What blackboard?

It's required in Utah to conduct vision screenings for all second graders but it's also required to obtain parental permission first. Well, the State approved permission form came home last night loaded with information on how important good vision is to a child's success in school. The message was punctuated by a bolded message right in the middle of the page that read:

"If a student cannot see the blackboard then they cannot learn."

Apart from any qualms I have with teachers who rely on lecturing at the board as their primary mode of instruction, I was struck by the fact that the form fails to recognize that no schools in our district even use blackboards. White boards replaced chalk boards at our local schools twenty-five years ago.

Granted, my logo on this blog pays homage to the old chalk boards that many of us grew up with and most of us will understand the intent of the message but perhaps it's time to acknowledge that in at least in this small respect, education has been modernized.