Teachers were united in despair last week at the suggestion that the trusty laminator may be banished to the cupboard of outdated tech. With that in mind, let’s indulge in a bit of light time travel. Cast your minds back and see if you remember these appliances from the teaching days of yore that have fallen victim to the march of progress.

1. The telly trolley

Its appearance brought joy to the faces of students who had access to “children’s TV” only via VHS and CBBC’s Broom Cupboard for a few hours a day. Now the whiteboard serves as a television, and most students have more sophisticated equipment in their blazer pockets.

2. The overhead projector

Not only would it project the lyrics for songs in assembly, it also served as a display for live modelling. You could even “slow reveal” notes by taking a piece of paper and sliding it down the page as the lesson progressed ...

3. The Banda machine

With its distinct scent and purple ink, the Banda machine was the photocopier of the 1960s. Using it was time-consuming, and involved waxy top sheets and foolscap paper. It had the added benefit of giving you a legal high from the smell of the fluid.

4. Chalkboard

In the days of the blackboard, you could expect dusty chalk marks on your clothing, and to be gritting your teeth at the squeaking of chalk as you wrote.

5. The roller board

Who could forget the thrill when you put your hand up to swing it down - only to remember that you hadn’t checked it was clean after the lesson before? You wiped it quickly to avoid your S1s being exposed to the pictures of human anatomy from the S5 PSE lesson.

Grainne Hallahan has been teaching English for 10 years. She tweets @heymrshallahan