I work all day at building avenues for interaction with students. Unlike classroom teachers, my "teachable moments" aren't scheduled every period D, 160 times a year; I have to wrangle mine like an entrepreneur does customers. That means a renewable stream of displays that provoke questions, events that draw new students, and it means library layouts and procedures designed to prompt questions from students.
"Which is the color printer? Do you have a ruler? Where is the science fiction? Why is their masking tape on the floor? Are there any more laptops? What is that little blue ball on your globe? Where is your pencil sharpener?"
With asking-for-help being one of the great obstacles for students, I create little low obstacles all over that are easy to ask about, but that open a door for my teachable moments.
If nothing else, the moment of handing over a pencil sharpener is an excuse for introductions, it often leads to asking about the context of the assignment, or demonstrating a way to make that embedded photo larger (or whether it is relevant at all), or to point out a local connection to their global essay.
The point of the sharpener becomes not to just sharpen pencils.
Convenience seems to me to be a worthwhile sacrifice for a moment of possibility. Besides, the point created by my stainless steel Staedtler sharpener is awesome.
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