James, Nick, Tommy, Constantine, Joyce and Ella from the Battalion Hawk Bloggers asked, "Did you have to dip the pen in ink before writing?"
Global Poetry
You will need to scroll down the comments for this post.
Pen, Paper and Inkwell
When I was in school, students in Grade 3 and above used ink and pens to write. When I started Grade 3, I became one of the inkwell monitors. It was our job to make certain each small inkwell in the desks had ink for the day. When writing, we'd dip the pen nib in the ink, wipe off the excess on the sides of the inkwell and start writing.
We would be in trouble if we smudged the ink on the page. This made it very hard for left hand writers. They would have to twist their hand around so they wouldn't smudge the ink. It's part of the reason children were once in trouble if they wrote with their left hand. I can remember some being hit on the hand with a ruler if they did. Luckily that old fashioned idea disappeared many years ago and modern pens don't have to be held correctly (but it's better if they are).
While I was in Grade 3, we were finally allowed to use ballpoint pens so I lost my job as inkwell monitor. You will find many people still enjoy the feel of pen in hand and writing on paper. They like the art in calligraphy (handwriting). You don't need to plug your pen into power.
When using pen and paper, it isn't as easy to change errors. You can't cut and paste as on a computer but, for those who enjoy handwriting, the writing they do with pen and paper is much more personal. You can't push a button and send it around the world but it can be scanned or sent my snail mail.
For fun, I had made old fashioned feather pens, some with metal nibs, for some of my classes to use. There were smudges, fingers blue with ink and strange scratches on their page but they always seemed to enjoy the experience.
Here are some photos of the pens used.
I had a look into my stored resources and brought out the old pens I made for my classes. The feathers may be a little old and worn but the pens still work after about 12 years. There were still blue ink bottles with them although I also had other coloured inks.
Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.
The basic feather pen was just a strong feather cut to have a point. A small slice along the point helped the ink to flow.
Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.
Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.
Being a feather, the pen would blunt with use and need to be trimmed back into shape. To make this feather pen, I simply collected and cut large strong feathers. They cost nothing to make but cutting with a sharp blade is best left for adults.
Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.
A more expensive option was to use feathers but add a metal pen nib as a point. The writing would be finer and the pen didn't need to be regularly trimmed.
Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.
When I used pen and inkwell in class, we had plastic pens with metal nibs. If you didn't hold them correctly your writing would look scratchy or might be smudged. The pen below is very similar to the pens I used in class.
Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.
A few times I have mentioned holding the pen correctly. Here is a small graphic I drew many years back to show students how a pen is best held. It was based on the method advised by our Department of Education.
Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.
Writing with pen and paper is an art form when we take the time. The flow of characters across the page and the feel of the pen is very different to the tapping of keys. While I seldom write more than notes on paper because of the lack of time and ease of sending text by computer, I still have a place for pen, paper and inkwell. If the power fails, my pen and paper won't. 🙂
Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.
What do you think?
In response to a question from Christopher, Dimitri, and Tre, I am adding a photo of my Grade 3 room as it looked in 2000. I had returned to my old school as a teacher and was there for over twelve years. The old wooden building held two small classrooms. My third grade room was in the end closest to the camera. There were 44 students in my class. There was no room for group activities. When inside, we stayed at our desks. Each desk was permanently screwed to the floor and had a fold down seat for two. The front of your desk was the back of the seat of another. Grade 3 classes now normally have about 25 to 30 students. My old Grade 3 classroom no longer had any fixed desks when I returned as a teacher. It was used as a craft room.
Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.
Gabrielle
I am interested in your comment of pen and paper as an art form. I love the feel of my pen moving across paper while putting my thoughts onto paper that allows the pen, often the right ballpoint, and that tactile sensation. All very soothing !
rossmannell
Post authorWith all the technology I have, I still have a place for writing and drawing with pen and pencil. 🙂
Alisha
Dear Ross,
that writing is so good I think it is amazing.
🙂 and you did all tipes of fonts it is cool I
have to go 🙁
from Alisha
Alisha
Dear Ross,
that writing is so good I think it is amazing.
🙂 and you did all tipes of fonts it is cool I
have to go 🙁 and your blog is amazing
from Alisha
rossmannell
Post authorDear Alisa,
When I was in primary school, we still had pens and inkwells for writing. The red pen in the photo is like the pens I had used in school. By the time I was in Grade 4, we were allowed to use ballpoint pens but I still have the pens you see in the photos.
Ross Mannell
The Battalion Hawk Bloggers
Hi Ross!
We had SO much fun with this comment for James, Nick, Tommy, Constantine, Joyce and Ella, that we ALL had to reply back! We STILL haven’t had the chance to experiment with Mrs. Renton’s special pen and ink … we were going to do that on Friday, but school was cancelled all over the city because of severe flooding. Don’t worry … we were all fine … and the school is fine … but the entire downtown area was shut down. And, many people were evacuated from their neighbourhoods because there was so much flooding in the low lying areas around our city. We are very sad for the people who were flooded out. We hope that we can experiment with the pen and ink on Monday, if school re-opens. Maybe we will even take some pictures. We know that we won’t be able to post them on the comment section but maybe we can send them to you by email!
“Hi Ross. Thank you for your extended comment! Being an inkwell monitor sounds SO cool! They must have been REALLY strict to punish you if you accidentally smudged the ink! Did you LIKE refilling the inkwells? Two of us in a group of three would LOVE to do what you did, Ross, but the other one isn’t quite sure! We think it is generous of you to make a feather pen for your whole class. Next week, if we want to, Mrs. Renton is going to bring some pen and ink for us to try! We can’t wait until we use the pen!” ~Rebecca, Lauren and Cemre
“Hi Ross. Thank you for your AMAZING comment! Was it fun being the inkwell monitor or was it a tough job being the inkwell monitor? We wonder how often you have to dip to write 100 words? Were you left or right handed? Were you one of the people who had to get smacked on their hands with a ruler? It must have been hard to twist your hand if you were left handed. But, if you were right handed you would be lucky I guess. Which pen was the easiest – the inkwell pen or the new and modern pens? Is there a special feeling to the pen that makes the part you hold really comfortable? When you use feathers do you sterilize the feathers? Thank you, once again, for your amazing extended comment!” ~Chris P., Danny and Elijah
“Hi Ross! Thanks for leaving another AMAZING comment! We have a question! Ready? What is an inkwell monitor? Were you left-handed? Was it really that big of a deal if you smudged the ink? Ouch! Okay! Now that you talk about that ruler thing, we take that last part back! Were you sad when you lost your special job? We voted. Surprisingly everybody in our group would LOVE to write with a pen, inkwell and paper! None of us would like to write with a pencil. WOW! 12 years for a pen to last! That’s a lot! Thank you, again, for another amazing comment!” ~Ella and Jayden
“Hi Ross. Thank you for your amazing comment! We wish that we got to se pen, paper and ink! Wow! We are allowed to use our left hand to write … but it is HARD! It kind of reminds me of Matilda … have you ever watched it? We actually tried smacking our left hand with a ruler … it really hurt! Ouch! Guess what? Mrs. Renton is gonna bring a pen and ink for us! Using a pen and inkwell sounds interesting to us!” ~Rayann, Chelsea and Zubayda
“Hi Ross! Did you choose to be an inkwell monitor? That must of really hurt to be hit on the hand with a ruler. It would be hard to not smudge the ink on the paper if you were left-handed Did you like being an inkwell monitor? We all agree that i wasn’t as easy to change errors with pen and paper. What is a metal nib? Wow … after 12 years the feather still worked. That’s AMAZING! Mrs. Renton told us next week she will bring calligraphy pens for us to try. Is the feather on the feather pen dirty?” ~Constantine, Amro, Nick and James
“We were so excited to hear about the feather and ink! Don’t some feathers have germs? You had a job in grade three? We have jobs too! I wonder how big the mess would be if you spilled the ink?!? That would be bad. If you had to write with a feather pen almost all the time writing, it would be hard considering you have to trim te feather. Mrs. Renton says on Monday we will write with a calligraphy pen! Thank you, Ross, for your wonderful comment!” ~Christopher, Dimitri, and Tre
“Hi Ross. Thank you for another one of your extended comments! It is interesting how things can change so quickly! Did you do anything else when you were an inkwell monitor? Is the nib the part that you write with … the pointy part? We know how hard it is to write with your left hand. It would be because it would be hard to see your printing and it would totally smudge if the ink never dried fast enough. For example, Mrs. Renton’s Grandmother was smacked on the hand if she didn’t write with her right hand. It must hurt. Is it the same ink that is in a stamp pad now a days? Were you disappointed when you lost your job? We will enjoy the experience too! It’s cool that the pens still work. It must of been really hard to write with pen and inkwell. That’s pretty cool that the flow of pen is different tapping keys. Thank you so much for telling us about pen, paper and inkwells!” ~Davis, Tommy and Tyler
“Hi Ross! Cool – you were an inkwell monitor? We have jobs, like door holder, but DEFINITELY not inkwell monitor! From listening to you, it sounds like painting and writing in Hogwarts from Harry Potter! We agree that it would be tricky not to smudge the ink. You would have to write without dragging your hand across the paper. Wow! That’s harsh, getting hit in the hand with a ruler! Jeez! Yeah … we’re lucky that teachers stopped doing that … or some of us would be going home with sore heads! Did you enjoy using a ball point pen more than using a pen and inkwell? We agree, most of us use pens for homework … and we have to scratch out mistakes! Do you prefer handwriting or printing, Ross? Yes, it’s almost like the universe evolved to something much safer than dangerous. It sounds messy but fun! Mrs. Renton’s Grandmother got smacked in the hand for smudging and ended up being able to write with BOTH hands … she was ambidextrous! Wow … long lasting! So, the pens were almost all feather? Like a pencil being sharpened! We agree that it is best that the adults sharpened the pens! Was being the inkwell monitor fun? That would be horrible if you didn’t hold it right … it would earn you a ruler smacking! Ouch!” ~Ben and AJ
We sure hope we get to go to school on Monday … we can’t WAIT to try out the calligraphy pens! Thank you, Ross! We ALWAYS love your extended comments because we ALWAYS learn SO much!
The Battalion Hawk Bloggers 🙂
rossmannell
Post authorHello Battalion Hawk Bloggers,
I know the problems flooding can cause. At this time there is flooding expected along our east coast down to Melbourne. A low large pressure has been bringing heavy falls in places.
A famous Australian poem was written by Dorothea Mackellar in 1904 when homesick for Australia while in England. Her original title was “Core of My Heart” but is better known as “My Country”. The second stanza (section/paragraph) is the most famous…
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!
This stanza speaks of the extremes of drought and flood in Australia. The first spoke of England as she found it and how she missed her home. The complete poem can be found with this link…
http://www.dorotheamackellar.com.au/archive/mycountry.htm
Pen, Paper and Inkwell
If you have a chance to photograph your writing, it would be interesting to see. I know your school year is almost over and time is running short so I understand if you can’t.
Rebecca, Lauren and Cemre – The were two inkwell monitors per class. We only needed to check the inkwells each morning. I think I had enough pens so everyone in the class could try. There were many smudges and blots but no one was punished. 🙂
Chris P., Danny and Elijah – I checked to see how many words I could write with one dip of the red pen in the photo. I would have to re-dip the pen after about five or six words so 100 words would probably need up to around twenty dips. I am right handed but I remember friends who were left handed struggling to change. It’s good they stopped trying to change children in the 60s. The modern pens are much easier to use as they dn’t tend to smudge and don’t need constant dipping. I had cleaned the feathers I found but they weren’t sterilised. I only collected feathers in good condition.
Ella and Jayden – An inkwell monitor was a person whose job was to make certain ink was in each inkwell each morning. I am right handed. Neatness in books was very important. I had the inkwell job because I was a neat writer. I don’t remember being sad when I lost the job. It was much easier using ballpoint pens. The pens have only lasted that long because they haven’t been used for about eight years. When I was teaching, Grade 3 students would use pencils until the earned a pen licence by being neat. By half way through the year they would all be able to use pens.
Rayann, Chelsea and Zubayda – I have Roald Dahl’s “Matilda” book in my book collection and the DVD in my DVD collection. It’s a wonderful story. When I started teaching in the 70s, teacher were allowed to smack children with their hand or a ruler and senior teachers were allowed to use a length of cane to hit children’s hands. From the beginning, I didn’t like the idea of hitting children in classes so I didn’t. I didn’t want children to be afraid. Now it is illegal to do so. I think caning was finally dropped officially in the early 90s but by then most schools didn’t use it.
Constantine, Amro, Nick and James – I was chosen to be an inkwell monitor because I was a neat writer and was responsible. I can remember being hit on the hand with a ruler when I was in Kindergarten. A boy had accused me of throwing a stone at him (no, I hadn’t). Perhaps this is why I didn’t like the idea of hitting students when I became a teacher. The simple feather pen only had a sharpened calamus (the hollow shaft of the feather). I was able to buy some steel pen nibs to put into some feathers to allow finer writing and longer pen life. The feather pens were kept in containers in my home resources store area. For the names of parts of a feather…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feather
Christopher, Dimitri, and Tre – Feathers can have germs just like anything we touch including our own hands. While I did wash the feathers, they weren’t sterilised. The classroom floors were only bare timber back then so ink might leave a stain but could be wiped up. It would have been harder only having feather pens but, if that’s all you have, you wouldn’t think too much about it. I have added a photo of my old Grade 3 classroom building.
Davis, Tommy and Tyler – I remember my inkwell monitor job but probably had other tasks at times such as handing out books or cleaning blackboards. In Grade 6 I was a crossing monitor. Teams of three Grade size students would look after the main road crossing outside the school. The leader of each would blow a whistle. The other two students would swing wooden beams out to show cars they should stop then children would cross. This wouldn’t be allowed today because of the danger for students. Times were often very different back then. Stamp pad ink is a little different. Stamp pad ink is more viscous (thick and sticky) than inkwell ink.
Ben and AJ – Ball point pens were much easier to use than pen and inkwell but most convenient is using a computer and printer. It’s hard to change handwriting but easy to correct on a computer. When at university, I used a typewriter. It wasn’t until the 80s I was able to use a computer and printer for writing. I will use pencil or pen and paper when drawing. If I need a graphic for a blog, I draw it in pencil, outline it in black pen then scan it into the computer to add colour. I could use my graphics tablet to do the drawing but I like using pencil and pen. Here is a link to a post I wrote to explain how I make graphics for posts when needed…
http://rossmannell.primaryblogger.co.uk/2013/05/16/preparing-simple-drawings-for-blogs/
I have tried writing with my left hand but it isn’t very neat. If I kept practising, I would improve. Mrs. Renton’s Grandmother learned to use both hands because she had to or be punished. I’m also glad that doesn’t happen now in most societies. We should be allowed to use wichever hand is best for us.
When I saw the Harry Potter films with feather pens it brought back memories of pens and inkwells. We never used feather pens when I was at school as our pens had plastic shafts and metal nibs but the films did remind me of the feather pens I made. In May last year I had to move some early extended comments from another blog to this one. One of my earliest extended comments had a little about Harry Potter. Here is a link…
http://rossmannellcomments.edublogs.org/2012/05/23/a-little-bit-of-harry-for-maha/
Ross Mannell