Small Group Pencil Management
Reading groups, math groups, writing groups, conferences, small groups....whatever you call them, however you run them in your class, you know they are important. At college you learned all about running records, documentation, RTI, small group instruction, remediation, differentiating.... BUT with only 15 to 20 minutes for each group, one little thing can ruin your whole day...one little thing can cause you to run behind and all your beautifully written plans go kaput!
Pencils! Love them or hate them, you're still going to need them for the primary classroom. One of my most read blog posts is about pencil management in general. Click here to read that post.
But today's post deals with one inexpensive and quick tip to help with small group instruction pencils. If your students are "running back to their desks" to get a pencil or needing to sharpen their pencil during small group instruction, let's face it...your time with that group is over before it even began.
My favorite trick for small groups is to FLAG your pencils that are only for small group time. Place a cute can or container in the middle of your group table and then use post it notes to make little flags on your pencils. That way when I student walks back to their desk with one, they will see the flag, or Suzie Busybody, will see the flag and they will remember to return it to the group table. Inexpensive and easy!
Small or Medium Sized Stickie Notes
Use the medium sized stickie note for a larger flag.
Use the smaller tab sized stickie note for a tiny flag.
I like to use seasonal pencils to make it a little more exciting! Some years I would use leftover Valentine's pencils during Halloween and leftover Christmas pencils at Valentines! That way YOU KNEW easily which pencils stayed at the small group table! :)
Today I'm teaming up with some teacher-blogger-friends from our collaborative blog at I Teach K - 2 for our May Linky. Read all the way to the bottom of this post for some new links to new and exciting ideas. But before you go, please enter our Rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win a $25 TpT gift card!
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