sharpening pencils

Since I started teaching Sparkle, the two of us use pencils as our primary writing utensils. (Prior to that I used pen the few times I used actual paper.)

I have always liked the nice points that the hand crank pencil sharpeners do. I happen to have this colorful pencil sharpener with a suction base. It even has holes to adjust to several different pencil thicknesses. However the suction base doesn't work. I also haven't had any luck finding a hand crank sharpener that uses a clamp at local stores. I finally found a method that works. I repositioned the part of the sharpener that holds the shavings so that there is room for my foot to hold the sharpener still. Then I crank as usual. It reminds me of how I used to use my sewing machine on the floor. (I'm getting old, so it is fortunate that I don't spend hours sharpening pencils the way I used to spend hours on the sewing machine.)



So, until I get an electric pencil sharpener, I guess that I'll be sharpening pencils on the floor. Luckily we have lots of novelty pencils that Sparkle has acquired over the years so that I can sharpen a batch of pencils at once and be done for the week, even considering that Glitter tends to walk off with pencils and "store" them who knows where.