The Evolution of Classroom Teaching Tools

by Kathleen L. Maher

This month my historical romance schoolteacher novella collection, Lessons on Love released, and last month most people celebrated the start of another school year. It got me to thinking about the things we take for granted, the modern technologies we enjoy and utilize in our quest for knowledge. Computers, tablets, light boards, videos, and web-streaming from the internet are utilities we almost take for granted, but we lovers of all things historical know that they have only recently been made available.

What technologies, aids, and tools did early American classrooms use? I had a lot of fun taking a closer look.

The blackboard, made of slate, first made its way into the classroom in America just after the turn of the century 1800. Slate is the bedrock for many regions in New York state, including my own (the geologically famous Genesee Shale) but as America settled further west, it took rail lines to transport this heavy material over any distance. Blackboards really came into vogue, then, after 1850 in the rest of the country. Most of us grew up with chalkboards in the classroom, a reliable way for the teacher to communicate words, images and ideas on a large scale once for the whole class. The idea of the blackboard really has not evolved much since. 

Slates the size of books were utilized by each individual student. Before paper was commonly available, this was a student's notebook, so to speak. They would make marks on the slate with a slate pencil, basically a smaller stone which would leave its chalky residue onto the slate board. Later, each student would use chalk. 

Sand Yes, that's right. Before the slate board, each student might have housed a small box of white sand at their desk, to practice making letters, numbers, shapes, and simple marks with their finger. The bottom of the box would be painted black, so the contrast would show through as the student scrolled each mark. The teacher would observe, and then press the sand smooth with a flat iron to start over again for the next lesson. What could possibly go wrong with a dozen or two students and all that sand? I imagine sweeping was a chore reserved for the fidgety kids.

Books: We take for granted that books have been used for centuries, but the first printing press didn't come to the new world until Stephen Daye brought one over the Atlantic in the 1600's. The first publication was then printed in America in 1639. Some argue whether it was an almanac or whether it was a broadsheet. The first book, a rendering of the book of psalms, came in 1640. The most popular early classroom book was the New England Primer, available from 1690.

Hornbooks were an inexpensive alternative to books and paper in early or remote schools during the time when printing and paper manufacture was costly and rare. Looking almost more like a disciplinary tool than a teaching aid, hornbooks were basically wooden (or stone or bone) paddles with the alphabet printed on them, protected by thin, transparent sheets of horn (or mica), over which students could practice tracing. These were in wide use in Europe and America from the 1500's into the 1800's. No Colonial classroom would have been complete without one. 



Magic Lanterns made their debut in 1870. These revolutionary devices consisted of a small light source which could project images developed, produced, or even painted on glass plates onto walls or other surfaces. 

CONTEST: I am giving away one signed print copy of Lessons on Love. To enter, answer this question: What is your favorite memory, tool, or method of learning used in your school days? Please leave your email addy in your answer so we can notify you if random (dot) org chooses your name. I will draw the winner by Friday Oct 11 afternoon.

Lessons on Love

Four schoolteachers find more than they bargained for in their contracts. Class is in session on the four R’s: reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmatic, and romance!
"Where every underdog has his day." 

purchase link:
https://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Love-Schoolteachers-Bargained-Contracts-ebook/dp/B07QGHKSWK/ 

Kathleen L. Maher’s first crush was Peter Rabbit, and she’s loved conflicted heroes ever since. She has two novellas in BARBOUR BOOKS' collections: Victorian Christmas Brides and Lessons on Love. Winner 2012 ACFW Genesis Award. Author of Sons of the Shenandoah Series: The Abolitionist's Daughter and The Chaplain's Daughter. 

Kathleen and her husband live in an old farmhouse in upstate NY with their children and a small menagerie.

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