4 ms·
The thing with chalk is: if you see a piece of chalk, you can use it. After you're done, put it down and forget it. If you see a marker... 50% chance it's dead
by romwell 7y ago
The thing with chalk is: if you see a piece of chalk, you can use it. After you're done, put it down and forget it.
If you see a marker... 50% chance it's dead, 25% chance it's barely alive, 15% chance it's legible from the back row, 10% chance it's fresh and usable the way you describe it. It's impossible to tell before you try.
After you're done with it, you need to remember to close the cap, or find a trash can to chuck it into (and make a call if the marker kind-of-still-works-but-not-really). Seems like a small thing, but adds mental overhead. And it's a big enough overhead that a lot of people don't do it. Otherwise, how would we end up with the distribution above in the first place?
Now teaching/explaining is a performance art. Doing the "wait, let me try another marker, is it better now?" dance ruins the show.
That's why mathematicians prefer chalk. The subject matter is already difficult enough, there's not enough bandwidth for all of that nonsense. Have chalk, will write. End of story.
- komali2 7y agoAlso the markers are shit from a sustainability standpoint - non refillable, take up space in a landfill, as far as I know unrecyclable, manufacturing chain involving at the very least plastic, ink, and whatever makes the tip, and gets tossed seemingly on a daily basis.
- Nullabillity 7y agoThere are refillable markers.
- educationdata 7y agoVery good point, but only half the story. Marker has another problem: eraser. Most of the time the eraser is already too dirty to use.
- brianpgordon 7y agoBut a chalkboard eraser just smears the chalk around. Even with a decently clean eraser, after a few write/erase cycles you can barely see anything because there's so little contrast. Dry eraser marker goes on vivid and sharp every time, and with a high-quality whiteboard will wipe right off cleanly.
- taejo 7y agoWhen I TA'ed in Germany, every classroom had a sink, a sponge and a squeegee, so you actually cleaned the board every time instead of smearing it. It was great.
- marvin 7y ago5% of the time, it's a permanent marker.
- davemp 7y agoMost of those issues are solved by carrying a pack of markers in your bag. My biggest annoyance with dry erase is when people leave markings on for a really long time and board gets stained.