General

Attached to the chalkboard

There are still teachers and lecturers who use chalkboards, in addition to or instead of the digital possibilities. Old-fashioned? “I feel like I better take the students along in my train of thought.”

Tekst Lisanne van Sadelhoff - redactie het Onderwijsblad / Beeld: Herman Engbers - - 6 Minuten om te lezen

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Statue:

Jurjan Schilder, lecturer in mechanical engineering at the University of Twente

'In the eyes of others we are exotics'

Jurnan Schilder is a mechanical engineering teacher at the University of Twente and needs the chalkboard for all his formulas and calculations.

“I train engineers. And I want my students to be able to calculate how thick a particular beam of a house or machine should be on a beer mat in a cafe, so to speak. You have to be able to calculate a construction by heart, understand how machines move and what forces are required for this. And also: how can you know in advance whether a bridge will break or not? You will find the answers by using a structured step-by-step plan full of formulas and equations.

In the eyes of alpha or gamma teachers, we may be exotics that have stuck with us, but my subject is about new technological developments. Didactically speaking, a chalkboard is perfect for my lessons. At the beginning of the lecture, the board is empty, I stand in front of that room, think out loud, let students think along, write down what I say, what they say, and at the end there is a solution.

I've worked with whiteboards or digital boards before, out of necessity, but I don't find it feasible. I can work more neatly on a chalkboard and I feel that I am better able to take the students into my train of thought. When I work digitally, I feel all the time: I'm going too fast, I'm losing people. And the students can write more easily with a chalkboard. Neurologically a very meaningful activity.

Students sometimes find it a pity that there are no slides to follow at home. Anyway, there you have my next point: I think it's important that they come here. The message from that chalkboard is: if you're a good engineer, you get this. Then you can do this. Also on that beer mat. If they see me solving a formula for that board, hopefully I will be an example for my students.”

Marijn Ruhaak, Dutch teacher at Geert Grote College Amsterdam

'A chalkboard like this never disappoints'

Marijn Ruhaak teaches Dutch in the upper secondary school at the Geert Groote College Amsterdam and always does this partly on a chalkboard.

“At my school I am not the odd one out: the use of natural materials in the classroom and on the schoolyard is important in our type of education; I work at a free school. Of course, we are participating in digitization, everyone also has a smartboard, but there is also a chalkboard in every classroom. Just like the furniture in our school is often made of wood and office supplies are made of paper rather than plastic. I don't have a strong opinion on which is best, but it's happened to me too many times that the smartboard had startup problems, the sound wouldn't work. Such a chalkboard never disappoints, it always works. So it's nice to have both - because yes, I also love to show a fun or educational video or a powerpoint in class. But then it all has to work properly, and not that I first fumble for five of my fifty minutes of lessons.

I mainly use the chalkboard when I am telling something, as a kind of note board, for myself and for the students. For their understanding I write down keywords and important concepts and they then write along. Because the students receive the written and spoken information at the same time, they are engaged and there is more interaction. They are not transcribing the powerpoint while I am explaining something. Moreover, students can give more input if I don't always put everything ready-made on a powerpoint, or on the smartboard screen. For example, if I want to show them an argumentation structure, it is much more fun and effective to also write down the students' arguments and come up with a nice scheme together.

What my students often do is take a picture of what I've written at the end of the lesson. Luckily for them, I do have good chalkboard handwriting. You have to practice it, but that also applies to a whiteboard. And yes, at the end of the day, after classes in which I've written a lot, I may leave school like a dusty rabbit. But I take that for granted.”

Edy Erkelens, teacher CBS Eben-Haëzer in Polsbroek

'I found one through Marktplaats'

Eddy Erkelens teaches his students from group 7 of CBS Eben Haëzer in Polsbroek, on a chalkboard, an IWB and a whiteboard.

“Writing something quickly: I can't do that very well and extensively on a whiteboard or digiboard. Before you know it you're five clicks away and you've forgotten what you wanted to write down again. In my classroom there are two whiteboards - one always shows the daily schedule - and an interactive whiteboard. A few years ago I realized: I want a chalkboard with it. Via Marktplaats I found an old one, dirt cheap, I had to clean it.

It has something nostalgic about it, I think it looks nice, but above all it is practical. I take notes on it during my explanation, especially during world orientation. I can put key words on it, drawings, can show connections with arrows. It is also easier to use colors. The software of an interactive whiteboard works well, but if I want to make something red, I first have to click in the bottom left, click on the pen, then the color red, tap the pen again and then I can only make a mark. It works ten times faster with four colors of chalk in your hands, right?

I can also underline things thickly, or color them thinly. With a whiteboard you actually only have one thickness with markers, and if you want to color areas it becomes one big mess. You can knock chalk right off your clothes and hands, that stuff has become less and less persistent and less dusty. Knocking out that wiper is no longer necessary.

At first the children were surprised. A chalkboard? I am now known for it, when I have made another work of art, they say: 'Oh, you can draw beautifully'. What I also notice: I involve them more in the material. Then I teach them something about Australia, first I only draw the contours, then I ask: where is the sea? And they point that out, do I color blue and then: where is the desert? Then I color it yellow. And then we each point out a few places with red dots. If you throw that into a powerpoint at once, then it is too much information for those children at once. With that chalkboard I have the feeling that we are doing it together, step by step.”

You can read this article for free from the Education magazine of June. News, backgrounds and tips in your mailbox every month? Word AObmember!

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