Job Discussion Forums

[Non Sequitur]

Is anyone in the public system still using blackboards?
Comment if your school is undertaking conversions from blackboards to whiteboards.

[johntpartee]

I've never seen anything but blackboards in China (all public middle and high schools and universities).

[kev7161]

I have tried for years to get them to switch over to whiteboards, but they just won't. The glare from the overhead lights and the sunlight makes it hard for my students to see (especially those in the outer rows). Of course I pull the curtains, but some still complain. Don't get me started on the chalk dust I inhale every day!

Last year we got nice big smart computers affixed to the walls with chalkboards that slide open and close over them. I can use an electronic pen and just write on the white board, but the letters look all shaky. So I use the computer for PPTs and other such things, but the chalkboard for the rest of my lessons (btw, this is a primary section for those that don't already know and I use the board the most for my math lessons).

[johntpartee]

kev7161, I'm assuming you're the one that put "whiteboards" on the survey, but what you described is not really a whiteboard (at least to me; I can't say what NS intended).

[FreakingTea]

Some of the other FT's at my school (public uni) have whiteboards with crappy markers, but all of my classes have blackboards of varying sophistication.

In one classroom on the old campus, the blackboard is so warped that I have to put my other hand on it so I can have it sort-of flat to write on. On the new campus I feel spoiled with flat blackboards that can move up and down.

[cloud_pleaser]

Interactive whiteboards here (university). I admit I was quite surprised to see them when I first entered the classroom.
Often they break down though, and I have to switch to the blackboard

[Non Sequitur]

[roadwalker]

I'm a chalk magnet and I hate the feel of it in my fingers, but I prefer a chalkboard to a white board with dry/missing markers. I'm also an ink magnet too so really I'm hopeless. We have chalkboards here, mostly in reasonable condition. Thank goodness they also have old crappy computers and projectors or flat screen TVs in most classrooms. At least there's always a plan B (Chalk board) for when the computer doesn't work.

[Non Sequitur]

Another point for blackboard users.
Is there a supply of chalk in the classroom, or do you have to pick it up from the janitor's office on the ground floor?

[muffintop]

I have so many markers at my house it's not even funny. I usually put markers in my pockets when I'm teaching...they add up.

I brought a bagful back to the school one day...the sound of their jaws collectively hitting the floor was amusing.

I hate blackboards with a passion. Have to use them at a High School I work at though.

Another school had strange whiteboards. I think they were glass. The glare from the lights really made it difficult for students to see. Worst whiteboards ever....and I'll still take them over a blackboard any day of the week.

[johntpartee]

[doogsville]

Most classrooms have two blackboards side by side with a top and bottom section that move up and down, so you really have four boards of about four feet by four feet each. The chalk is in the room and plentiful, but it's crap. I break it into two or three bits before I use it now cos it just breaks anyway. One stick seems to last for about ten words, as long as they're short words! The erasers are old and the dust sticks to them so badly that after you clean the board once or twice you're just covering up the old words with chalk dust and the board starts to turn white anyway. Other rooms, usually the language labs, have white boards, which are cleaner, but much, much harder for the students to see. You can't do that thing you do with chalk where you use the side of the stick to write really thick lines to make words stand out. All rooms have computers and projectors and screens that go up and down so that's nice.

Why does the chalk dust always seem to drift down to my general crotch area, so it looks highlighted, and then I look like a pervert when I try to brush it off with my hands?

[Non Sequitur]

[FreakingTea]

The chalk sucks so much. The school could probably save thousands of RMB just by switching to a chalk that doesn't run out within minutes of use. It's not even very pure chalk, it has little scratchy particles in it too.

If I run out, though, a student runs to get a new box.

Even with the crappy chalk, erasers that fall apart, and sometimes crappy chalkboards, I think I still prefer chalk over markers. It's more visible, and it's a little bit satisfying to wash the chalk off my hands at the end of the day. I should invest in some light-colored shirts, though.

[PBirm123]

Ewww... chalkboards?

Score one for team Training Center.