A place to share thoughts, ideas, gadgets, and giggles from my classroom. 💜

The Quietest Pencil Sharpener: New Color!!

I received an email a few weeks ago from my friends over at {Classroom Friendly Supplies}. They asked me to review a new color of their Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpeners!! I was so excited, and could not wait to find out the new color! I could not wait to find out the new color...Are YOU ready to find out!?! Two of my best friends will be so excited to see...(insert drum roll here)
Popular Purple is the newest color for the #quietestsharpener! 
First of all, this color is amazing! It's bright, vibrant, and absolutely amazing! The next thing to do after checking the new color is USE IT!!
To sharpen the pencil, you have to squeeze the two black pieces together and pull the metal pencil holder out. Stick the pencil in, and you are ready to go!
There are two options to sharpen the pencil. You can hold the sharpener yourself, or there is a kickstand that can hold the pencil sharpener. I find that holding it yourself is the best way to get a good sharpen each time. The kickstand really does not work well. 
It also is difficult for the younger kiddos to sharpen pencils using the kickstand. They also have a hard time holding it and sharpening the pencil at the same time. I usually do not let my students sharpen pencils in my electronic pencil sharpener, so this would be no different!The nut tightens so you can use several different types of surface thicknesses. I also found out that you can't tighten it too much or it will go sideways. The sharpener is made to be portable! 
Look at that sharp points! I feel like the ISTEP (Indiana's standardized test) officials would be smiling at the sight of this point! 
Pros:
-Super sharp pencil
- Portable for taking to students during testing
-QUIET- this sharpener is way quieter than the old crank one and my electric one. 
-You don't have to keep checking and checking to see if it is sharp
- The shavings holder is tighter than it use to be! This makes it practically impossible for the tray to pop out unless you want it to! 
Cons:
- Not very stable unless you buy the permanent mount. I'm sure you could use Velcro or a strong glue to fix this also.
- Super sharp pencil- I did one for a student and then he kept pointing it at another student's face. This made me very nervous because it was so super sharp.
Check out the sharpener in action! 

I would 100% recommend this sharpener to you. Whether you let your students sharpen their own pencils or not, it is always nice to have a super sharp pencil. They are also great during test time when you need to quietly sharpen pencils as to not distract everyone else. Head over to Classroom Friendly Supplies to check them out!


Five For Friday: Happy Fall!

I'm so excited to be linking up with {Doodle Bugs Teaching} this fine Friday to tell you what we have been up to in my class!
This week we worked really hard on getting things ready for our October bulletin board! Let me preface this with, " I HATE doing a bulletin board..." It's my least favorite thing ever, honestly. I'd take parent/teacher conferences and PD the day before school starts any day over trying to make my bulletin board cute, but this month is different! You know it's a big deal when your teacher neighbor calls you out on Facebook! 
We started with making a pumpkin using a glyph that I loved! It came from {Teacher's Take-Out}. We read the directions, and highlighted our answers. Then out came the construction paper! We wrote a rough draft describing our pumpkins, and typed them up today! I finished my board this afternoon! 
My favorite part is my "Happy Fall" banner! Get it {here} for free! {KG Fonts} are my absolute FAVORITE! 
Like I said earlier, we typed our first paper today! I cannot believe how smoothly this went! The kids opened Word, indented, typed, and many of them changed the font and size all by themselves! I was very impressed and proud of my kids for either already knowing these skills or picking them up so fast!

My friends over at {Classroom Friendly Supplies}have some exciting news to share soon!
Clipart from Melonheadz
I can't spill the beans yet, but you won't want to miss it! Keep your eyes open! If you haven't heard about the quietest pencil sharpener, click {here} to read my review!
Since we have happily ended our relationship with Accelerated Reader, my kiddos have been working hard on getting in the hang of their new reading routine. I have been slowly introducing them to the different things they are going to be doing with the books they read. I can't wait to really get started and start making commercials and hosting book talks! If you want to check out this pack, head over to {my store}!
This may have been me a little this afternoon. We have been reading the story Super Storms, which is one of my favorites because I love storms.  We watched YouTube videos of hurricanes, blizzards, tornados, and lightning storms. We ended the lesson with a little Ms. Frizzle and The Magic School Bus. These are so fun and even a little educational! 
Head over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to find out what everyone else is up to!


Currently: October 2015

Hey y'all! I'm linking up with {Farley} for my October Currently! Find out what is currently happening in my life today!
Listening: I took the day off of school today to hang out at our local Oktoberfest that is happening this weekend! This morning, I have been just laying around listening to my husband work, and gave an impromptu bath to my stinky dog! Boy he needed it! After a bath, he usually earns a bone!

Loving: I love that I have a job that lets me take time off to spend with family and friends that are coming in from out of town to visit the Oktoberfest. In this small town, Oktoberfest is a BIG deal. 

Thinking: I have already checked to see if my kiddos have finished their weekly test twice (we do them online).. I always worry about letting them do their test with the subs. I can't imagine having to leave my actual kid at the baby sitter if I worry about my students with a sub this much!

Wanting: I have been in a little of a TpT slump... I'm wanting to think of something amazing, but it hasn't happened yet. No worries, it'll happen one of these days! 

Needing: My husband and I have been on a workout kick to get ready for our cruise that we are taking over fall break! I need to go run...so I can eat anything I want at Oktoberfest, that's how it works, right!?

Boo-tiful: We just celebrated our 3rd anniversary on Tuesday! I love how crazy we are about each other still after three years and building a house together! We were told horror stories about couples tearing into each other building a house. We didn't have any arguments over the house at all! We must be the perfect couple;)

Head over to {Oh' Boy 4th Grade} and check out what everyone else is up to!



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