I put 40 freshly sharpened pencil in the sharp bin on Monday morning. By 11:00 on Monday, they were all gone. There wasn’t any pencils in the sharp bin either. 40 pencils gone and two children without a pencil to use. How does this happen?!
The sound of the pencil sharpener drives me up the wall. I can’t stand it. The way pencil sharpening works in my classroom is we have two bins. One for sharp pencils and one bin for dull pencils. I sharpen all the dull pencils in the morning. If they need a new pencil, they put their dull pencil in the dull bin and grab a sharp pencil. It worked out perfectly the first few months of school. Now, not so much.
There are always 5 children without a pencil first thing in the morning. Where did their pencil go from yesterday? Probably in the black hole they call their tote tray. Each table has a supply caddy in the center, where their pencils should go. They are worried about someone stealing their identical pencils that they keep them in their desks. That are promptly lost.
If there aren’t any pencil to sharpen in the dull bin in the morning, I’m not pulling out new ones to sharpen. You would be amazed how quickly someone can find a pencil for their friend in their desk. After lunch, we have the same problem. There aren’t any pencil left and a new set of 5 kids can’t find theres. By this time, I tell them to pick a pencil off the ground. If it isn’t dull, there are a few kids with hand pencil sharpeners who will so kindly sharpen their pencils. (Look at that community.)
On Friday, we clean out desks. Usually, these pencils (dry erase markers, crayons, markers, notebooks) that have gone missing appear again. Last Friday, however, no pencils reappeared.
Where did my 40 new pencils go? We will never know. On the plus side, they’ve stopped asking for new pencils.
Confessions of a Real Teacher 
OMG… this is my life. Where the heck are all of those pencils?
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There must be a stash somewhere of lots and lots of pencils. Someone might be giggling about that!
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I just cleaned out all the bookshelves and cupboards. Those are off the list. It’s gotta be in a kiddo’s desk…
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It must of been me. I am notorious for coming home and pulling out work pencils from my pocket or my bag. They eventually do make it back to the library from my house and students, because all my work pencils are white and have the words “library pencil” along the side. I do feel you pencil pain. As a classroom teacher the pencil sharpener sound drove me crazy. I wonder how your students would solve this problem?
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What a great idea for a post! Missing pencils are a problem for teachers everywhere!!
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They never reappear. EVER.
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I was drawn in by your title today! Even though I teach older students (high schoolers), I face the same problem. Really, after 10 or 11 or 12 years of education, you still have not worked out that you might need something to write with, and you should hold on to it for more than 3 minutes? Plus, your classroom sounds like my son’s first grade class. Where to those pencils all go? I think there must be miniature black holes in their desks, or their tote caddies. Thank you for an enjoyable read.
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All the time. Its like “You just had a pencil. Where did it go??” They don’t know.
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Oh, the pencil wars… they never end. And where the pencils go? You are so right… we will never know.
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Oh my gosh! I know! It has gotten so bad that I now give them a pencil labeled with their name at the beginning of the week and that is all. Where do they go?!?!?
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I should try that. Someone would probably cry though. Or take off the label and steal someone’s pencil.
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Pencils are to classrooms as socks are to dryers. So enjoyed (and related to) this post!
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That’s hilarious. I charge my students class money if they’ve “lost” their pencil and need a new one. Usually their pencil ends up on the floor just under their chair. And then it’s lost forever.
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