next »

[daniel_von_flanagan]

I use colors all the time when drawing diagrams on the board.

There exists bad (clumbly or dusty) chalk, and bad (hard-to-erase) chalkboards; rejecting chalk on that basis is like rejecting democracy because we have some lousy candidates.

I use sidewalk chalks - took a while to get used to their diameter. but they never break or crumble, erase well, and do a nice job overall.

I also use transparencies, and some computer projections, though never powerpoint and I hate using the computer in those too-common classrooms where the screen blocks the board. - DvF

[scienceprof]

For the many above that seem unaware of this, apparently you can now buy chalk in colors too.  Who knew? - DvF

Ah, but the contrast isn't as good and then you still have chalkdust.

OK, I have to ask it:

What the hell do you need different colors of marker (or chalk) for?

Really, I've no idea.  I've been trying to imagine it all day.

Say I want to draw a ball-and-stick diagram of an CF2O molecule on the board.  Using the standard color scheme, I have a black circle (carbon) bonded to two green circles (fluorines), and double-bonded to one red circle (oxygen).  All the students can see at a glance which molecule I have drawn.  Say I have only white chalk on a green board: now I have 4 white circles, and probably might as well have not drawn anything!  (The more complex the molecule, the worse the problem of one color).

[new_bus_prof]

I have mixed feelings on this.

I really like my dry erase boards for color coding notes and diagrams, buts its something I can do with a projector or PowerPoint, as well. So its no real advantage in a room that already has these other two alternatives.

I like the black chalkboards, they write extremely nice and the chalk actually erases well. Its extremely easy to jot down notes, and many of my students are more inclined to welcome coming to the board. I really do miss these sometimes in our business, technology friendly classrooms.

Now, the green chalkboards are a nightmare, as the color contrast of white chalk on a green board is often not enough for the students in the back row.

[octoprof]

I really like my dry erase boards for color coding notes and diagrams, buts its something I can do with a projector or PowerPoint, as well. So its no real advantage in a room that already has these other two alternatives.

I can't do in powerpoint what I do on the board. On the board, it happens spontaneously. I might draw a diagram I didn't even think of when creating the powerpoints, due to a student question or whatever.  Of course, this could be done with a projector/transparencies as well, but then I'd have to drag one of those to class and it's hot to write on. I hate that.

[turing_complete]

Last year, all of my classrooms had whiteboards.  I could use my sets of 20 colours of whiteboard markers.  I was happy.

This year, all blackboards.  Coughing on the dust, drying out of the hands.  Bleh.

[larryc]

Stink or dust? That is the question. Whether tis better to...

I got nuthin'. Nevermind.

I really do not like any of the alternatives. Chalk is messy and I teach in a suit. The dry erase boards are forever missing their markers and they smell like furniture stripper. Powerpoint slides suck the spontaneity right out of a classroom. I should learn to make better use of my Tablet PC--wired to a projector I should be able to be spontaneous (with the digitizer pen) and techie at the same time. But I have not mastered it. so the class is segmented between board time and projector time.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

I should learn to make better use of my Tablet PC--wired to a projector I should be able to be spontaneous (with the digitizer pen) and techie at the same time. But I have not mastered it.

I've been playing with this a bit (I have a couple of nice programs that let you write on top of other applications), but students seem to have more trouble staying awake while staring at a light in the front of a room than they do watching me running back and forth pounding the blackboard. - DvF

[undisciplined]

On my very first day of teaching, way back in the day, I wrote on a dry-erase board with a permanent marker in front of a class of 75! A chemistry major in the class kindly told me what could be done to clean it off (I don't recall what the magic formula was), but I prefer gennimom's solution.