Device of the Day - Switch Activated Pouring Cup on a Flexible Mount

This product, a switch activated measuring cup mounted on a flexible gooseneck mount, from Enabling Devices ($122.95) is my first Device of the Day. I acquired one just this past September, thinking I would use it for cooking lessons.

I have used it for cooking, and so much more. I've used it in science to measure and pour experiment ingredients, in math to teach measuring liquids, in art to drop glitter and sand onto projects and in even in history when we made Silly Putty in a lesson on 1940's inventions. This device is limited only by creativity.

Another bonus (that admittedly I viewed as a drawback at first) is that one switch will pour while a second switch with upright the measuring cup. This design creates teamwork between my students who use switches in handling the measuring and pouring. (You can also just move the switch from one port to another). This nifty device has many uses in the intensive special needs classroom.

Time to Share

I am marking my tenth year in the field of teaching learners with multiple special needs. I have taught pre-school, elementary and high school/young adult. I have taught home bound, in private school, inter-district classrooms and public school. I have taught learners with moderate to profound multiple special needs.

I was prepared for teaching in one of the best programs in the country and still I was unprepared. The internet was still in its early years when I started and the only way to gain more knowledge was by researching in the library. Mentors being assigned to new teachers as a matter of course was still a new idea and hitting up over-worked colleagues barely got more than bitter complaints.

Now that I have some experience and the internet has changed the world, I think it is time to share.