I don't really understand what your instructor is saying. Honestly, unless you're a bore and not explaining things correctly, as instructors, we have one HUGE advantage over other types of teachers: People have come to learn exactly what we are teaching. Aviation is interesting. If it weren't you'd have no students.

That said, the aid I used most often were a whiteboard to draw, make lists, etc. Many other aids, especially things you buy at sporty's are way too specific to be worth the money. I also used a model airplane (on which were taped-on post-its for ailerons, etc). We had large fixed card ADF aid that I had a student hold as I pushed them around an empty room that had a cone in the middle as the NDB. The student had to determine their bearing, etc.

However, this is the "aid" that I found most helpful.
Tim's Air Navigation Simulator