Bleh ... chalk

It looks like I'll be TAing the same course this semester as I TAed 12 months ago. It's a slightly unusual course in that while it is classified under computer science it is not a required course there but is required for several streams of engineering.

One of the rooms that I've been assigned this year was one that I've TAed in before, and it's got chalkboards and an overhead kicking around. I took advantage of the opportunity this afternoon to take a look at the other room that I've been assigned. It too had several blackboards, and an overhead.

According to one ABC New article:

It's not easy being a lefty. Statistics show left-handed people are more likely to be schizophrenic, alcoholic, delinquent, dyslexic, and have Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, as well as mental disabilities. They're also more likely to die young and get into accidents.

To that list I'd like to add one more thing: writing on overheads is a major nuisance if a lefty. Overheads tend to smear rather easily, particularly if writing left-handed. Perhaps I should learn Hebrew or some other language that involves writing right to left, instead of more common left-to-right pattern. Chalk and white boards don't seem as susceptible. However, chalk has the annoying side effect of a whole lot of chalk dust getting on your hands, so I was hoping for rooms with white-boards this year. I've tried using some chalk holders to write with, but I find them to be a bit of a nuisance so I tend to use them mainly to store some coloured chalk for those occasions where multiple colours are useful.