chalk

chalk mineral of calcium carbonate , similar in composition to limestone, but softer. It is characteristically a marine formation and sometimes occurs in great thickness; the chief constituents of these chalk deposits are the shells of minute animals called foraminiferans . Chalk has been laid down in all periods of geologic time, but most of the best-known deposits, e.g., the cliffs of the English Channel, date from the Cretaceous period . Chalk is used in the manufacture of putty, plaster, cement, quicklime, mortar, and rubber goods and also for blackboard chalk. Harder forms are used as building stones. Poor soils containing an excessive proportion of clay are frequently improved and sweetened by mixing chalk into them.

chalk at the chalkface in the day-to-day work of teaching in a school.
chalk and cheese the types of two completely different things; the proverbial contrast between these two substances is recorded from late Middle English.
chalk talk a talk or lecture in which the speaker uses a blackboard and chalk.
not by a long chalk by no means, not at all, with reference to the chalk used for marking up scores in competitive games.