How using pencils can reduce wasted time

Most teachers probably don’t give much thought to what their students are using to write with. Pencils and pens come in many disguises these days, and usage of the wrong type can create many different problems for the teacher.

Pencils or pens

It would have occurred to most teachers that using a pencil rather than a pen is more desirable. Correction of mistakes is done more easily if a pencil has been used. A simple rubber/eraser provides far neater correction of mistakes than correction fluid, not to mention eliminating the problem of spillages and students becoming engaged in solvent abuse, thus losing many valuable brain cells. Another option for correcting mistakes made using a pen is scraping the paper away with a sharp edge. This is unsightly and can prove dangerous.

For children, the point has been made to me that it is more difficult to control a pen and so the child’s motor skill development is impaired.

So, pens can be discounted for most classroom operations.

Types of pencil

There are currently many different types of pencil on the market. Some of these are more desirable in the classroom than others. While adult students are capable of correctly operating the more modern types of pencil, they can cause real problems for children.

The type of pencil that takes thin leads into a plastic or metal body, are particularly troublesome. Adults and children alike should be discouraged from using them, firstly because the writing that they produce is so faint. Such little pressure is required to avoid breaking the lead that it renders the writing virtually invisible to all of us that don’t possess x-ray vision. In addition, the constant breaking of leads and refilling of the contraption slow some children down to a halt. Many of my students have no work completed in their books, never getting beyond the date due to this problem.

The type of pencil that usually has a plastic body with many small lead holders, which can be taken from the bottom and put back into the top are little better.

These devices at least produce legible script, however they create many other classroom problems in the hands of children. Such pencils provide an irresistible temptation to play and fiddle around. Children will become fascinated with these pencils and fail to pay any attention to the teacher, but this is not the worst of it. Next, they will dismantle the apparatus, and all the parts will fall onto the floor, resulting in four or five other students turning round to look. Then, the student whose pencil it is will try to retrieve the pieces, knocking a fellow student’s pencil to the floor, which breaks in a similar fashion. Before the teacher can stop the resultant domino effect, almost every student will be scrambling around on the floor trying to recover the correct pieces to reassemble their pencils.

This type of situation has resulted in the premature death of many good teachers.

The type of pencil with lights that illuminate when the student applies pressure, really annoy me and obviously create the maximum distraction factor amongst small children (and the maximum delight).

Banning all of these types of pencil not only prevents disruptions like these, but means that students won’t waste time comparing different pencil designs in a weekly “best in show” competition.

The old faithful

The old-style pencil, consisting of graphite and wood produce the most legible work and create the least distraction. To eliminate the problem of children constantly sharpening these, the teacher should keep one of those large, mechanical sharpeners with a handle that you turn, on their desk to supervise the task. A constant supply of ready sharpened pencils would be best, but it’s good to let the students think that they are getting away with something by letting them sharpen their own pencils.

Simple but true

It is amazing that just by insisting upon a standard type of pencil, so much wasted time can be done away with. I have come to these conclusions by painful experience and hundreds of wasted classroom hours. It may seem silly to give so much thought to such a small aspect of teaching, but this approach has saved me a lot of frustration and allowed many of my students to make better progress and complete their work.