I bought a little red electric sharpener to replace it. It worked well for the first couple of months, but it made this loud, shrill noise that made the kids laugh. Most students knew that they shouldn't sharpen their pencil with the electric sharpener while I was teaching, but there are always a few that don't connect that using a loud sharpener while the teacher is talking, is probably not a good choice. Soon, the loud little sharpener stopped sharpening well. It took forever to get a fine point, and the sound that it emitted sounded more and more like a sad plea.
The Gifted teacher knew we sharpener issues, and on a recent trip to Goodwill she picked up a used electric sharpener for my classroom. The kids and I were overjoyed. Old red went into the storage closet, and the kids all lined up to be the first to sharpen their pencils. It sharpened incredibly fast and incredibly well for about an hour. Then it died. I was surprised because it appeared so formidable. It was three times the size of the other sharpeners, the shape of a box, and sported the wood-paneled paint job.
After that I stopped by Artisan to get a bottle of pink spray paint for my yard rejuvination project, and I also bought two simple sharpeners. They are a step above your average manuel sharpener that can be found at Walgreens. I bought them to school and told the students they were special sharpeners, and that I got them at a special art store, and that they were to be treated specially and not lost like the other two manuel sharpeners I bought for them a couple weeks ago. Once again we had a line of students to use the new artsy sharpeners. They sharpen well. I have magnet tape that I'm going to put on them, in the hope that they don't fall behind the bookcase and get lost forever.
Hopefully these two little guys will take care of our sharpening needs for the rest of the school year.
1 comment:
I am a retired teacher of 26 years! Your blog came up as I was finishing writing on mine. I love it! I want to comment on the pencil sharpener. I had one that lasted me for years. Sometimes a piece of lead would get stuck and I would take it apart and put it back together. When I moved to a new school, I bought a new one with our yearly budget. Well, the kids loved it so much that it died, like yours. But then when another class came in, it worked again! I discovered that it heated up and didn't die but just needed a rest. They don't make them like they used to!
Post a Comment