Favorite Teaching Pens?

[BFGould]

In the process of browsing the various threads of FPN, I have noticed that there are quite a few active users who are teachers. What are your favorite teaching pens, and what purpose do they each serve?

 

In my middle school math classes I regularly use:

- Pilot Frixion 0.5 - Blue Black is my favorite, but I like having a variety of colors to use under the document camera. Explaining a concept can be so much clearer when I have different colors for different parts and have the ability to erase my mistakes cleanly.

http://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-FriXion-Ball-Knock-Retractable-Gel-Ink-Pen-0.5-mm-Blue-Black/pd/6798

 

- Zebra Sharbo LT3 - This multi pen stays with me everywhere I go. As a math teacher I need to have both a pencil and a pen with me at all times. This one gives clean crisp lines in a compact package. Plus, unlike most mechanical pencils, the feed tube on this retracts completely. http://www.jetpens.com/Zebra-Sharbo-X-LT3-Pen-Body-Component-Cobalt-Blue/pd/9828

 

- Lamy Safari EF - My first non-disposable fountain pen is my go-to grader. The extra fine nib allows me to write in corrections and comments even when the kids forget to skip lines. The inconspicuous colors don't attract sticky fingers and the low cost (as far as fountain pens go) won't turn me into a rage monster if the pen walks away from my desk.

http://www.jetpens.com/Lamy-Safari-Fountain-Pen-Extra-Fine-Nib-Charcoal-Black-Body-Black-Clip/pd/1937

 

Teachers, what are your go-to pens?

 

Thanks,

 

Mr. Gould

 

[Papermate]

Very interesting... I recently retired after teaching 40 years. I have used all off the pens you listed, and agree that the Sharbo is excellent for classroom use. I substituted my Safari for a TWSBI XF Mini when the Mini came out, and am very happy with it. Uni-ball Jetstreams are great report and document pens.

[risingsun]

My wife is a teacher and regularly uses fountain pens in her classroom and for home grading. The most common ones she takes to school with her (and can not lose sleep over if they happen to disappear, which thankfully, hasn't yet happened) are a Pilot Metropolitan, a TWSBI 540, and a Nemosine Singularity. The Pilot is her favorite of these three. Grading at home and writing, she has a very nice selection of pens from which to choose, but these rarely make it to school (though I do send in a nice pen or two with her occasionally to run dry while I ink up another for myself!)

 

[orfew]

Note-taking:

Montblanc 146

Montblanc 147

Montblanc 24

 

Grading:

Montblanc Solitaire Doue rollerball

Montblanc Platinum Line Rollerball

Montblanc Unicef Legrand Rollerball

Montblanc 114P

[WaskiSquirrel]

As a teacher, I use a Platinum Preppy modified as an eyedropper (filled with Noodler's Blue erase or Black erase ink) to write on the whiteboard. Otherwise, I write with a Noodler's Konrad most often. Occasionally a TWSBI makes it to school.

 

I'm pretty diverse, I just won't take a very expensive pen to school.

[Namo]

I don't have a "teaching pen". But in my office, I always have a Waterman Philéas and a bottle of ink (Lamy black at this moment). When I go into the classroom, I often take a LAmy 2K with me. For grading, I love to ink every pen I have and use each one of them.

[GabrielleDuVent]

I use Pilot's VRAZR when editing (I teach writing). For writing samples, I use Lamy safari or Platinum Preppy.

 

Of course, most students nowadays just ask me to edit ON the word processing program... which is rather self-defeating in a way. Pen and paper is definitely the necessities for writing.

[Sasha Royale]

For the past two weeks, I have been using a Rosetta Explorer, from ipenstore.com

for $14.95 . After notes, forms, personal letters, crossword puzzles, I have found

no negatvies, other than it comes only in black. One might affix a colored sticker

to the cap for differentiation. (Is that a word ?)

 

One of the best low-price pens I have used.

[Jimmy Joe]

I have several pens I use regularly when teaching, each with a different role.

 

• TWSBI 580 EF inked with Waterman Serenity Blue. This is my pen for direct instruction, which I do by writing in spiral notebooks under a document camera. The 580 gives me a huge reservoir of ink, and I can see it getting low. Running out of ink while instructing is a hassle that is now easily avoided. I also use this pen, along with a Safari, for lesson planning.
• A Lamy Nexx M 1.5 mm italic inked with Noodler's Black. I write titles for notes given during instruction with this pen. The large, clear text makes finding things in the notebooks really easy to find.
• Red Pelikano Jr. inked with Skrip Red--The Red Pen of Justice. I use this for grading, which is almost exclusively marking tests. I teach math, so I usually have very little to write. The broadish nib works well in this case; the pen itself is seemingly indestructible, and the ink is well-behaved even on the lowest-cost copy paper the school district uses.
• Nemosine Singularity EF inked with Skrip Red. I use this pen for writing test keys, annotating lesson plans, and general editing. While the Pelikano Jr. is great for bold marks that are easily seen, it's too broad for my normal handwriting. This might get replaced with a Prera F.
• Lamy Safari EF inked with Noodler's Black. This pen I use, along with the 580, for writing lesson plans. I keep all lesson plans for a course for a year in a single composition book, alternating colors each day. That makes the lessons much easier to find and use.
• Uni-Ball Signo 207s to deal with carbonless copy forms.
• Several other Safaris and Preppies inked with various colors just because I can.

[JefferyS]

Gate City Belmont, a no nonsense low maintenance pen that holds a lot of ink.

[MusterMark]

I almost almost always use my Lamy Safari with a 1.1 mm italic nib. The nib was a bit scratchy at first but now it's really smooth and surprisingly forgiving for an italic. It's a red pen, and I like to fill it with Diamine Red Dragon, if only for the dramatic effect of a red-black ink on student papers.

 

Sometimes when I lesson plan I like to use my Italix Parson's Essential with a Broad Italic nib, though it's a bit much for grading.