AEON Issue Thirteen December 2020
BLACKBOARDS
An Open Window into Other Worlds I was humbled and awed when I arrived at Glenaeon, where blackboard drawings bring to life the lessons and connect learning with imagination and stories, and this is happening every day with such a high-level of beauty and artistry.
M
y professional experience with blackboards started on my first two-week teaching prac at Hurstville Public School. At the end of the prac, I had my first chance to use the board for a picture. I decided to draw a farewell picture for the class, I had no idea how much fun it was going to be. I ended up spending hours filling the entire board with images from their lessons. I naively felt like I was making a great discovery of how great blackboard drawing could be. A few times when I have drawn a board for another teacher, when they were short of time or needed some help, I have idly thought maybe this could be my full-time job. The importance of the pictures varies, the first blackboard of the main lesson is
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an important one, sometimes staying up for a week or two, sometimes geometric constructions fill the entire board, and some pictures only last a day. I am never sad to see them go, because there are endless pictures to discover. Some pictures take a couple hours; some are completed over many days, and many are done together with the class. I look forward to seeing what will be on my board during the term. It becomes a wonderful open window into many other worlds. It is a good day when with chalky aching fingers I go to sleep dreaming of my blackboard picture. ď‚Ł Brendan Strobl Class 5 Teacher
