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School and the City

Ideas and Resources for Your Elementary Classroom

Finally! A Teacher-Approved Pencil Sharpener

Y’all. I hate pencils. And pencil sharpeners.

Some days I daydream about quitting my job and inventing something to replace pencils and becoming a millionaire overnight.

Oh wait. Those things already exist. Thanks mechanical pencils and ink pens for shattering my dreams.

Unfortunately, I do not prefer mechanical pencils to old-fashioned pencils. Second graders and mechanical pencil lead do not make for a happy ending. I’m that girl that sharpens pencils for her students on my own time after school because I’ve spent too much time and money buying electric pencil sharpeners that end up in the trash.

You can’t use this new pencil sharpener, I told them. Only I can touch it, I told them. I am tired of you all breaking pencil sharpeners that I buy with my own money, I told them.

You already know how this story ends.

Yep, that sharpener broke too, even though the only person who touched it was perfect in every way.

Ahem.

Then, this pencil sharpener walked into my life.
(Or rather, the mailman walked it into my life, but that’s beside the point.)

There are so many great things about my Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener.

  1. It actually works. What a concept.
  2. It’s not electric.
  3. It doesn’t sound like someone’s making a gravel smoothie in a blender.
  4. Pencil points are super sharp and don’t break. 
  5. It matches my classroom (because that’s important).
  6. The kids fight over who gets to use it… because they love it so much.
  7. I don’t have to sharpen pencils anymore. 
I used my document camera to teach my students how to use the sharpener correctly. Then I used my equity sticks to randomly choose students to demonstrate. EVERY child had a hand raised. It was as if I was giving away candy or – even better – offering free Dojo points.

The sharpener comes with a clamp mount so that the sharpener can stay put on a table or desk. The clamp works fine when I use the pencil sharpener, but it doesn’t stay put when kids use it. Hmm. Somehow I’m not surprised. Why is it that kids are so good at destroying things?
However, I’m not bothered by it. Without the mount, the sharpener can be portable and move to where it is needed. Kids can use one hand to hold the top of the sharpener and the other hand to turn the crank.

Classroom Friendly Supplies does sell permanent mounts as well as replacement parts for pieces that get lost or worn out!

Overall, it’s been a good investment! It works, it’s quiet, pencils are sharp, and I’m happy. 

If I were to buy another, I’d absolutely get the Precious Pink sharpener. Part of every sale goes to cancer research! I love that!

Click to Shop
If you haven’t tried this pencil sharpener yet, it’s a must! 
Which cute color would you get?

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