It's from a Mad Max film--end of civilation, lots of man to man combat in a giant dome. It's brutal. Very much like math.

Thanks, Cashmere. It sounds even more like my high shcool math "17!"-"8!!!" scribbles now.

Apart from disliking the feel of chalk dust on my hands, I liked using chalk to teach. I like the sound of chalk on the blackboard (when it's being held properly).

Oh, yes, I know what you mean. And still, I prefer having none-sore hands over a good lesson. A selfish TA.

I know a lot of people who dislike the smell of white-board markers.

Once I entered the class, and the whiteboard was densely written, all through, with a non-erased marker. Luckily enough, it was the physics building, so I managed to find some alcoholic substance from one of the labs, and used it on tissue papers in order to erase the whiteboard. For the rest of that lesson, my head was a little too light from the remains of the smell. I still managed to teach it all the way through, but had a huge headache afterwards. Vanilla, no wonder it has my name nearly fully spelled in that word.

[Edit: 4*9=36]

In "Numbers" (I refuse to use the "3" for the "e"), they have chalk holders for the chalk. No muss, no fuss.

Thanks for the birthday wishes.

About two years ago, when my university was installing whiteboards, I liked them. No more chalk dust! Colors! Now, however, they've been used for years, and washed by the custodial staff with all kinds of stuff you're not supposed to use on whiteboards, and now almost none of them erase anymore. Whenever I'm teaching in one of those rooms, I've got to bring a stack of damp paper towels with me to erase with.

chalk holders for the chalk

One of my teachers in the 9th grade came back after spending a couple of years abroad, and she had one of those. It was the first time anybody in the school saw anything like it, and we were very impressed with the solution. I don't think I've ever seen them in Israel since.

Hil! Happy birthday, now to your face screen!

Happy birthday, Hil!

My U. (or at least the building where I have my classes) only has chalkboards, and there's a chronic chalk shortage. And the chairs are pathetic. Luckily for the future, there's a big master plan to tear down the building and put in some new fancy one.

And the chairs are pathetic.

Being short, there are quite a few chairs in the classes around here that leave my feet dangling above the floor. It's not so comfortable to sit this way, especially for a whole day of classes.

One time, a few years ago, there were only those high chairs in a class, and after a few hours of sitting like that, I just couldn't take it anymore. I sat on the floor at the back of the room, trying to hide behind the other people in the class so as to not make it look like I'm making a scene or something. It worked, until some other people in the room decided it's cool or whatever to sit on the floor in the back, and did this as well. The lecturer noticed, then, of course, and I felt impolite.

[Edit: 3+6=9, and my post # is mathematically evil upside-down-ed]

chalk holders for the chalk

I never much liked these. You still wind up with chalk on your fingers.

Timelies all!

Happy Birthday Hil!

The classrooms at U of MD(at least the ones in the building where 3LF practices) still use chalk. At work, we use markers.

Being short, there are quite a few chairs in the classes around here that leave my feet dangling above the floor. It's not so comfortable to sit this way, especially for a whole day of classes.

I get that too. I usually end up sitting cross-legged on the chairs, which looks kind of silly, but sitting without being able to put my feet down puts way too much pressure on my back otherwise.

Portable footstools. The next big thing, for the little.

Happy birthday, Hil!

My Profit DVDs arrived Friday. I'm sadly and excitedly watching them. Adrian Pasdar sounds eerily like a creepy Scott Bakula.