Ms.+Spiezio's+Pet+Peeve



**Ms. Spiezio's Pet Peeve**

There’s something about the ear-piercing screech of a pencil sharpener that makes me flinch. No, it’s not the overly distracting sound that squeals from the contraption when it’s being used or the faint “tick, tick, tick” that subtly pounds my eardrums as a student attempts to get his dull pencil into the miniscule hole of the machine. It’s the snippets of precious class time that are lost because of this one inconvenient classroom tool. Time and time again while taking notes in my class, a student’s pencil point will shatter. And in the process of fixing his wounded pencil, the student has to distract the entire class from the material being taught. Not only does he need to get up out of his seat to go over to the pencil sharpener, but he also needs to wait about five entire minutes while the lead-revealer roars mercilessly to life in attempt to save his writing utensil. Now, instead of a quick repair, the entire learning atmosphere that was created by my brilliant instruction is tragically ruined because of this young man’s flimsy pencil. The environment from this point forward will never be the same in the classroom. One time in particular a student’s bright yellow pencil weakly cracked while I was in the middle of a lesson. Because everyone was writing intensely in their notebooks on the material I was explaining, I gave the student the “Okay, but make it quick look”, and he bolted to the sharpener. Apparently, the pencil sharpener didn’t get the “but make it quick part” because it would not cooperate. Instead of quickly solving the problem, it decided to whine endlessly, sharpening the pencil so far its point would snap instantly. The student was at the pencil sharpener for an entire seven minutes while the rest of the class moaned covering their ears in attempt to shield them from the wailing sounds of the pencil sharpener. Try getting back into discussing literature after a discordant noise like that? I know a pencil sharpener means well, but something needs to be done! No more will children flinch nervously when attempting to repair their writing utensil! No longer will teachers dread seeing students whip out a lead stick knowing the doom that awaits it! No longer will we sit back and let this machine take over our own learning! We will take back our learning because that, dear reader, is the //point // of school! 