White Board Issues

I am an ardent fan of the old-school chalkboard. Not these new-fangled (that have been around for decades) white-boards. I am not a fan of using markers that are half the time dried out, or too weak to adequately teach a class. However, that is the type of board in my classroom, and as such, I must use it. [Sidenote: I find it is pretty much divided in my very unscientific study of this, and it seems by and large that more scientists prefer chalk while more humanities-types prefer the marker.] But this isn't about my dislike of the boards, even though it generally causes me to swear at least once or twice during class, amusing my students.

No, instead it is about the professor who teaches before me. First of all, this is not about whether or not he erases the board, as there are plenty of people who get all up in arms if the previous lecturer does not erase their work. I actually like erasing the board at the beginning of class, as it gives me a chance to casually chat with the students about random things.

The issue is that at times the professor clearly touchs the board with his fingers, which is something I do as well, so that right there isn't even the problem. Clearly though, this man has extremely oily fingers, because when I erase the board, as I move over a seemingly blank area, three or four fingerprints appear on the board, having been outlined by the marker residue on the eraser. I feel like I'm on NCIS or something, finding a way to determine the suspect of some terrible crime.

And just to be fair, I tried my own fingers and as hard as I pressed my thumb or forefinger to the board, I could not get the same effect. It is something that has caused quite some amusement at the beginning of class lately, primarily because I'm trying to erase the board, and then I have to scrub to erase the fingerprints!

Oh, and if you were thinking it, this would not be an issue with a chalkboard. The chalk on his hands would dry them enough so this just wouldn't happen. Just sayin'.