Teach Primary Issue 19.6

Now and again, you come across a product that makes you cry, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Meg Ryan-style. Watch When Harry Met Sally if you’re drawing a blank at this stage. In case you think I’m being weird, let me give you some perspective. One of the greatest frustrations of my classroom practice was getting down to some whiteboard work, only to be confronted with a forest of raised hands: their whiteboard pens had run out. Again. So, I would issue replacements from my worryingly dwindling supply, only to have to repeat the process just a few days later. It seemed that these pens – which, let’s face it, were not cheap – dried up quicker than a puddle in the Sahara. What’s more, for the five minutes when the ink did flow, it got all over their little hands and, inevitably, all over their school shirts. Before long, it looked like you were teaching not 30 children but 101 Dalmatians. So, you’ll forgive my excitement at having been introduced to a genuine alternative to liquid ink whiteboard pens: MARKdry markers. To introduce another ancient cultural reference, there used to be a story going round that NASA spent years trying to create pens that worked in space. The Soviets, on the other hand, saved themselves the bother by simply issuing their cosmonauts with pencils. Sadly, it would seem that this story is just a myth. Nevertheless, it almost exactly mirrors what Stabilo have done here. Their new(ish) whiteboard pen is…a pencil! It works just like a traditional whiteboard pen: you write, you wipe, you write again (but not on glass, apparently). The pencils themselves are nice and chunky so all age-groups will be able to use them comfortably. Each pack contains a dry-wipe board and four pencils in black, red, blue and green. It also includes a wiping cloth and a suitably capacious pencil sharpener. Goodness knows how long they actually last, but it’s bound to be a lot longer than the alternative. What’s more, the nature of the ‘lead’ means the marks will remain strong and consistent until you can sharpen the pen no longer, as opposed to the liquid ink versions that tended to start fading before they eventually died. Everyone will be glad to know that they are solvent-free and odourless. Furthermore, the wood enclosing the lead is sustainably sourced. The only criticism I can think of is the name. Call me picky but I don’t like the combination of upper- and lower-case letters in MARKdry. How does that help anyone, let alone kids who are just getting to grips with letter formation and basic punctuation conventions? Rant over, let’s just celebrate a product which, like the best ideas, is elegantly simple and efficiently effective – unless, of course, you think you’ll miss the clang of dried up pens landing in the bin, or the thrill of finding countless pen lids under your drawer units at the end of term. In short, I love these. And I’m not faking it. An economical, pencil-style alternative to liquid ink whiteboard markers AT A GLANCE TEACH I NG SUPPL I ES Dry-wipe pencils for whiteboard and flipchart work A genuine, effective alternative to liquid-ink markers Pencils produce consistently strong marks to the very last stroke Robust and chunky enough to suit hands of all sizes Packs contain four coloured pencils, whiteboard, cloth and pencil sharpener RRP £15.49 stabilo.com/uk/products/writing/markers-ohp-pens/stabilo-markdry/ Simple and effective Long-lasting Reliable Durable Economical ...you want to wipe away your memories of leaky, short-lived liquid ink whiteboard pens and replace them with a more practical and cost-effective alternative. VERD I CT UPGRADE I F . . . REVIEWED BY: MIKE DAVIES STABILOMARKdry flipchart and whiteboardmarkers “Elegantly simple and efficiently effective...” 106 | www.teachwire.net RE V I EWS