Slate And Chalk

By Jabo
@jaboUK (64363)
United Kingdom
January 15, 2017 4:41pm CST
@hereandthere wrote a post in which one of the questions she posed was whether we used pens or pencils to write with at school. My answer was that we used neither. For the first few years of my school life we used a slate and chalk. When I started school in 1944 paper and pencils were in short supply due to WW2. As Britain is an island we relied on goods coming from other countries by sea, and Hitler made a pretty good job of bombing the supply ships. That's why we had slates and chalk because we could just clean them, then re-use them. My first memories of school are of sitting at a battered wooden desk with generations of children's initials carved on them, and attempting to copy those squiggly lines (the alphabet) from the blackboard onto my slate. As time progressed we moved on to using paper and a nibbed pen which we would dip into the inkwell incorporated into our desks. It was hard to be neat with those. I enjoyed school at first but the novelty soon wore off. Did you enjoy school? Image from Pixabay.
57 people like this
62 responses
@allknowing (130088)
• India
15 Jan 17
There were special slate pencils that we used to write. Yes. It was slate and slate pencil that we used to start our school life. The teachers used chalk to write on the blackboard.
5 people like this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
15 Jan 17
@allknowing What did you write on with your slate pencils? They wouldn't show up on a slate board - did you use paper?
3 people like this
@allknowing (130088)
• India
16 Jan 17
@jaboUK This comment apparently is not for me?? Anyway just to answer. The slate pencil produced white writing on the black slate.
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@allknowing Yes it is for you, sorry I couldn't have copied and pasted your name right.. Will change it now. The slate produced white writing? Amazing.
2 people like this
@Morleyhunt (21567)
• Canada
16 Jan 17
I enjoyed school and I also liked writing with, first a straight pen and then a fountain pen.
3 people like this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@Morleyhunt I didn't have a fountain pen until I was a teenager.
2 people like this
@Morleyhunt (21567)
• Canada
16 Jan 17
@jaboUK I was in grade 6.....it was on my required to provide list....my parents were a little taken aback....we were starting a new school and they had to purchase three of them. The cost was around $5.00 each. That doesn't sound like much now, but at that time, it was a lot if money. I was 10 years old.
2 people like this
@Morleyhunt (21567)
• Canada
16 Jan 17
@UncleJoe I'd love to hear what happened with you and the fountain pen.
1 person likes this
@lyanhnan (151)
• Thrissur, India
16 Jan 17
I used slate pencils. We started with slate and pencil. Then on to lead pencils and finally the ink pens. Now I use my index fingers only.
2 people like this
@lyanhnan (151)
• Thrissur, India
18 Jan 17
@jaboUK plain good old writing is now a lost art form.
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@lyanhnan Lol - I know what you mean about the fingers! I think most of us have forgotten how to write by hand.
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
18 Jan 17
@lyanhnan That is so true - I believe some children don't even know how to sign their names.
1 person likes this
• United States
16 Jan 17
I loved school the first 8 years, then I went to public school and it was awful. I would love one of those desks!!
2 people like this
• United States
16 Jan 17
@jaboUK I hated high school...wanted to drop out when I was 16.
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
17 Jan 17
@AbbyGreenhill I don't know what your system is/was in the States, but we were legally allowed to leave school at 16, and that is what I did.
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@AbbyGreenhill At least you liked school for a few years, unlike me. The desk in the picture is exactly what they were like.
1 person likes this
@DianneN (246452)
• United States
16 Jan 17
I loved my toy chalkboard when I was a kid. Perhaps that's why I loved school so much and was a straight A student. Lol! I did attend an elementary school with those battered wooden desks. They also had a hole for an inkwell which we never used.
3 people like this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@DianneN I never had a toy chalkboard, those slates were just at achool. We had to use those inkwells - ink got everywhere.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (203666)
• Walnut Creek, California
25 Jan 17
I just remember pencils and pencil sharpeners on the wall. And that paper they gave you that had three lines, one dotted I think, so you could write upper- and lower-case letters properly. And BIG! I had little plastic airplane, about 2" long, that I'd fly in my hand on the way to recess.
2 people like this
@DianneN (246452)
• United States
16 Jan 17
@jaboUK I used found pens with cartridges. They leaked ink, too, but I loved them.
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@VivaLaDani13 (59989)
• Perth, Australia
4 Apr 17
@jaboUK Using the chalk would have been fun! Saves so much paper then! School was....ok. I got bullied a bit so that wasn't fun. I enjoyed grade 8 and 9 the most cause my best friend was there. I was very lost when she wasn't there. Sometimes I do miss it. But other times I'm glad it's over.
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
5 Apr 17
@VivaLaDani13 I was lucky in that I never encountered bullying.
2 people like this
• Perth, Australia
5 Apr 17
@Daljinder aw you sweet thing!
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@Daljinder (23222)
• Bangalore, India
4 Apr 17
@VivaLaDani13 You would never have been bullied at my school. I wouldn't have let you be bullied even if you were.
2 people like this
@snowy22315 (168368)
• United States
16 Jan 17
No, I was never much of a school fan. I do have a thirst for knowledge, but I prefer learning on my own.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@snowy22315 I agree - you learn far more when you actually want to learn, rather than having it forced on you at school.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (157563)
• Boise, Idaho
16 Jan 17
That is so interesting. I started with pencil.
2 people like this
@celticeagle (157563)
• Boise, Idaho
16 Jan 17
@jaboUK ......My grandmother used the slate and she used to read to me from her 'primer'. I loved the stories and share one here at Christmas time each year. I inherited the primer and someone stole it.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@celticeagle I'm pleased that you found this interesting. I remember being excited when we eventually got coloured crayons.
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@celticeagle Someone stole the primer? Sheesh!
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@velvet53 (22528)
• Palisade, Colorado
16 Jan 17
I did like most of my classes when I was in school. I quit when I was 16 and helped raise 6 younger brothers and sisters. I did go and get my GED when I was in my 40's.
2 people like this
@velvet53 (22528)
• Palisade, Colorado
16 Jan 17
@jaboUK Yes. That is good that you got your GCE. I guess they are probably about the same thing. We both got our schooling done, right?
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@velvet53 Good for you getting your GED later on. What does that stand for ..General Education Diploma? I left school at 16 too, but not before I had got my GCEs (General Certificates of Education).
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@velvet53 Yup, did the necessary.
2 people like this
• Valdosta, Georgia
16 Jan 17
I never enjoyed school, mostly because of the other kids.
2 people like this
• Valdosta, Georgia
16 Jan 17
@Daljinder Yes they can be. I enjoyed learning but definitely didn't like the kids.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@LovingMyBabies I didn't mind the other kids, I just found the lessons boring.
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@Daljinder (23222)
• Bangalore, India
16 Jan 17
@Lovingmybabies Kids can be cruel. Mean and bullying ones!
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@silvermist (19706)
• India
17 Jan 17
As @allknowing has said we used slate and slate pencils.The teachers used chalk to write on the black board.I think I had posted a discussion about slate and slate pencil in March 2016.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
18 Jan 17
@silvermist I didn't see your discussion - if you get me the link I will read it
@Juliaacv (48225)
• Canada
15 Jan 17
You have fond memories in light of Mr Hitler trying to make things difficult. I grew up on a farm. There was a little village about a mile away that had a one-room schoolhouse. My Dad and his brother and sisters attended that school. My brother who is a year older then I am started grade 1 there. And when you were going to enter grade 1 the following year, you were taken (dressed in your Sunday best) to the special days at school-the last day before Christmas, before Easter and the last day of school before summer. I remember my Mom putting my green velvet dress on me, doing my hair, putting a pretty clip in it and my Dad taking me to the school for the afternoon before Christmas break-the teacher played the piano. The school closed that summer and I had to take the bus 10 miles into town, to the big school in town. My parents were worried because I started grade 1 and the other kids started in kindergarten, but I did fine, in fact my first grade teacher took a shining to me and I was kind of the teacher's pet. That may have made my educational years there easier!
2 people like this
@Juliaacv (48225)
• Canada
15 Jan 17
@jaboUK My brother walked all the way to school by himself. And out in the country that is a fair distance for a 6 year old. I was glad that I never had to do that, although I have a feeling that my Dad would have made my mother drive me. I remember the smell of that old schoolhouse, the warmth from the wood stove, and the teacher, Mrs Hoy, playing the piano. A few years later I met her daughter, and she and I have been lifelong friends ever since-she stood up in my wedding. When the school closed my Dad bought the swing set and the teeter toder for us kids to play on at home.
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
15 Jan 17
@Juliaacv How nice that your dad bought the swings etc. to play on - our school didn't have anything like that - all wood and metal were needed for the war effort. Our school was only at the end of our road, so not far even for a 4 year old.
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
15 Jan 17
@Juliaacv Oh yes, I can see how being the teacher's pet would make things a lot easier. Interesting that you got to go to see what the school was like on those special days. I had two older sisters and I felt really excluded as I used to go to the school gates with them, then stare wistfully through the bars when they were shut in my face. I never got to see what it was like inside until I started school myself.
2 people like this
@Daljinder (23222)
• Bangalore, India
16 Jan 17
Oh yes! I enjoyed school very much. I had very good friends and only reason I didn't like going to school was when I was in Grade 9 because I had to travel an hour in school bus to reach the damn school. This meant that I had to wake up at an ungodly hour to get ready.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@Daljinder That's nice that you enjoyed school, but that hour's travelling would definitely put a damper on it.
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@Daljinder (23222)
• Bangalore, India
16 Jan 17
@jaboUK It sure did especially when it took me extra hour to come back home.
2 people like this
@responsiveme (22932)
• India
16 Jan 17
At preschool we wrote on slate and pencil. And we had that for a couple of years at school too...like the one in the picture. Then there were pencils and later on from class six it was pens but not ball pens. I did love school , though my school friends are all scattered we have a very close bond and time slides back whenever we meet.
2 people like this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@responsiveme I'm surprised that you wrote on slate as you are quite a bit younger than me. We'd never heard of ball pens either. I didn't like school much, though I wouldn't say that I hated it. I left as soon as I could though.
2 people like this
@Daljinder (23222)
• Bangalore, India
16 Jan 17
@jaboUK I am even younger than @responsiveme and I also used slate and chalk at one point. Even if it was for a very short time. I had vague memory of pre-school because I was barely 2 years old. It was both slate and notebooks. Slate and chalk were more for fun.
1 person likes this
• India
16 Jan 17
@jaboUK But India brings in changes much later. On second thoughts the changes (for good as well as bad) are much faster now....technology and all that. Ball pens came when I was in college
2 people like this
@allen0187 (58447)
• Philippines
16 Jan 17
Thanks for sharing this. I enjoyed school immensely that I stayed in school way longer than usual!
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@allen0187 (58447)
• Philippines
17 Jan 17
@jaboUK make no mistake about it, I wanted to leave school as soon as possible but these teachers just wouldn't take 'No' for an answer!
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@allen0187 That's good that you enjoyed school - I left as soon as I could.
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
17 Jan 17
1 person likes this
@Inlemay (17714)
• South Africa
16 Jan 17
Slate and chalk - and a small little duster - I remember that well. I dont think the children do that anymore? My daughters classroom which was built in the 1960's have desks with inkwell holes, nothing is replaces unless its broken in many of the smaller town schools - she has an overhead projector with a DUCK neck and a Green chalk board (that is more modern than the black one)
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@Inlemay No, I don't think the slates have been used for some time. I've never heard of a green 'blackboard'
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
17 Jan 17
@Inlemay Thank you for that, I was curious as to what a green 'blackboard' looked like.
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@Inlemay (17714)
• South Africa
17 Jan 17
@jaboUK we have them - here is a very ordinary photo taken with my phone of my daughters classroom as it is today
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• United States
16 Jan 17
We used pencils until 4th grade and then if we had good penmanship we were able to use pen (fountain pen but they came with cartridges so no ink wells). I wasn't particularly fond of school but I got decent grades.
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@Marilynda1225 I suppose you had to provide your own fountain pens? Well done on getting decent grades - I just did enough to scrape through.
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
17 Jan 17
@Marilynda1225 That's a Pixabay picture, but the desks really did look like that. The scratching of names was vandalism really, and anyone caught doing it was punished. It still happened though, especially by boys with their penknives.
• United States
16 Jan 17
@jaboUK yes we had to supply our own pens, pencils etc. I forgot to mention how much I liked your picture. None of our desks had initials or names scratched in them
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (323672)
• Rockingham, Australia
18 Jan 17
We never had slates but we did have pens and nibs. Were they slates or pieces of blackboard? The slate I had at home had special slate pencils which sometimes made an awful squeak. I guess we could have used chalk on them. I don't really remember.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
18 Jan 17
@JudyEv To be honest Judy, I'm not sure if they were actual slates, but I assume so as that was what they were called. The chalk often made a squeak that would put your teeth on edge.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
18 Jan 17
@JudyEv Sure was.
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@JudyEv (323672)
• Rockingham, Australia
18 Jan 17
@jaboUK It was a terrible sound wasn't it?
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66861)
• Philippines
16 Jan 17
we had slates and chalk to show our answers to our teacher in Math, and we also had pencils, ballpoint pens, and sheets of paper to write on as well
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
16 Jan 17
@ridingbet Interesting that you had both slates and paper. We didn't ever have ballpoint pens at school.
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
17 Jan 17
@ridingbet Oh yes, Bic pens are very common now.
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@ridingbet (66861)
• Philippines
17 Jan 17
@jaboUK yes Ma'am. that was between 1965-71. slates and chalk when we had to solve Math problems and show our answers to the teacher. ballpen was (and still is) Bic; i am also given Bic ballpens by my brother from UK
1 person likes this
• United States
24 Jan 17
I like the idea of slates and chalk much better than pens and paper. Being able to reuse them and save paper is a great idea. :-)
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@jaboUK (64363)
• United Kingdom
24 Jan 17
@missjessicadawn Perhaps they'll make a comeback in this ecologically aware time
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• United States
24 Jan 17
@jaboUK That would be great! :-)
1 person likes this