I am a chalkboard girl in a touchscreen world.
From the time I entered first grade, I have loved chalkboards.
I liked the smell of chalk and loved taking erasers out to the playground to pound the dust out of them.
I even had a little chalkboard of my own and can still see it in my mind’s eye. In yellow paint across the top of that board were drawings of a ball, a house, a sailboat, and a flower.
Many times I set my dolls and stuffed animals in a makeshift classroom and “taught” them using that little chalkboard.
Though I hold memories of my own chalkboard and the ones that covered the walls of my school classrooms, I can’t remember the last time I saw one.
Chalkboards have gone the way of clipboards and carbon paper.
I won’t deny that in many ways computers have simplified our lives. More than simplifying them, computers have made it possible for us to perform acts that, back in the chalkboard era, would have seemed like magic.
Last Thursday, I talked face-to-face with a friend in Japan using Skype.
Yesterday I selected, ordered, and paid for a new bedspread using only my computer.
Later today I will pay bills, without leaving my house, using paper and a pen, or utilizing envelopes and stamps.
But I miss the simplicity of a chalkboard.
Mistakes were easily corrected, and starting over required only the swipe of an eraser across the board’s surface.
On chalkboards, I practiced long division and competed in ciphering matches.
Daily assignments were written on a designated area of the classroom chalkboard. The week’s spelling words were displayed.
Often the day’s date was printed across the top of the board, along with a reminder like Make Today a Good Day or Kindness Counts.
What person of my age never drew on a chalkboard a heart with a secret such as D.J. loves D.S. printed inside it?
In a contest, computers would, without a doubt, outperform chalkboards. It seems there is almost nothing a computer cannot do.
But they can also be maddening and bring out the worst in their users.
My computer tempts me to say a bad word quicker than anything else in my house, except maybe my hot curling iron when it grazes my forehead.
Not even once was I tempted to smash a chalkboard with a hammer or throw it out my window.
Because many of you know I have obsessive-compulsive disorder, I will include one more graphic that includes a chalkboard.
It is one of my favorite OCD funnies.
The Happy Geranium 
You have brought back many precious memories of my childhood. Writing “I will not talk while the teacher is talking” was one of my favorites. I loved writing on the chalkboard so I really didn’t mind getting in trouble for talking out of turn in elementary school. 🙂
Often at recess, my friends and I stayed inside and wrote and drew on the chalkboard rather than jumping rope or playing on the outdoor playground. Great fun! Thanks for following and commenting, Melissa!
So glad to see you are back, I have missed your blog.
Thank you, Pam. Remember when our parents used to talk about “the good old days”? Well, now we’re the ones doing the reminiscing! When did we get old?
What memories you’ve generated! I remember our teacher using a wire contraption that held 3 – 5 pieces of chalk so letters could be made uniformly or if 5 pieces of chalk were used you had the lines and spaces for musical notes. On Fridays the chalkboards were always washed. Oh! And remember the awful sound the chalk sometimes made on the board – like fingernails scratching the board. Still makes me shiver!
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Sharon, thank you for your comment! A teacher’s wire contraption for drawing straight lines on the chalkboard is something I had forgotten. How handy! And, yes, that awful screeching noise bad chalk made on the chalkboard–eeeek!!!
When I was in the 5th grade, my homeroom teacher would send several of us to the chalkboards every Monday morning. We would spend what seemed like hours trying to to get the number of weekly lunches (at $1.50 each) + the number of daily lunches (at $.30 each) + the number of morning milk ($.10 if weekly, $.02 if daily) to equal the money on her desk. I don’t think it ever came out right. And she was a Math teacher!
Kathy, what a great memory you have! I can’t remember exactly how much our school lunches cost, but I remember my mom sending with me coins tied in the corner of a fabric handkerchief to pay for my lunch and morning milk. I commend your teacher for utilizing that money on her desk to teach a math lesson!
Boy, do I miss the chalkboard days too! I hadn’t thought much about them until I read your blog, Debbie. But this brings back sweet memories for me to help the teacher wash the chalkboard, clap the erasers outside, and wipe out the chalky dust ledge. I miss those simple days.
I miss those days too, Becky! I wonder what our grandchildren will remember from their youths when they are our age. Somehow, it is hard to imagine Chromebooks eliciting sweet memories years from now!
Those were the days! Showing my age!!!
Yes, Belva, we may be showing our age, but there were many wonderful things about those days–more personal contact and fewer automated phone messages, for example! Thanks for commenting!
I totally agree! I long for the earlier simple days!
Thank you for bringing it all back for a just little while! 😊😊😊
I believe you used that chalkboard with me a few times, out on the front porch classroom!
Do you remember that little chalkboard? In my mind, I see it as being on an easel of some kind, but I’m probably wrong. I loved it though!
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Love your memories
Thank you, Shirley. I am blessed to have many happy memories from my childhood. I hope you have the same kind of memories from your childhood.