What the Pencils!?

Since the beginning of my teaching career, the answers to

PENCILS + CHILDREN =

have baffled me.

Let me just say that pencils and children do not confuse me apart from each other.

PENCILS are great tools.

Can't ever go wrong with a pencil.
Esp, when drawing.

CHILDREN are great too.

I especially love them when they are away from pencils.
It is when the two come together that I just get (insert smiley with question marks on head).

PENCILS + CHILDREN usually ='s

half eaten pencils,
pencils made into sling shots,
lost pencils,
pencils left with million little bite marks.

But the biggest PENCILS + CHILDREN = is that some students NEVER have sharpened pencils.

No matter how many times you write the following for homework:

Please bring 3 sharpened pencils and an eraser.

The select few will NEVER bring in sharpened pencils.

They will however, come to school with LOTS of pencils with points that are

dull,

non-existing,

OR broken!

Anyways, when our classroom sharpener broke down towards the end of last school year, my co-teacher and I thought that maybe we could get through this school year without an electric pencil sharpener(oh boy... we're we wrong!).

We tried the whole mechanical sharpener business but it was an EPIC failure.

Finding a nicely sharpened pencil to write with became an excruciating task and one that led to LOTS and LOTS of valuable class time.

We finally got fed up and decided to order a new pencil sharpener (thanks to Amazon!).

Let me just say that this is by far the BEST decision we have made yet.

Not only do we have BEAUTIFULLY sharpened pencils to write our hearts out with BUT

this sharpener is a SILENT beauty!!

Most electric sharpeners I've come across in classrooms are so loud and annoying that it disturbs the whole entire class when one goes up to sharpen a pencil (you can bet lots of evil stares are shared in this situation).

Anyways, we finally found the answer to

PENCILS + CHILDREN =

If your pencil sharpener has broken down or you're looking to invest in one,

go with the BOSTITCH Quiet Sharp 6.

End of story or just an end to terrible horrible no good very BAD unsharpened pencils.
Haha.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

As a teacher, you will see and sometimes receive thousands of drawings, cards, and letters from your students. Most of the time, the drawings will be sweet and innocent, especially if you're a teacher of the younger kiddies (like me... 3rd grade to be exact).

Anyways!

In our classroom, students are assigned vocabulary homework each week. Last week, one of our words happened to be

nes·tle/ˈnesəl/

Verb:

Settle or lie comfortably within or against something: "the baby deer nestled in her arms"; "she nestled her head against his shoulder". (of a place) Lie or be situated in a half-hidden or obscured position: "picturesque villages nestle in the wooded hills".

One of our students "Bob" came in with this.

I was going around checking homework and I had to take a picture, just because it is stinking adorable. Drawings like this remind me of how innocent and naive these young minds are. How precious it is that I have the opportunity to fill their heads with knowledge.

However, with all things good you always have the bad and the ugly.

On the same day, my co-teacher and I went to pick up our students from lunch and found out that one of our students drew the following.

Please note the "die sexy lady" and "DIE!" The student also wrote the f word but erased it and replaced it with "yeah you!"

Please ALSO note that I had a long discussion with the Monet of the second masterpiece.

It just got me thinking that even in the world of small people's drawings, you have the good, the bad and the ugly.