I hate pencil sharpeners! They break, they are noisy ugghhh... However, it's a necessary evil. What brand and model do you have that you love? Something that works well and has stood up to student use? Thanks for the tips.
I have 3 in my room. Establish pencil sharpening procedures, don't let the kids use for colored pencils- encourage a mini hand sharpener for those. I think mine are made by Boston.
I have an X-acto Student Pro. I got it online at Staples.com. It was recommended by an elementary art teacher who had hers for a long time. She let her students use colored pencils in it without any gumming up. I've only had mine for about 6 months, but it is much quieter than others. I also limit uses. But I have to sharpen 34x3 pencils in the next couple of days so we'll see how it holds up.
Pencil sharpeners I told students last year, that if they want to become a millionaire, invent a silent pencil sharpener----they looked at me kinda funny, but seriously-----I hate pencil sharpeners! A teacher I know had a list of 4 or 5 times posted clearly in her room titled "A good time to sharpen my pencil is..." 1. During bell work 2. During transition time 3. After lunch ...whatever times work best in your class I guess. But since it is a pet peeve of mine, I like the thought of doing a procedural mini-lesson in the beginning of the year of when/when not to sharpen pencils. If your kids are old enough to benefit from a visual list of times, that helps
X-acto Student Pro - I use this one also and it is great. I went through quite a few before I found this one. This fall will be my third year using it.
i hate pencil sharpeners too. my kids think this is kinda "ghetto" thier word not mine but i don't care. I get the little hand sharpeners that have the container attached to catch the shavings. I tape yarn around them and then tie the yarn to my file cabinet. I have two of them at different spots in the room. And have a helper empty the shavings periodically. This summer i found a set of 20 at the dollar store for a buck.
BEWARE of X-acto Student Pro. My school bought each of us one of those pencil sharpeners a couple years back and I would say that 95% of them broke and can no longer be used. All the parts inside are made out of plastic and break. I use to use it each day to sharpen a class set of pencils and mine lasted six months...if lucky. I would avoid that one!
