June 7, 2015: Blackboards from 1917

Undertoad · 06-07-2015, 08:38 AM

Oklahoma City, December, 1917. Emerson High School's custodian, R. J. Scott, has taken delivery of brand-new slate blackboards to replace the old ones that are not in good condition. He writes on each room's old board that today is the day the new ones are going to be installed.

It's a pretty big deal.

But R.J. got lazy, faced with several rooms to work on over a week's time; and he decided to just mount the new boards right over the old boards.

And two days ago workers came to remove the chalkboards altogether; they're installing network cables in this building that was built in 1895 and has been the High School since then.

And when they removed the first layer of slate, they found those old blackboards from 1917, with the lessons still on them.

Over the years we teach kids how to do math in radically different ways. But here's your challenge: WTF is this? How does it work?

WaPo story

DanaC · 06-07-2015, 09:46 AM

What a wonderful find! The lessons/boards seem surprisingly modern in tone

Griff · 06-07-2015, 11:35 AM

Nothing is ever new in education. Recycling at its best. I'm still trying to work out that math thing. Some kind of times table system...

Clodfobble · 06-07-2015, 12:13 PM

I figured it was a puzzle of some type--cross multiply, or scratch out all the factors of whatever in order to reveal which numbers are left... If nothing else, there are no zeroes anywhere on it, so it can't be a stand alone system for anything.

xoxoxoBruce · 06-07-2015, 12:22 PM

It is a mighty fine circle though.

lumberjim · 06-08-2015, 08:56 AM

I doubt he got lazy. I think he probably left the boards as is on purpose, like a time capsule

xoxoxoBruce · 06-08-2015, 09:59 AM

Agree, not lazy. Why bother to take the old ones down, they weren't worth anything, couldn't be reused, and provided a flat stable surface for the new boards.

Diaphone Jim · 06-08-2015, 11:34 AM

I'd say they got their money's worth from the slate boards.
But now no more sending the unruly out to beat erasers or using your fingernails to impress the girls.

The circle is a multiplication assignment with random numbers around the edge to match up with the ones in the middle.
I used one similar with my granddaughter to avoid the regimentation of the standard grid and introduce the randomness of actual use.
Something is to be learned in every pic.
The subjects covered were the end of Thanksgiving themes with a turkey and an unlikely African-American Pilgrim girl.
You can see the blobs of adhesive that Mr. Scott used to install the new boards as well as what might be the 1917 version of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Great IOTD

Lamplighter · 06-08-2015, 12:04 PM

Nice analysis, DJ

I'm wondering if the hexagons above your multiplication circle are "shields of David" indicating a Jewish presence.

That is, there is a mention of the Dutch and moving to the Netherlands...
And wikipedia says the following:

Quote:

Most history of the Jews in the Netherlands was generated between the end of the 16th century and World War II.
The area now known as the Netherlands was once part of the Spanish Empire but in 1581, the northern Dutch provinces declared independence. A principal motive was a wish to practice Protestant Christianity, then forbidden under Spanish rule, and so religious tolerance was effectively an important constitutional element of the newly independent state. This inevitably attracted the attention of Jews who were religiously oppressed in many parts of the world.

Undertoad · 06-08-2015, 12:19 PM

I like fonts, so... the cursive is identical to the cursive I was taught, how about you?

The non-cursive seen in the second-to-last image... is more difficult than "standard" alphabet, but probably matches what would have been the movable type fonts of the time. Someone copied that directly out of a book, including the serifs and what-not.

The curlie-ques on the numbers on the multiplication teaching tool are cute.

xoxoxoBruce · 06-08-2015, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Nice analysis, DJ

I'm wondering if the hexagons above your multiplication circle are "shields of David" indicating a Jewish presence.

That is, there is a mention of the Dutch and moving to the Netherlands...
And wikipedia says the following:

The Pilgrims went to Amsterdam to break with the Church of England, but after ten years they worried their children were becoming too Dutch, so they went back to England with the intention of sailing to New York. Absolutely nothing to do with Jews.
Shields of David? No, they're stars, something teachers have used since the invention of blackboards. I had teachers use them all through school. Do you think the Jewish kids had to wear armbands too?

Lamplighter · 06-08-2015, 02:05 PM

Quote:

...Shields of David? No, they're stars, something teachers have used since the invention of blackboards.
...

Stars !!! Look closer...
Stars always have and have had 5 points, not 6

Geez, some people still believe Pluto is a planet

lumberjim · 06-08-2015, 04:26 PM

well, they're certainly not hexagons

xoxoxoBruce · 06-08-2015, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Stars !!! Look closer...
Stars always have and have had 5 points, not 6

Wrong... again.

Undertoad · 06-08-2015, 05:55 PM

The symbol is more commonly known as the Star of David than as the Shield of David.

06-07-2015, 08:38 AM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	June 7, 2015: Blackboards from 1917 Oklahoma City, December, 1917. Emerson High School's custodian, R. J. Scott, has taken delivery of brand-new slate blackboards to replace the old ones that are not in good condition. He writes on each room's old board that today is the day the new ones are going to be installed. It's a pretty big deal. But R.J. got lazy, faced with several rooms to work on over a week's time; and he decided to just mount the new boards right over the old boards. And two days ago workers came to remove the chalkboards altogether; they're installing network cables in this building that was built in 1895 and has been the High School since then. And when they removed the first layer of slate, they found those old blackboards from 1917, with the lessons still on them. Over the years we teach kids how to do math in radically different ways. But here's your challenge: WTF is this? How does it work? WaPo story

06-07-2015, 11:35 AM	#3
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	Nothing is ever new in education. Recycling at its best. I'm still trying to work out that math thing. Some kind of times table system... __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

06-07-2015, 12:13 PM	#4
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	I figured it was a puzzle of some type--cross multiply, or scratch out all the factors of whatever in order to reveal which numbers are left... If nothing else, there are no zeroes anywhere on it, so it can't be a stand alone system for anything. __________________ My book My other book My spirit animal

06-07-2015, 12:22 PM	#5
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	It is a mighty fine circle though. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

06-08-2015, 08:56 AM	#6
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	I doubt he got lazy. I think he probably left the boards as is on purpose, like a time capsule __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

06-08-2015, 09:59 AM	#7
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Agree, not lazy. Why bother to take the old ones down, they weren't worth anything, couldn't be reused, and provided a flat stable surface for the new boards. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

06-08-2015, 11:34 AM	#8
Diaphone Jim Junior Master Dwellar Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Northern California Posts: 2,122	I'd say they got their money's worth from the slate boards. But now no more sending the unruly out to beat erasers or using your fingernails to impress the girls. The circle is a multiplication assignment with random numbers around the edge to match up with the ones in the middle. I used one similar with my granddaughter to avoid the regimentation of the standard grid and introduce the randomness of actual use. Something is to be learned in every pic. The subjects covered were the end of Thanksgiving themes with a turkey and an unlikely African-American Pilgrim girl. You can see the blobs of adhesive that Mr. Scott used to install the new boards as well as what might be the 1917 version of the Pledge of Allegiance. Great IOTD

06-08-2015, 12:19 PM	#10
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	I like fonts, so... the cursive is identical to the cursive I was taught, how about you? The non-cursive seen in the second-to-last image... is more difficult than "standard" alphabet, but probably matches what would have been the movable type fonts of the time. Someone copied that directly out of a book, including the serifs and what-not. The curlie-ques on the numbers on the multiplication teaching tool are cute.

06-08-2015, 04:26 PM	#13
lumberjim I can hear my ears Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 25,571	well, they're certainly not hexagons __________________ This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality Embrace this moment, remember We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion ~MJKeenan

06-08-2015, 05:55 PM	#15
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	The symbol is more commonly known as the Star of David than as the Shield of David.

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