Classroom Management for Creative Writing

I recently discovered this pencil on Pinterest and after making my own, it has been a real help in tracking where each of my students are in the writing process.  Even with a very small class, students tend to finish projects at very different speeds.

I usually help my second graders with revisions and often found that kids were coming up to me with a lot of mistakes that they should be able to find after proofreading on their own. The pencil gave me the idea to create a simple checklist that my class can use for each writing assignment. Hanging next to the pencil on the opposite wall, I keep a folder of laminated checklists. Next to the checklists is a container of wet erase markers. The same checklists can be used over and over again with a simple wet wipe. Now, before a student edits or revises with me, they have to show me the completed checklist. My class is still getting used to this new routine but I am hoping that over time, it will reduce the amount of capitalization and punctuation mistakes they bring to me so I can help them improve upon content rather than mechanics.