Mechanical pencils are used to provide lines of constant width without sharpening in technical drawing. They were first developed in the 18th century. A professional-grade mechanical pencil is a beautiful and elegant writing instrument.
The mechanical pencils kids bring into my room are of the disposable variety. They are so cheap and flimsy, I’m amazed they work at all, and they don’t seem to work for very long.
My dislike of mechanical pencils knows no bounds. I do not understand the attraction kids have with them.
From my perspective, all I see are problems. It seems like whenever I see a kid taking notes with their trusty mechanical pencil, they are breaking the lead, running out of lead, looking for lead, spilling the lead on the desk, watching the lead roll onto the floor, asking their friends if they can borrow some lead or asking me if I have extra lead.
For the record; No, I do not have lead for your mechanical pencil.
I have pencils - real, number 2, wooden pencils from the Ticonderoga Pencil Company. You may borrow a real pencil, but I do not have lead for you and never will.
Here’s a little inside teaching insight for you: If you leave a pencil behind in my room, I will sharpen it and add it to my loaner bin near the door.
If you leave a mechanical pencil behind….I will throw it away.
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