Gizmos & Gadgets
One of the things it is easy to overlook when considering what materials to purchase each year, is the value of those learning tools that do not come in the form of workbooks or textbooks. Creating a learning-rich environment is essential to developing self-motivated, love-to-learn students. So how can we furnish that environment? By investing the bulk of our capital in tools that will be used over and over instead of materials that have a short life span - notebooks instead of workbooks where practical, reference books instead of textbooks where possible, and other items that move us year to year in the direction of a learning lifestyle.
Here are some of those gizmos and gadgets you may wish to consider:
Paper punch. If your students are keeping notebooks, they'll need a way to include those diagrams, sketches, photos, maps and other papers that do not come pre-punched.
Paper cutter/trimmer. Perfect for trimming photos, making flashcards, and other creative projects. These come in a wide variety of styles and uses, from the guillotine cutter we are all familiar with to special duty trimmers.
Long-arm stapler. Take several pieces of 8-1/2" x 11" paper, place one piece of the same-sized card stock behind the stack, fold in half width-wise, re-open with card stock side down, and staple three times along fold. Viola! A booklet!
Binding machine. There are so many wonderful resources now available online - FREE! A new book is just paper and punch away! Popular and reasonably affordable options include comb, ProClick, and coil binding machines.
Globe. While not every location needs to be referenced, having a globe handy can make a read-aloud come to life. Sometimes you just have to reach out and touch.
Hand-held scanner. These devices can be very handy for notetaking from library books or any other books in which you cannot mark. Just scan the text you are interested in and upload to your computer via usb cable. One caveat - some hand-held scanners have a difficult time with character recognition of particular fonts, italic and underlined words.
Scanner. These days it is easy to make copies of artwork, needed pages from books, photos, maps or other necessities that we want to place in our notebooks. A scanner also comes in handy when we would like to edit before printing, or print more than one copy.
Digital camera. How else are you going to fit a diorama into a portfolio?
Electronic dictionary. Developing vocabulary is as simple as reading good books! For those words with which we are not familiar, we can have a handy gadget nearby to help us with meaning and etymology. When learned in context, the meaning of words have greater sticking power. Watch for those electronic dictionaries which are comprehensive. Otherwise you'll end up searching for the paper version.
MP3 player. With one of these devices you can carry classical music, sermons, Scripture memory songs, foreign language lessons, educational audio productions, and a library of audio books with you wherever you go in one small compact unit.