I am enjoying this eraser thread, and have gained some insight from these
messages.
I have no problem letting my elementary students use erasers, though I am
picky. I HATE those crumbly, tan gum erasers, and will not order them though
they are dirt cheap from our district warehouse. I ordered a batch of our
alternative--pink erasers--and was pleasantly surprised. They were not as
bad as I feared they would be. And the students liked them MUCH better than
the smelly, crumbly tan ones. So I ordered a larger quantity of boxes of
them for this year...and when they came in they were not the same pink ones
I had recieved the first time. I don't like them as well as the 1st batch,
but there's nothing I can do about it, and at least they are not aweful. The
kids have not noticed a difference. Thankfully, they do not leave a pink
residue on the paper like the erasers on the end of our pencils.
I, too, am a huge fan of Magic Rub erasers. I keep a few on hand for special
use by students who have a real need for a delicate touch. They feel honored
when they get to use one of my personal erasers!
I have a problem understanding why kids are so eager to jam their pencil
points into a perfectly good eraser. That is one student behavior that
drives me nuts. And yet I have never actually caught a student in the act.
