I remember when our pencil sharpener broke at school and we had to whittle the ends for a week… just not the same. I don’t recall them making little pencil sharpeners for your pencil case back then.
It’s always funny to a kid when someone else gets in trouble. Snicker… But it was still pretty harsh to give them detention without knowing what’s going on.
lightenup - teachers college rule #2 - Give detention first, ask questions after.
teachers college rule #1 - DO NOT allow the br–, kids I mean, to smell your fear.
“There’s still plenty of writing left in those pencil stubs, Michael!”
A direct quote from my 5th grade teacher, Miss Higbee.
If we threw away a ground down pencil that still had even the tiniest bit of wood and lead left, we had to fish it out of the waste basket and use it.
She also made us write on both sides of a sheet of paper and from edge to edge, not margin to margin.
She said modern kids were wasteful and we needed to leave about conservation. At the rate we were using up things and throwing away perfectly good things, the world would be used up before we were her age.
Since she was about 110, we didn’t worry much.
Did I mention I was in 5th grade in 1961.
Now that I’m getting closer to miss Higbee’s age, I’m starting to worry.
back in MY day, we couldn’t whittle away at our pencils when the sharpener broke, cuz knives weren’t allowed in school … so we used the teacher’s sawed off shotgun to give a handful of pencils a good edge all at one time … my 9 MM with the 15 shot clip just wouldn’t give me the right type of pencil point.
LOL - I used to love my drafting pencil and having extra leads to put in it. And a big white eraser in the other hand.
All of you that have commented have valid insight. However, so did my teacher, she nominated a kid to be in charge of sharpening pencils. Smart like a fox!
Mrs. Hardacre … what an absolute hard ass!!!!! It’s no wonder Michael dislikes her so much! It seems pretty extreme to just automatically give detention without first finding out what’s going on and whether it would even be warranted — or not!!!
Teresa: It’s a real shame that some childhood bullies can’t leave that kind of behavior in the past when they grow into adults, isn’t it? (Because you just know he was mean as a kid too!)
JanLC over 13 years ago
We used to call them “pencil eaters”.
pouncingtiger over 13 years ago
C’mon Michael get the lead out. Or in this case, graphite.
alviebird over 13 years ago
He has his two pencils.
x_Tech over 13 years ago
Got some of those plastic pencils, but my electric sharpener just kind of eats them.
WebSpider over 13 years ago
I remember when our pencil sharpener broke at school and we had to whittle the ends for a week… just not the same. I don’t recall them making little pencil sharpeners for your pencil case back then.
cdward over 13 years ago
WebSpider, how long ago was that? I’m 50, and we had those little individual pencil sharpeners.
lightenup Premium Member over 13 years ago
It’s always funny to a kid when someone else gets in trouble. Snicker… But it was still pretty harsh to give them detention without knowing what’s going on.
Allan CB Premium Member over 13 years ago
lightenup - teachers college rule #2 - Give detention first, ask questions after. teachers college rule #1 - DO NOT allow the br–, kids I mean, to smell your fear.
Mornin’ folks … won’t you be my Neighbours? :D
Dewsolo over 13 years ago
“There’s still plenty of writing left in those pencil stubs, Michael!” A direct quote from my 5th grade teacher, Miss Higbee. If we threw away a ground down pencil that still had even the tiniest bit of wood and lead left, we had to fish it out of the waste basket and use it. She also made us write on both sides of a sheet of paper and from edge to edge, not margin to margin. She said modern kids were wasteful and we needed to leave about conservation. At the rate we were using up things and throwing away perfectly good things, the world would be used up before we were her age. Since she was about 110, we didn’t worry much. Did I mention I was in 5th grade in 1961. Now that I’m getting closer to miss Higbee’s age, I’m starting to worry.
route66paul over 13 years ago
They took the room sharpeners out after the girls complained that us boys were watching them shake their moneymaker. Those were the days!
rugratz2222 over 13 years ago
back in MY day, we couldn’t whittle away at our pencils when the sharpener broke, cuz knives weren’t allowed in school … so we used the teacher’s sawed off shotgun to give a handful of pencils a good edge all at one time … my 9 MM with the 15 shot clip just wouldn’t give me the right type of pencil point.
LOL - I used to love my drafting pencil and having extra leads to put in it. And a big white eraser in the other hand.
Jonni over 13 years ago
All of you that have commented have valid insight. However, so did my teacher, she nominated a kid to be in charge of sharpening pencils. Smart like a fox!
gofinsc over 13 years ago
You can tell how old this is. Now, everybody just enters info on their iPad.
Jaedabee Premium Member over 13 years ago
I went mechanical and haven’t looked back. I hate wooden pencils now.
Gretchen's Mom over 13 years ago
Mrs. Hardacre … what an absolute hard ass!!!!! It’s no wonder Michael dislikes her so much! It seems pretty extreme to just automatically give detention without first finding out what’s going on and whether it would even be warranted — or not!!!
vldazzle over 13 years ago
I still have an electrical sharpener for #2s and a tiny one for eyeliner pencils.
anne-marie hunter over 13 years ago
ahhh faceit…the pencils are goround down because its fun to do….
Mechanicals are good for bookkeeping and genral writing…for carpentry i still use regular pencils.
and ya can always use th pencil havings to start a fire…no waste then…
Gretchen's Mom over 13 years ago
Teresa: It’s a real shame that some childhood bullies can’t leave that kind of behavior in the past when they grow into adults, isn’t it? (Because you just know he was mean as a kid too!)