Ok, I've taught 7 years now and I don't have a major problem with how kids get pencils in my class, but I've never been satisfied. Lately, it's even irked me a bit. I have always had a dull and sharpened pencil can. Students are supposed to exchange one for the other. Then there's the ONE person in charge of sharpening all the dull pencils at the end of the day to refill. Sounds like it works? At first.
What typically happens is that kids just take and don't trade. Then we are out of pencils and no matter how much we talk about being respectful of materials, cleaning out desks to find extra pencils, etc. it still happens. Then when we're about to take math notes or whatever, you get that kid who can't seem to figure out what to do when he doesn't have a pencil. Ugh! (I'm probably overreacting, but it gets annoying.)
 |
| I got this dispenser on Amazon.com. |
So anyway, I saw the idea on Pinterest to use a straw dispenser to dispense sharpened pencils. At first I thought that it's the same thing I've always done... having some form of a sharpened pencil dispenser. However, thinking about it, making it "different" and not so easy to just take one rather than trade may be just the change I need.
It works like a charm! I did spend time teaching kids how to use it, who is allowed to access the top to drop in the sharpened pencils (my teacher assistants only), not putting cap erasers in there, etc. It gets stuck once in a while, but if kids spin the knob on the sides slowly, it catches pencils pretty easily. I would have loved to have one of those more heavy duty restaurant dispensers, but that was way too much money. I still have my dull pencil can next to it, and WE HAVE NOT HAD DISAPPEARING PENCILS IN MY CLASSROOM SINCE!!!! (Insert a zillion happy faces.)
So what about the pencil sharpener??? That can be just as much of a nightmare since their longevity isn't very long. I Googled "good classroom pencil sharpener" and many reviews popped up about the Carl A-5 Pencil Sharpener which I also got from Amazon.
I was hesitant about a manual pencil sharperner due to remembering all those manual sharpeners pre-attached to classroom counters that didn't work very well and were just as noisy as the electric ones. I wondered how quiet it could be... Well, here's my review:
PROS
- Pencils are POINTY sharp all the way around, not just half of it, every time.
- It stops sharpening automatically when fully sharp (even if kids keep cranking).
- It's not silent, despite the reviews on how quiet it is, but it's barely noticeable when it's within our daily routines and transitions.
- Kids actually want to sharpen their pencils rather than take another without trading... despite how cool the straw, I mean, pencil, dispenser is - the sharpener is cooler).
- It's not electric, so I can have it anywhere.
CONS
- Kids want to sharpen all the time even if it's not that dull because they know it will get their pencil pointy sharp! (I had to review when it's appropriate to sharpen during class times. And hey, they aren't taking pencils this time and hoarding them in their desks, which was my main concern.)
- Colored pencils aren't the best to use in this. Since colored pencils don't work well when they are TOO sharpened (lead falls out), I have had to de-jam my sharpener by picking out the lead a couple of times. At first I told them that only 1-2 cranks are needed (if that) to sharpen colored pencils, but now I have just banned colored pencil sharpening unless it is done by my teacher assistant who I trained.
- Rubber feet on the bottom of the sharpener leave marks on my counter since students have to press on the sharpener to crank it (can easily be wiped clean but another chore throughout the week).
The sharpener does come with a system to attach it to the counter, but I haven't used it since I don't know where I want it yet.
And this is how you work it. Mine didn't come with directions and I had to look it up. I'm sure I could have figured it out, but $30 later, I did not want anything to break and deal with returns.
STEP 1: Pinch the top "antennas" (what I call it with the kids) together and pull the front all the way out and let go.
STEP 2: Pinch the "antennas" again and insert a pencil through the front and back holes. Then with one hand to hold down the sharpener, crank the handle until you hear the sound change slightly.
STEP 3: Pinch the "antennas" to pull out pencil and it pops back into place. Then you have one extremely sharp pencil!
How to Empty the Shavings: Um, I am embarrassed to say I also had to look this up and when I found out how it was done, it was like a "duh" feeling. Push the back of the container towards the front. Pull it out and dump shavings into trashcan. WARNING! The tray does not have a "stop" system so the first time I did this, the tray fell out and dumped shavings all over me and my classroom carpet. I train my pencil sharpener how to dump this properly.
Overall, I am super pleased with this system and hope it continues to work.
Don't get me started on the wastefulness of pencil cap erasers. Something about kids wanting to cut them up into pieces drives me insane! I may ban this item permanently next year... or figure out a better distribution method.
No comments:
Post a Comment