a) keep from being bored when there is downtime in the classroom; b) keep from being distracted from the chatter of other students; and, c) maintain a one-to-one relationship with the teacher.
. Pencils - now those are real distractions - always having to sharpen them, kids throw them, they write inappropriate notes with them, they can use them to cheat, they poke each other with them, they get pencil lead stuck in their fingers, they steal them, etc