Today, my wife Becky, who is a second grade teacher, went with me to School Aids, which is an educational supply store located on St. Johns Bluff in Jacksonville. Typically, we shop here for specific classroom items such as bulletin board border, which is not common at most local retailers. On this particular trip, we went to locate some low-tech aids. The first item that we located was a combination pencil grip and pencil sharpener. Typically, students that require pencil grips are also the same students that are the most off-task and use getting out of their seats to sharpen pencils to avoid their assignments. This item costs $1.99 each, which is a relatively inexpensive price for the dual purpose tool, and is only twenty cents more than a standard pencil grip.
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| My wife journeys with me to School Aids |
Another item that we found was a dry erase answer paddle. My wife and I agreed that this tool would be a great way to encourage student involvement and participation in any classroom assignment. However, at $15.99 for a set of two makes this more of a novelty, and a practical solution would be to buy a large piece of dry erase board and cut sections for the students.
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| The Toobaloo |
The final item that we found was a "Toobaloo", which is a tool that students use as a telephonic device that they speak into while reading, and it allows them to hear their own speaking voice. At the School Aids store, this item sells for $4.99. Like the paddles, it is cheaper to go to a local Home Depot and purchase a ten foot pvc pole for three dollars, and pvc elbows for forty eight cents.
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