays that are about 6x10". They have two vertical sections and in the third
vertical area, that slot is divided into 4 small rectangles. In one vertical
has 4 - 2B pencils fit flat, in the other 4 -4H pencils fit flat and in the
small rectangles I have two erasers and 2 small hand held cheap pencil
sharpeners. This way I can see at a glance and from a distance if anything
is missing and the pencil sharpeners keep the kids in their seats. I pass
them out when the class settles down, i've made a big deal out of checking
and notifying me if anything is missing when I am handing it to them, I
collect them from the responsible kid in each group and 99% of the time the
tray is returned complete. This has saved me many headaches and I go through
far less pencils in a year. ( If budget is a problem each kid could
contribute one pencil and you probably wouldn't go through more than half of
them with this system) If I catch a kid breaking a pencil, a note goes home
and he is given a thick kindergarten pencil everytime he enters the room for
the rest of the unit. I explain that since they can't be responsible for
professional artist's materials they are not allowed to use them. So far
this year, out of 400 kids, I have two using kindergarten pencils and three
using kindergarten crayons instead of pastels. Catharine in Hong kOng
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