# Hands Up- Who Used a Slate at School? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 11, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-up-who-used-a-slate-at-school/463095 "2008-09-11T13:57:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-up-who-used-a-slate-at-school/463095/1 "2008-09-11T13:57:34Z")
And had to have a slate pencil? ---
**Author:** ![sugar\_and\_spice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@sugar\_and\_spice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugar_and_spice)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-up-who-used-a-slate-at-school/463095/2 "2008-09-11T14:15:14Z")
heh. I thought you meant [slate.com](http://slate.com). I didn’t use either. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-up-who-used-a-slate-at-school/463095/3 "2008-09-11T14:18:15Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > And had to have a slate pencil? Me .. from grades 1 to 4 , in early 70s . India.. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-up-who-used-a-slate-at-school/463095/4 "2008-09-11T14:20:17Z")
John McCain. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-up-who-used-a-slate-at-school/463095/5 "2008-09-11T14:35:22Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > John McCain. It would be nice if we could have any sort of thread where it wasn’t turned political. Especially if people don’t care about USA elections. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-up-who-used-a-slate-at-school/463095/6 "2008-09-11T15:09:25Z")
No slate for me. Paper and pencil. My Dad had a camera, though, and recorded birthdays, graduations, and vacations for posterity. He had a slate that he used for titling and dating the films. He sometimes talked about slates being used in schools, but I don’t know if he was referring to his own experience or only passing on historical information. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-up-who-used-a-slate-at-school/463095/7 "2008-09-11T15:41:12Z")
I did use a slate in 2nd or 3rd grade in the mid 80’s. It was more of a novelty rather than an actual learning tool, and we usually just used pencil and paper. I think we used the slate mainly to work out addition and subtraction problems. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-up-who-used-a-slate-at-school/463095/8 "2008-09-11T15:47:54Z")
– ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-up-who-used-a-slate-at-school/463095/9 "2008-09-11T15:55:19Z")
I didn’t use it for homework, I just played with it. We used stick chalk in school. We had to take a slate to school for kindergarten and first grade. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hands-up-who-used-a-slate-at-school/463095/10 "2008-09-11T16:12:20Z")
Yep. For one year in Forum 1 in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, U.K. I got yelled at in grade one here in Canada for beginning to write half way down the page. “You know better than that!” Umm, no not really… slinks away in embarrassment…