•Carry several small pencil sharpeners (the kinds that come in the pencil crayon boxes) and mechanical pencil lead with you at all times. This way, you'll never have to walk up to the front of the class to use the loud-ass electric sharpener and make everybody stare at you.

•Mechanical pencils are way better than normal pencils.

•White erasers over pink erasers. ALWAYS.

•If you find a pencil, eraser, or pencil sharpener on the floor, it's yours now.

•If you sharpen your pencil and don't know what to do with the shavings, just sweep them onto the floor while no one is looking. They're somebody else's problem now.

•For the love of god, don't use pens.