Classroom Friendly Supplies Pencil Sharpener: A More than Brief Review!

OK, I have to admit something...we have a HUGE pencil problem in my classroom.  It is so bad that, last year, one of my coworkers had to sit me down for a pencil intervention.  She told me her students were trying to sneak their own pencils into my classroom because we always had a shortage of sharpened pencils.  Now, I do have a good excuse!  My pencil sharpener is super loud/annoying and it burns out after sharpening 5 pencils.  Also, my kids don't know how to use it very well.

When I got an email saying that my pencil sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies was on its way to my house for me to try out, I felt like I had won the lottery! My husband told me, "Only a teacher would be that excited over a pencil sharpener."  He is probably right, but I still could barely wait the few days it took for it to arrive!! 

So, here we are.  My pencil sharpener has arrived and it is a beautiful shade of green.  We are currently in summer school, so I thought I would bring it into my class to try it out with my students.  I secured it easily to the table using the given supplies.  

Here is a small stack of troubled pencils before sharpening.

I didn't watch any video tutorials on how to use it, so it took me a second to realize you need to pull the mechanism out before sharpening.  However, once I realized that, I was thrilled.  This pencil sharpener makes the sharpest pencils ever!  And not in a dangerous way where you are worried the lead will instantly break when you start to write with them and maybe fly into a kid's eye (it happens...believe me!).  My kids used them right away and there was no lead breakage. 

  

We sharpened pencils that had never been sharpened before as well those that just needed freshening up.  Here are before and after pictures of one pencil.  Pretty awesome, huh?!


The only downside I could find was that it doesn't sharpen my "thick" pencils.  There are very few sharpeners out there that do, but a girl can hope!

This sharpener is also very easy to clean out.  Just open the drawer, dump, and you are good to go again!

Once I got the hang of it, after 2-3 pencils, I started having my kids use it.  They did great.  I think I have scouted out a couple great kids for the "pencil sharpener" job next year.

Overall, I am sold on this little guy.  Just ask my non-teacher friends.  I'm pretty sure I have told every single one of them about my new sharpener!  But really...it solves all the problems I had with my old sharpeners: 1) It is quiet. 2) It doesn't burn out after 5 pencils...it keeps going and going! 3) My kids understood how to use it within 2 pencils worth of practice.  So definitely head over to Classroom Friendly Supplies to check them out!