# Do kids “clap the erasers in school any more? Did you?



## Geezerette (Jan 30, 2021)

My great granddaughter , who is in second grade was given a project to ask “the ancestors” (me, haha) about their lives when they were the same age, like school, play etc.. I remembered that as a reward we got to take a bucket of chalk dusty erasers just outside the school door and “clap” them together till the dust from the day’s chalk was mostly gone. And of course we made that last as long as we could.
I don’t know I’d schools even use chalk and felt erasers any more. Lots of “whiteboards” .m
Anyone else remember doing this? If they still use them?


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## Jules (Jan 30, 2021)

Yes, I was a clapper too.  

Teachers likely appreciate not dealing with the dust.

That was a fun project for your GGD.


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## Fyrefox (Jan 30, 2021)

I can remember board erasing and eraser-clapping as one of the "classroom leader" chore positions eagerly sought and delegated out on a rotating weekly basis as rewards by the teacher.  Other honorary positions included line leader, messenger, and recess ball captain...ahh, the memories of those sweet, simple days when we never once had "active shooter" drills!


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## Keesha (Jan 30, 2021)

Nooo. Doing that causes a cloud of dust that usually caused coughing or sneezing.


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## MrPants (Jan 31, 2021)

Yes! I remember doing that, or at least seeing others do it but I'm guessing there's no longer chalkboards in today's schools if they were built after a certain date? Don't know though as I haven't talked to any youngsters about it. I'm guessing the old pull-down maps that used to be in many classrooms are also a thing of the past as well due to digital mapping images that are now pretty common.


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## hollydolly (Jan 31, 2021)

NO, it wasn't a job pupils were given to do in my school, in fact this is the first I've heard of it... the only thing our teachers were happy using chalkboard dusters for was throwing them at our heads..


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## Pappy (Jan 31, 2021)

Yes I was. We had to go outside to do it. Wonder if that stuff was good to breath in?
Remember the gadget that held 5 pieces of chalk for music lessons?


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## Oris Borloff (Jan 31, 2021)

Yes, but only until about midway in first grade  I transferred to more affluent grade school.  At my new school there was a shop vac we used on the erasers.


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## Pepper (Jan 31, 2021)

Erasing the board was a great job and washing the board afterwards even better!


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## ronaldj (Jan 31, 2021)

used to hit them against the brick wall, and then had to figure out how to get the chalk off the wall. great times and good memories.


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## terry123 (Jan 31, 2021)

Yes, remember it well.


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## Aunt Marg (Jan 31, 2021)

I regularly brought chalkboard brushes downstairs into the basement of my elementary school, and inside the janitor's den where a homemade contraption he made sat.

Powered by an old vacuum motor, I'd flip the switch and run the brushes over the opening to clean them.

Before the janitor made the fancy brush cleaning contraption, brushes were taken outside the main entry doors of the school and slapped up against the large granite stair bocks, or as others have mentioned, clapped against one another.

What a warm walk down memory lane this thread is.

Thanks for starting it, Geez.


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## JustBonee (Jan 31, 2021)

Keesha said:


> Nooo. Doing that casted a cloud of dust that usually caused coughing or sneezing.



and your poor  lungs ....


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## Geezerette (Jan 31, 2021)

Just one of the many things we survived.


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## Gaer (Jan 31, 2021)

Hahahaha!  Do you remember the "Dunce Hat"?   No, I didn't have to wear one.  Gerald Bickle did, everyday, in the corner.  
It was a tall, pointed hat for anyone who was disobedient to the teacher, to wear while he sat on a tall stool!


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## Aunt Marg (Jan 31, 2021)

Gaer said:


> Hahahaha!  Do you remember the "Dunce Hat"?   No, I didn't have to wear one.  Gerald Bickle did, everyday, in the corner.
> It was a tall, pointed hat for anyone who was disobedient to the teacher, to wear while he sat on a tall stool!


I do remember the dunce hat, Gaer.

I never suffered the consequence, but do remember a few that did.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Jan 31, 2021)

@Pappy I remember that chalk gadget only the teacher used it to make capitol letters and small letters of the alphabet.
I remember handing out graham crackers for out milk break in the lower grades. The crackers cost 2 cents and I think the milk was 9 cents. Sometimes it was frozen when it was handed out to us in the winter. 
I remember a boy being chosen to fill the ink wells and someone gave out a new point for our straight pen and a new blotter. 
When I think about all these little jobs it seems to me there was a lot of child labor going on. lol


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## Chet (Jan 31, 2021)

Clapping erasers got you out of the classroom and outside which was a break. Our ink wells were always empty. Young mischievous minds might have had other uses in their minds and not the intended ones.


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## Lara (Jan 31, 2021)

Did I clap erasers in school? No
I say this with the utmost admiration for everyone's threads but...
it never ceases to amaze me how you all come up with these questions haha


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## fuzzybuddy (Feb 8, 2021)

In the 1-4 grades, only the "good" kids were asked to clap the erasers. So, of course, I rarely got be so honored. The one time I was asked, I came home covered in white chalk.


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