Day 131,

Melaina and a couple other villagers showed up in the morning carrying the blackboard.  I told the kids it was the surprise for them that I’d mentioned last week and moved the class down into the archive for reading time to get out of the carpenter’s way and so as not to be distracted by the imminent hammering.  Once we got them all situated I left Cass to supervise while I went back upstairs to try and strike the balance between verifying desired placement, providing assistance, and not getting in the way.  It didn’t take too terribly long for that last one to win out and I returned (some might say was sent) back to my young charges.

And so the morning passed and they are at their recess now and the blackboard has been mounted.  I’m hoping that my being overly mysterious about it will help ensure they’re all back on time.

Well, levels of enthusiasm about the blackboard were mixed, but overall positive.  A few of the kids were disappointed that it wasn’t something more spectacular, but even in this place people have an appetite for novelty and that goes doubly-so for children.  I gave all of them a turn to try writing out their names on the board and followed up by congratulating them on being the first class in the Village ever to use such a device and went on a bit about how even after those names are erased the traces of those first impressions will still be etched upon the board.  Even if a new layer of paint is applied, those signatures will still be there, unseen underneath.  Today they’ve signed their names into a part of the Village’s history.

A bit hyperbolic, sure, but I got caught up in the moment and it sounded good at the time.  And hopefully will help sell the thing as being fun to use and getting to erase the board at the end of the day as a privilege rather than a chore.

We’ll see how long that keeps up.  There is something to be said for the inherent pleasure in easy, harmless destruction, and wiping chalk away qualifies.