I teach a variety of students in grades 9-12 mathematics. I have students that struggle with the basics and others that need more of a challenge. Many of my students feel they can never get out of 9th grade math, let alone graduate and go to college. I am trying to give them the tools they need, so they can succeed. We use pencils daily in our classroom, but our manual sharpener is chewing up pencils and our electric one is spitting them out.
Daily my students are spending their time fighting with our pencil sharpeners. The manual sharpener leaves pencils looking like someone is chewing on them to sharpen them. The electric one we have jams, then starts spitting out pieces of the pencil while you are trying to sharpen them. Long lines form while students wait, trying to get the sharpener to work. Sometimes, they try having other students hold the manual sharpener, that is on a wall, steady, as they try to sharpen one pencil. Most of the time, they start off with a new pencil, and by the time it has a point they can write with, it is about 1-2 inches long. The manual sharpener, was just received at the beginning of the year from the math department. The electric one, I found in a storage closet. My classroom is in need of a pencil sharpener that will last my students through countless hours of use.
I request funding for three high volume pencil sharpeners for the classroom. I would like three so that the students can get to work faster. My largest class has 33 students. In the beginning of class and during classwork, there is a line that forms at the two sharpeners in the room. A third sharpener, would help get them started on their work faster. Math is very difficult at this level to do in pen. There is constant erasing and fixing that would make the papers unreadable. I am trying to teach them how to keep their work neat, preparing them for more advanced math classes including college. This is the best time to teach them proper techniques and ways to keep themselves organized and neat in regards to math.
By helping my classroom out with a very basic need, this will give my students many opportunities and help them with their work. I provide pencils when my students do not have any, but I need the sharpeners to work! We are wasting many precious minutes fighting with sharpeners that just do not work!
More than a third of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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