What Teaching Tools Are

A Common Misunderstanding

Ask a teacher about teaching tools and most will say “audio-visual aids.” Charts. Models. Maybe a projector if the school has one.

This view is too narrow. A teaching tool is anything that helps a teacher do their job better. The job is planning a lesson and ensuring students learn. Anything that supports that, in any form, is a teaching tool.

The Toolbox Analogy

Think about toolboxes outside of teaching:

1. A tailor’s toolbox. Scissors, thread, a small spindle, a needle, a measuring tape. Each tool does a specific job.
2. A car toolbox. Wrenches, screwdrivers, a jack, a spanner. Each fits a specific repair.
3. An office toolbox. Stapler, punching machine, paper clips, a ruler, scissors.

What do tools have in common? They make work easier, swifter, more reliable. Without them, the work can still happen, but slower, harder, with more error.

A teaching toolbox is the same idea applied to teaching. It contains everything that makes lesson planning and student learning easier.

A Working Definition

A teaching tool is anything that:

1. Helps the teacher plan instruction. Lesson plans, schemes of work, reflective logs, sample lesson archives.
2. Helps ensure student learning. Textbooks, charts, audio, video, real objects, classroom space, technology.

Notice the definition does not say “audio-visual.” It does not require electricity. It does not require a budget. It only requires that the thing supports planning or learning.

The Most Important Tool

In any classroom, the most important tool is the teacher.

A skilled teacher with no equipment can still teach. A poor teacher with the best equipment will still produce weak learning. The teacher’s knowledge, presence, judgment, and care are the irreducible core.

Everything else is supporting material.

Flashcard

The most important teaching tool

Tap to reveal

Answer

The teacher. A skilled teacher with no equipment can still teach. A poor teacher with the best equipment cannot. Tools support the teacher; they do not replace the teacher.

What This Chapter Covers

The rest of the chapter walks through the main categories of teaching tools, in order:

1. Print tools. Textbooks and supplementary readers.
2. Audio-visual and digital tools. Computer programs, videos, audio, online resources.
3. The school environment. The classroom, the school grounds, everyday objects.
4. Making and selecting tools. A four-step process for choosing the right tool for the job.
5. Tools for the teacher’s own learning. Reflective logs, diagnostic tools, observation checklists.

The thread running through all five: a tool is only useful if you have a clear purpose. Tools without purpose waste time. Tools matched to purpose multiply the teacher’s reach.