11.15.2012

Chalk on the fingers...

We had the excitement of helping Beckham create an art wall in his playroom this past weekend.  Mommy & I painted, while Daddy & Grandpa worked on the mill work to frame the chalkboard and art wall. 
 
Have you tried the chalkboard paint? 
 It is pretty cool,
 two coats and three days of waiting
and  
wa la
 you have a chalkboard!
  I think the three day wait
 was harder for Mommy
 then Beckham!! 
 
This little chalkboard "thank you" note
 came via email
 last evening.
  It's a little grainy,
probably taken with Mommy or Daddy's phone...
but so cute, I had to share!
 
The blue half of the wall is where Beckham and Avry's artwork
 from daycare
 will hang.
  Mommy is still working on that side
 and
will add wall words above the crown moulding
with a verse about children and art... 

I had to laugh. 
 The 3 days of waiting were up
 and it was time to write on the blackboard
 and
 Beckham told Mommy
 that he wanted to write on the blueboard...
oh, no,
 I was worried about that!
 
As a kid,
 I loved chalkboards.
The sound of the chalk on the board,
the chalk dust on your finger tips...
  
Being a farm kid,
I was always envious
 of the town kids
 that got to stay after school
 to wash the chalkboards...I so wanted to do this!
 
I did get to be the eraser monitor once...
anyone else? 
 The monitor was in charge of taking the erasers
 to the janitors room
 to be cleaned. 
 There was a big and noisy machine just for this. 
Remember?
 
   And then there were the naughty kids...
who had to stand with their noses against the chalkboard.
Mom, if you are reading this, I wasn't one of those kids.
 
Oh dear,
teachers probably aren't allowed to do this today.
 
Shoot,
the newer schools probably don't even have chalkboards...
 
A few weeks ago I was with my the two sisters in an antique shop in Minnesota
when I found this...
I think I might have screamed out loud,
 with excitement,
 when I found it...
 
An item I had forgotten about,
but yet,
remembered
 how much I thought these
 were
 so
 cool.
 
 Do you remember these?
 
 
 
 
 
Now do you?
I may be dating myself here,
but for you younger readers,
these were used by the music teacher to draw a music staff on the chalkboard.
 
I can hardly wait to draw music staffs with Beckham on his new chalkboard
and with any luck at all,
I might get to stay late to help wash the chalkboard!
 
Have a good day,
Brenda
 
 

17 comments:

  1. Apparently we're of the same generation because I knew instantly what your antique "find" was. And about cleaning the erasers, our school didn't have a machine to do the work. We took them outside and pounded them together as well as on the building making designs with the chalk dust. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

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  2. Oh yes, I remember the chalkboards and erasers. We didn't have a machine to clean them, just took them outside and banged them together. The gadget to draw the music staff brought back some memories too. I haven't seen one of those in a very long time. What a lucky find!
    My daughter is an art teacher and they use dry erase boards and projectors in the classroom. She also has a new board that she can tack the artwork on. It covers one wall in her room and self-heals when she takes them down..pretty neat. It's kinda like the cutting board I use in sewing.

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  3. What a great art wall! How I would have loved to have had that as a child!
    I, too, knew what your antique was! I remember them well... And like Kathy, we didn't have a machine to clean erasers, but rather we pounded them outside... I remember doing that but I don't remember liking it.... something about the feel of the eraser/chalk on my fingers that bothered me!
    I loved seeing the chalk holder.... thanks for sharing and for bringing back some fond memories of my grammar school years.... :)

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  4. I was an "eraser pounder", too! As I read your posting, I couldn't
    figure out what that "thing" was,
    until I read the word music and then I saw Mrs. Mobley, the Special Music teacher holding it in her hand and pulling it along the chalk board! What fun you will have with the kids and their new toy!

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  5. Brenda, I absolutely love your post today. I too was an eraser pounder and always loved to help out. My Mom taught 5th grade so I always got to clean her erasers too...LOL...As for the chalk holder...LOVE IT. I knew right away what it was...Mrs. Kreutzler Music Room...lots of fun memories! In fact I loved writing on the chalkboard so much I became an elementary school teacher and love every moment of that!

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  6. Yes, I remember cleaning erasers on the "machine" in the janitors room. I think ours was like a vacuum cleaner attachment that you ran the eraser over. I also knew what your find was. I clearly remember Miss Bows using it in class. We didn't have a music room in elementary school, so she had to push the piano from room to room for music. Oh, the days! Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

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  7. I had chalkboards in school. Now in my kids' schools I don't see a single chalkboard. They're all dry erase boards or projection screens for Power Point presentations. It's just not the same thing :)

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  8. I didn't know on the first picture, but as soon as I saw the chalk, I remembered what it was!
    I also remember cleaning the erasers - and I too didn't like the feel of chalk on my hands!

    Linda in VA

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  9. Oh my gosh - I had forgotten all about that handy little staff-making gadget!

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  10. Yes - an eraser pounder here, too! And then there were those 'fancy' ones that were made with chamois? Mrs. Thompson would use colored chalk in the holder, then the notes would show up better!

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  11. we had the board rubber too at Primary School in the 1970s. At High School in the 1980s we had the overhead projectors some of the others mention. Now schools in the UK have interactive white boards connected to a computer. The teacher and pupils can type on the computer and it comes up on the screen or they can touch the screen itself and interact! It's amazing and brilliant for children like my small son with scribing difficulties.

    But the teacher can't throw the board rubber at people who're not paying attention any more LOL. Is that a good thing or not?

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  12. Yes I remember these! I would have snapped this up in a heartbeat.

    Love your blog and your designs. I am always enjoy seeing a new post here.

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  13. Yes, I too remember all those things. I remember going down to the janitor's room to clean erasers. I am lucky enough to have a full size chalkboard with chalk tray in my home.My children and now grandchildren play school.

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  14. I usedto use this to make several lines for my first graders to write on.........I'll have to look for one of these'

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  15. We also used the chalk holder just to create perfect lines on the board to teach penmanship. It wasn't just for musical staffs. :)

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  16. If they had chalk board when my girls were little ( now 35) every door would be a chalk board...I love the stuff, I have an old window with wood chalk paint inside on hall wall for grand children, not so young now but still leave a parting message for me. I remember single chalk holders to keep hands clean, my children did have these ( found in teachers supply store)

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  17. I always wanted to mess with the staff making gadget! I would have picked that up in a flash.r

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