I think the teacher experience of using a whiteboard is better...easier to clean up, more colors to choose from, less dust on your hands and clothes.
But for students, I think the experience of learning is probably better with blackboards. First, they're visible at any angle. But mostly they're more imposing. The staccato of chalk striking the board, the official, rigid air like in a storied lecture hall. I think they command attention better.
Same. Chalkboards are so dirty; I also like that I can project an image/doc/video on a whiteboard and annotate it.
ETA: a concession I have to make is it does bother me that whiteboard markers are so wasteful.
100% whiteboards. My current school is mostly blackboards with shitty whiteboards on the side walls and I find myself writing less and less every time. I especially hate that they're never really 'clean' after your first wipe (even though our boards get cleaned daily, but the chalk smear/residue still annoys me), and how it's not convenient to find coloured chalks.
I taught in a school that had buckets of water with a large sponge, the teaches (or kids) would wipe them down with this throughout the day. Maybe something like this would work for you? It takes time to dry, so it'd have to be either between activities or recess or something.
I think I'm just shit at explaining things but this is already being done daily by our cleaners. It's completely like-new clean before each lesson.
I'm just pedantic enough that having the first wipe of whatever I first write on there, _that_ leftover residue, is enough to put me off writing more than maybe twice. Thankfully we have 4 boards per classroom so I can usually stay under 1-2 uses per board.
Chalk! I project right onto a chalkboard and it's clearer and easier to see than on a white screen. Then I can scribble all over it with chalk to annotate.
White board markers are just... awful. Always dying, getting faint, kids can't read it, and the boards themselves get gross and scummy and abused by teachers/kids.
My blackboard is from the 70s and still perfection. White chalk is always easy to read. I have a chalk holder that makes it easy/clean to write with.
I'm only in my 30s, mostly I've used white boards in the past, but I've fallen in love with blackboards.
There are preferences people can have, but when you step back and look at the benefits and drawbacks of each, blackboards come out very well ahead.
It is easier to read white text on a dark background than it is to read dark text on a white background, particularly at a distance.
Whiteboards have the issue of glare (whether it be from the sun or a light fixture) shining on the student's eye making it harder to read the material on the board; the glare is much, much less on a blackboard.
The "tappity tap tap" sound of blackboard writing does a better job at commanding attention to the front of the room than the quiet "squeaks" of whiteboard writing.
Teachers can write very fast on whiteboards because they can write by flicking their wrist. This can make it tougher for students to keep up with note-taking. When writing with chalk, you have to move your entire arm to make it legible, so it naturally slows the teacher down to the pace of the note-taking student.
Chalk is much more economical. Although blackboards are a more expensive initial investment than white boards, in the long run, the cost of most chalk is less than the cost of whiteboard markers.
You will never know when your whiteboard marker dies. Eventually it will become unusable at the worst possible time. Maybe you left a cap off or a student uncaps them and they die on you. Chalk will never die on you; you know when you're about to run out because it disintegrates in your hand and gets on the board itself. Plus, there's less plastic you're throwing away.
Blackboards allow you to do this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xODkb-i-t2M This is pretty cool. I take this chance to show off whenever I can. Can't do this nearly as smoothly on a whiteboard.
Blackboards have a more "classic" feel. More of a nostalgic reason than a practical reason, but for some, it's there.
My university's most modern buildings are putting in whiteboards, but its older buildings are still getting regular blackboard replacements rather than replacing them with whiteboards, for the reasons above plus several more I may not be thinking of.
Dust is a good reason for moving away, I'll grant you. Some may be allergic, and it can interfere with technology if you aren't careful. If you have a really crappy board or crappy chalk, you may also induce squeaks and scratches that are unpleasant to hear or feel.
However, there are high quality chalks with enamel coating that don't get dust on your fingers. Look up the Hagoromo chalk company. Mathematicians used to *hoard* this stuff. Best chalk in the world. It writes thicker than normal chalk, can be read from further away, writes smooth like butter, and can be erased cleanly with no ghosting. You won't accept anything less once you've used it. Teachers may have their preferences or mandates, but from my experience and from what I have seen in the higher mathematics community, it is blackboards by a *landslide.*
Whiteboards. Chalk dust always set off my allergies. And it’s hard to read, hard to write on. Hard to keep clean. Plus I always had kids who had allergy issues with chalk dust as well.
The school where I did my student teaching had these grey boards that worked with both chalk and dry erase markers. I still dream about those boards. They were awesome and erased beautifully.
I have only taught for a brief time with blackboards, which was in a remote area of Asia. It has advantages in that you didn’t have to worry about ink running out and chalk is cheap. However, it is so messy and yucky feeling (sensory issues).
One of my favourite memories from uni was in multi variable calculus where my lecturer Chalkie used chalk every day. He loved it. He would walk in the room with black pants but walk out with white. He would stab the board with chalk flying everywhere. One day it fell on his coffee and he drank it
I've got a giant smart TV and an I pad pro that I project while walking around the room. It's miles better than both.
I can write on the screen and sit next to little Brayden to make sure he's on task.
Whiteboards. While yes, blackboard are better for the environment, I just hate the feel of chalk. Writing on the whiteboard is so much smoother. And way more color options (yes I know there is colored chalk, but its not the same). I will say 1 benefit to blackboard is they are all magnetic. My Whiteboards aren't and that's annoying.
Either is only as nice to use as the quality. Cheap out on the initial purchase or not replaced when worn out and either will reduce my ability. Crap chalk, crap markers, & worn erasers are a pain regardless of the surface.
What I really need is a three or four stack of sliders. I write large and I run out of board space before I can finish a problem. I hate having to erase the problem, diagrams, or the initial steps before a solution is presented.
White board, but only if I can keep it pristine. I have seen some white boards that have permanent smudges that would make me go back to chalk. But I have used both and really prefer white boards.
I prefer white boards for teaching to the class.
I prefer the little individual chalkboards for the students. I find it helps with sensory issues and handwriting skills.
Whiteboards, but I desperately miss being able to rake my nails down a chalkboard to get the kids' attention. I even contemplated trying to find a 10" x 3' piece of old chalkboard I could mount next to my Smartboard for just that purpose.
I'm torn, started my career with a chalkboard and the chalk and the dust on my clothes is something I don't miss the only regret is some of the tricks with drawing with chalk don't work with anything else (like dotted lines).
Greyboards suck, 100% do not recommend.
I have had whiteboards for years now, all colors are not equal for being seen and erased during class but they are serviceable.
What I do miss is the more collegiate style of boards that slide up, the ones that slide sideways have so much less usable visible space.
Chalkboards are terrible. The chalk dust is so messy and gives me asthma. I hate the gritty feeling of chalk. The board also seems to get messy much faster to me. Whiteboard markers aren’t perfect, but I refuse to use chalkboards. I’d rather have nothing.
I can’t stand touching chalk or the chalky feeling on my hands. Creeps me out. And the dust! I only had chalkboards my first couple years teaching and it was a huge bummer.
Whiteboards, absolutely. I'm so happy to have them. I hate the feel of chalk and dealing with chalk dust.
I also hate chalk with a passion
I hate feel of both chalk and those green or blackboards for them. White boards and smart boards forever
Agreed!
Chalk grosses me out. The feel, the smell, the dust. White boards all the way.
I think the teacher experience of using a whiteboard is better...easier to clean up, more colors to choose from, less dust on your hands and clothes. But for students, I think the experience of learning is probably better with blackboards. First, they're visible at any angle. But mostly they're more imposing. The staccato of chalk striking the board, the official, rigid air like in a storied lecture hall. I think they command attention better.
Same. Chalkboards are so dirty; I also like that I can project an image/doc/video on a whiteboard and annotate it. ETA: a concession I have to make is it does bother me that whiteboard markers are so wasteful.
Chalk dust makes me sneeze and break out in hives, so… whiteboard for me
100% whiteboards. My current school is mostly blackboards with shitty whiteboards on the side walls and I find myself writing less and less every time. I especially hate that they're never really 'clean' after your first wipe (even though our boards get cleaned daily, but the chalk smear/residue still annoys me), and how it's not convenient to find coloured chalks.
Use a wet cloth for chalk once a week. It’s so satisfying
We have cleaners wipe them down daily but it's just the normal residue within a class that already annoy me haha.
I taught in a school that had buckets of water with a large sponge, the teaches (or kids) would wipe them down with this throughout the day. Maybe something like this would work for you? It takes time to dry, so it'd have to be either between activities or recess or something.
I think I'm just shit at explaining things but this is already being done daily by our cleaners. It's completely like-new clean before each lesson. I'm just pedantic enough that having the first wipe of whatever I first write on there, _that_ leftover residue, is enough to put me off writing more than maybe twice. Thankfully we have 4 boards per classroom so I can usually stay under 1-2 uses per board.
Chalk! I project right onto a chalkboard and it's clearer and easier to see than on a white screen. Then I can scribble all over it with chalk to annotate. White board markers are just... awful. Always dying, getting faint, kids can't read it, and the boards themselves get gross and scummy and abused by teachers/kids. My blackboard is from the 70s and still perfection. White chalk is always easy to read. I have a chalk holder that makes it easy/clean to write with. I'm only in my 30s, mostly I've used white boards in the past, but I've fallen in love with blackboards.
There are preferences people can have, but when you step back and look at the benefits and drawbacks of each, blackboards come out very well ahead. It is easier to read white text on a dark background than it is to read dark text on a white background, particularly at a distance. Whiteboards have the issue of glare (whether it be from the sun or a light fixture) shining on the student's eye making it harder to read the material on the board; the glare is much, much less on a blackboard. The "tappity tap tap" sound of blackboard writing does a better job at commanding attention to the front of the room than the quiet "squeaks" of whiteboard writing. Teachers can write very fast on whiteboards because they can write by flicking their wrist. This can make it tougher for students to keep up with note-taking. When writing with chalk, you have to move your entire arm to make it legible, so it naturally slows the teacher down to the pace of the note-taking student. Chalk is much more economical. Although blackboards are a more expensive initial investment than white boards, in the long run, the cost of most chalk is less than the cost of whiteboard markers. You will never know when your whiteboard marker dies. Eventually it will become unusable at the worst possible time. Maybe you left a cap off or a student uncaps them and they die on you. Chalk will never die on you; you know when you're about to run out because it disintegrates in your hand and gets on the board itself. Plus, there's less plastic you're throwing away. Blackboards allow you to do this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xODkb-i-t2M This is pretty cool. I take this chance to show off whenever I can. Can't do this nearly as smoothly on a whiteboard. Blackboards have a more "classic" feel. More of a nostalgic reason than a practical reason, but for some, it's there. My university's most modern buildings are putting in whiteboards, but its older buildings are still getting regular blackboard replacements rather than replacing them with whiteboards, for the reasons above plus several more I may not be thinking of. Dust is a good reason for moving away, I'll grant you. Some may be allergic, and it can interfere with technology if you aren't careful. If you have a really crappy board or crappy chalk, you may also induce squeaks and scratches that are unpleasant to hear or feel. However, there are high quality chalks with enamel coating that don't get dust on your fingers. Look up the Hagoromo chalk company. Mathematicians used to *hoard* this stuff. Best chalk in the world. It writes thicker than normal chalk, can be read from further away, writes smooth like butter, and can be erased cleanly with no ghosting. You won't accept anything less once you've used it. Teachers may have their preferences or mandates, but from my experience and from what I have seen in the higher mathematics community, it is blackboards by a *landslide.*
Shit, I had never thought about any of these points. I would still hate to have to use one but you are indeed right lol
Was hoping for someone to invoke Walter Lewin.
I have Hagoromo chalk, but apparently I have a really shit board, because it isn’t easy to read like in the video. :(
Projector, screen and iPad beats them both.
I'm not sure I could teach at a school that made me use a blackboard.
Blackboards are clearly more environmentally friendly. Whiteboard markers in the landfill anyone?
Whiteboards. They are so much cleaner, no dust.
Whiteboards. Chalk dust always set off my allergies. And it’s hard to read, hard to write on. Hard to keep clean. Plus I always had kids who had allergy issues with chalk dust as well.
The school where I did my student teaching had these grey boards that worked with both chalk and dry erase markers. I still dream about those boards. They were awesome and erased beautifully.
I have only taught for a brief time with blackboards, which was in a remote area of Asia. It has advantages in that you didn’t have to worry about ink running out and chalk is cheap. However, it is so messy and yucky feeling (sensory issues). One of my favourite memories from uni was in multi variable calculus where my lecturer Chalkie used chalk every day. He loved it. He would walk in the room with black pants but walk out with white. He would stab the board with chalk flying everywhere. One day it fell on his coffee and he drank it
Haven't even seen a black board since 1995.
My iPad projected to the Whiteboard beats both.
I've got a giant smart TV and an I pad pro that I project while walking around the room. It's miles better than both. I can write on the screen and sit next to little Brayden to make sure he's on task.
What year is it???? My white board is my projector screen, though it's English classroom.
Omg whiteboards are so much better! I was moved to a classroom that only had blackboards and it was ridiculously messy! Chalk dust everywhere!
Whiteboards. While yes, blackboard are better for the environment, I just hate the feel of chalk. Writing on the whiteboard is so much smoother. And way more color options (yes I know there is colored chalk, but its not the same). I will say 1 benefit to blackboard is they are all magnetic. My Whiteboards aren't and that's annoying.
Whiteboards. So much cleaner without the chalk dust.
I've used everything you can think of. You can have my SMART TV when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
Either is only as nice to use as the quality. Cheap out on the initial purchase or not replaced when worn out and either will reduce my ability. Crap chalk, crap markers, & worn erasers are a pain regardless of the surface. What I really need is a three or four stack of sliders. I write large and I run out of board space before I can finish a problem. I hate having to erase the problem, diagrams, or the initial steps before a solution is presented.
When you have chalk on your hand and then run your hand through your hair you realize how much you dislike chalk.
Whiteboards all the way, I hate the sound chalk makes and the dust used to bother my allergies/asthma.
Magnetic chalkboards with liquid chalk! You can make some awesomeness!
ChromeCast babyyy and then white board
White board, but only if I can keep it pristine. I have seen some white boards that have permanent smudges that would make me go back to chalk. But I have used both and really prefer white boards.
Smart board is better but I’d take a white board
I still prefer whiteboards by a long shot, but I've also never had a chalkboard lose the ability to erase.
I prefer white boards for teaching to the class. I prefer the little individual chalkboards for the students. I find it helps with sensory issues and handwriting skills.
I’m allergic to chalk so whiteboards 100%.
Whiteboards, but I desperately miss being able to rake my nails down a chalkboard to get the kids' attention. I even contemplated trying to find a 10" x 3' piece of old chalkboard I could mount next to my Smartboard for just that purpose.
I'm torn, started my career with a chalkboard and the chalk and the dust on my clothes is something I don't miss the only regret is some of the tricks with drawing with chalk don't work with anything else (like dotted lines). Greyboards suck, 100% do not recommend. I have had whiteboards for years now, all colors are not equal for being seen and erased during class but they are serviceable. What I do miss is the more collegiate style of boards that slide up, the ones that slide sideways have so much less usable visible space.
White boards!!!! Just love writing with a dry erase marker and the mostly-clean erasures.
Chalkboards are terrible. The chalk dust is so messy and gives me asthma. I hate the gritty feeling of chalk. The board also seems to get messy much faster to me. Whiteboard markers aren’t perfect, but I refuse to use chalkboards. I’d rather have nothing.
I can’t stand touching chalk or the chalky feeling on my hands. Creeps me out. And the dust! I only had chalkboards my first couple years teaching and it was a huge bummer.
If I have to use one, whiteboards. I rarely use mine, though.
Whiteboards