1. Refusing to give them a pencil, so they can learn to be responsible.
(Doesn't work, and I feel like a jerk.)
2. Providing them with a pencil.
(Pencil is usually gone for good.)
3. Trading them for something valuable.
(Works, but it is inconvenient.)
This year, I just put out a cup of pencils for students to use as needed.
8 weeks later, I still have all the pencils I put out at the beginning of the year.
It turns out, a plastic spoon is a very affective anti-theft device.
Then I came up with a use for the forks.
(Green pens for checking bell work.)
We figured out right away that the spoon-pencil has a major design flaw:
You can't use the eraser.
So, then I really got carried away . . .
I would recommend attaching the eraser to the handle part instead . . .