Why are good pencils so difficult to find these days?  Many times they are too cheap to sharpen or break soon afterward.  If they do sharpen, the eraser is crummy.  Then there are times when I think my students are trying to increase their fiber intake by eating pencils because the pencils will disappear as soon as you put them out.  And don't even get me started on 4th graders and click-y (what I call mechanical) pencils.

When SmileMakers contacted me about trying their pencils, I was slightly skeptical because I have become such a pencil snob.  They let me choose a set I wanted, but that was such a hard decision because SmileMakers has a great selection of all kinds of pencils...reward, motivation, and just everyday pencils.  I choose these...

Yes, I did find some polka-dotted pencils!
 
I tried sharpening them in my pencil sharpen...

and...wow!...they do get really sharp!  And a stable kind of sharp that will not break with normal use.  (Now I haven't tried them yet with my habitual pencil breaker...but I do have high hopes!)  And because the design is painted on instead of shrink wrapped like you get with some of the cheap pencils...just sharpening one pencil did mess up my expensive pencil sharpener!  Yippee!
 
Now for the erasure test...would the eraser actually erase?

Not too bad!  I think the eraser will stand up to students that are hardest on erasers.
 
Two thumbs up, SmileMakers, for creating some good pencils...well worth the price!  I will definitely be buying some more of these pencils for rewards and prizes for my students.

To check out SmileMakers, click on the logo picture below...

You will find more than just pencils.  They have all kinds of prizes, stickers, and educational resources as well as dental and medical treats too!  You have to check out their band-aid selection...I am so tempted to splurge on some of these!



First, I was so excited when I logged in today that...get this...I have had over 100,000 page views!  Wowwweee!  So exciting!  I love that you like what I have to say!  Thank you for looking, reading, pinning, and coming back!

 

Right this second, I really should be working on setting my beginning of the year goals...but I would rather tell you about a brand new iPad App that I was asked to look at called...

 

Here is a little video summary of what the app can do from their website...

 

This is a great resource designed for math teachers, and I think especially helpful for those teaching kindergarten through fourth grade. 

 

Here is what the Teaching Table app looks like when you open it up...  

This is a tutorial lesson, so you can learn all about the available resources and widgets that are inside the app...And as far as tutorials go, Teaching Table's tutorial is very helpful and interactive...just like the app!

 

The learning curve is not too steep...you simply have to learn all that is available to use!

 

There are counters, counting boxes, and quiz box widgets.  See how you can use Teaching Table to help your students move from concrete to abstract thinking...

Each widget is customizeable.  Look at all the color counters you can make...and this isn't all of the possibility of colors!

 There are fabulous fraction resources...see how you can even layer the wholes to compare fractional parts!

And since you can push out your lessons to other iPads with the app...look at the practice your students can get! 

 

You also get dice...and they even roll!  Oooo! Small group game fun! 

And shapes...I was reminded of The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns because you can add so many sides your polygon will look like a circle!

Teaching Table also includes base-ten blocks in units, tens, hundreds, and thousands. 

So you can create arrays for multiplying.  There is a limit to how small you can make your base-ten blocks, so this app is better for multiplying 2-digit by 1-digit factors.

 

But look at how you can set up for problem solving...

In the future, Teaching Table will have more online resources where you can share the notebooks that you create or download from others...more collaboration fun!  You can click on the picture below to go to the website...

I think there are so many possibilities for this app outside the math classroom.  I can't wait to see what else the developers have in store as the expand to a web-based version then hopefully in the future an iPhone/iPad version!

 

And guess what!!!!

When Teaching Table gave me a copy of the app to look at, they generously gave me a copy for a giveaway to my readers too!  So let's get a little Rafflecopter action going...

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway ends on Friday, so be sure to enter and spread the word! :)