Fancy Pencils, Ugly Pencils, and The Task Managing Tool

As teachers in any grade, we often buy supplies with our own money.  I enjoy shopping of any kind--am I the only teacher who gets excited about brand new school supplies!? However, I LOVE it when I can save a little money by taking care of the supplies that I have already purchased.  Part of the Montessori curriculum is taking care of materials and treating everything with care.  Also a part of the Montessori philosophy is work cycles.  During work cycles, each student is engaged in their own individual, personalized activities.  These activities are tailored to the students' needs based on formal and informal assessment.  As with any assignments or activities, students are likely to get things done at different times.  I have created a system that allows me to see who is doing what at any given moment...the task managing tool!!

The ugly pencil/fancy pencil idea came from my frustration with students being really hard on pencils.  I mean--I would put out fresh pencils one morning and by the end of the day they wouldn't have an eraser...like, come on now.  My babies are kindergarteners and 1st graders, so I knew that I had to come up with something to help them understand that I would not be buying pencils every month.  Now we have community everything  in my classroom--pencils, colored pencils, crayons, paper, tissue...everything! Sharing is caring.  As for me and my house, we share everything.  We just do.  So I set out two jars and labeled them.  I explained to them that if I see that they do not know how to use a pencil correctly, I would ask them to get an ugly pencil.  I modeled for them how to erase, write, and even how to carry a fancy pencil.  What makes a pencil fancy? It's freshly sharpened and has an eraser on the end.  Ugly pencils are dull, old, and they don't have an eraser.  Do the fancy pencils get worn out? Of course they do, but it takes a while.  My colleagues come and ask me for pencils because I do not go through pencils as quickly.  They hate using ugly pencils, so I rarely have to make them get one.  This will save your life, honey! And side note, just in case you're wondering:  that one with the cap eraser is for my baby who just turned 5 and has trouble holding a pencil.  He has a fancy gripper on his fancy pencil and the eraser is for him to hold in his ring and index finger while he is holding the pencil...works wonders and teaches correct pencil grip! So all you need to get started is two containers, some ugly pencils, and some fresh pencils.  I also have ugly/fancy colored pencils, markers, and crayons.

  

 As I mentioned previously, work cycles are important in a Montessori classroom.  We do lots of small group lessons, some whole groups lessons, and a lot of independent work.  This task managing tool has a poster for "I am not here today", "I am in work cycle", and "I am ready to get my work checked".  Let me preface this by saying that this takes a ton of modeling, practice, practice, and practice.  This is my first year using this system.  For the last two years I have had students raising their hands when they have completed their assignments for work cycle, but that is inefficient and it wastes time.  So I will give an update of how this works at some point.  Whenever students have completed their assignments, they will move their clip from "I am in work cycle", to the first available number on "I am ready to get my work checked".  This way, both I and the co-teacher know who is ready to have their work checked.  Once they have had their work checked, we will ask them to move their names to the free choice bin (to the right of the fancy pencils' jar).  Free choice consists of other educational activities that they get to choose.  Sometimes they choose another math or language work.  Sometimes they work with practical life or sensorial.  They even have the opportunity to give other friends lessons or help them.   

Please excuse the highlighters, pen, and papers on the floor.  I work from the floor all day, so it's for easy access! ; )

Right now you're wondering--Cequoia, what do you do while your kids are in work cycle? Well, sometimes I am giving one-on-one instruction, sometimes small group, and other times whole group.  I may be observing a friend while they are doing a certain work or they may ask me to sit and watch them do something.  With 20+ little ones there is no down time, even in Montessori.  I do have most of my students for two years, so the seasoned House 9 friends are already acclimated.  Once their work is completed, they beg me to assign them a friend that needs help with something...or beg to help me with something.  I will share more specifics about the work cycle and what it looks like in my room.