Check out this simple classroom management tip you can use in your elementary classroom. Download these free classroom supply labels to help your classroom run more smoothly. These sharp and dull pencil labels are free to download. Click here to grab the free "sharpen please" and "ready to write" pencil labels for your classroom. #2ndgradestuff #3rdgradeideas #classroomorganization #classroommanagement

I blame it on my Type A personality and excessive need for organization. Give me all the pretty bins and classroom labels. Please tell me I’m not alone.

I mean, that’s partly why I became a teacher. Listen to this. My mom told me that when I was in 3rd grade, I told her I wanted to become a teacher because I loved school supplies.

Well. Not much has changed. Ha. So, “third grade Nesli” still lives on and is still obsessed with school supplies and labeling all the things.

Check out this simple classroom management tip you can use in your elementary classroom. Download these free classroom supply labels to help your classroom run more smoothly. These sharp and dull pencil labels are free to download. Click here to grab the free "sharpen please" and "ready to write" pencil labels for your classroom. #2ndgradestuff #3rdgradeideas #classroomorganization #classroommanagement

Classroom Labels + Organization = Effective Classroom Management

I believe one of the most important puzzle pieces to effective classroom management, is an organized classroom. An organized classroom fosters student independence, it provides routine and structure, and allows a classroom to run smoothly.

Classroom Labels: Free Sharp and Dull Pencil Labels

Okay so I’m really happy you found this pin on Pinterest or found this post on Google because I have used this simple classroom management strategy in my classroom for literally the last 8 years.

Sometimes the simplest strategy makes a WORLD of difference, especially when dealing with twenty something 6 and 7 year olds. This dull and sharp pencil procedure is one of the very first procedures I teach my students. I actually teach my students this routine on the first day of school.

free pencil labels

How I Use These Free Classroom Labels

First, I print and laminate the labels. Then I hot glue them onto small buckets that I find at the Dollar Tree or the Target Dollar Spot–gosh that place gets me in trouble! I’ve also re-used old PASTA JARS {like the one in the picture here}.

Here’s how the pencil system works:

  1. Whenever my students need a sharpened pencil, they go to the designated pencil area. Put their dull pencil in the “Sharpen Please” jar. {They MUST put a dull pencil in the jar–they are not allowed to just grab a sharpened pencil}
  2. Grab a sharpened pencil from the “Ready to Write” jar.
  3. Quietly return to their seat.
  4. At the end of the day, I usually have “Pencil Patrol” {this is a student job} sharpen all of the dull pencils so they are ready for the next day.

Simple, yet effective.

Can I get an AMEN?!

After you get these printed and laminated, your students will have a simple routine for getting a new pencil. 

That means they won’t be disrupting you when you’re in the middle of small groups or working with another student. Can I get a freaking AMEN?!

If you weren’t already excited, I hope you are now. 🙂 

4 Reasons Why You’ll Want These Classroom Labels

  1. Imagine hearing the pencil sharpener in the middle of a lesson or during guided reading groups {although it’s a classroom rule to NOT do this..it still happens *insert eye roll here*.}
  2. Imagine a long waiting line at the pencil sharpener at the beginning of a test or independent work time. {SO MUCH TIME being wasted} #NoThankYou
  3. Imagine the pencil sharpener breaking in the middle of a test…
  4. I can see it now. I can see all the pencil shavings leaking from student’s desks…all over the floor… from using their own hand-held pencil sharpeners.

Are you convinced yet? 🙂

Do you already use this sharp & dull system in your classroom? If you’d like to try this simple classroom management system, you can download these free labels.

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    free sharpen please and ready to write classroom supply labels, free dull and sharp labels
    Check out this simple classroom management tip you can use in your elementary classroom. Download these free classroom supply labels to help your classroom run more smoothly. These sharp and dull pencil labels are free to download. Click here to grab the free "sharpen please" and "ready to write" pencil labels for your classroom. #2ndgradestuff #3rdgradeideas #classroomorganization #classroommanagement
    Nesli