The Effects of Magic and Myself on 4th graders

[RickEverhart]

Over the past 9 years of performing not only for adults, but for my 4th grade students whom I teach, I have noticed that magic is so influential and breaks down so many barriers. I know this is not mind blowing info for most of you but I thought I share.

Many of my students now bring decks of cards to school (which I allow during recess) to entertain each other and perform up in front of the other 20 or so children. I think this is outstanding and is teaching them to have confidence and it is o.k. if you make a mistake. It makes it easier for them to get up and give presentations in their other classes now.

I tend to do a lot of rubber band effects and so I have a few boys and girls who wear the rubber bands on their wrists just to look cool like Mr. Everhart even though they could not do a CMH move to save their life.

There is a first grade student who none of the teachers can seem to mesh with who has a mother who is disabled. He is a behavior issue for the school, but when the teachers send him to see me....all of his walls come down and he can sit and talk to me and watch an effect. It is so powerful to see and experience.

EVERY single magic book that is in our school library has been checked out by the elementary students because of my influence on these kids. The librarian said she is going to have to order more magic books.

Alright guys, I just thought I'd share a little bit today while my kids were working on a math quiz. Hope you enjoyed.

 

[Chris W]

Excellent to hear. As a fellow teacher, I love to hear those stories. I perform for my high school kids whom I teach. They really enjoy it. I'm sure its not as magical as it would be for younger kids, but I do drops some jaws. I just performed The Biddle Trick for a class a few minutes ago and lots of them flipped out. I have a few who want to get into magic. Not as many as you. Congrats on the work that you do. It really does make a difference and will certainly help with their confidence.

 

[Justin.Morris]

Hey thanks for sharing. Breaking down barriers is the reason I continued in magic. When I realized that it made people feel good, I had to learn more.

You should convince the library to get a good series, where those interested could actually learn some good stuff!

 

[RealityOne]

Great post. Showing people that you can do otherwise impossible things through magic makes them believe that THEY can do otherwise impossible things in LIFE.

 

[Kontents]

Thats an awesome story.

 

[Sinful07]

Good on you man, More power. It takes a lot to teach- let alone encourage.

Nice one man, proud of you.

-Sin07

 

[nenn]

thats awesome, if i end up teaching, it would be apart of my day no doubt about it. thats awesome to hear, i kinda wish i had that when i was younger so i didnt have this terrible thing called stage fright.

 

[Haunter]

I got some warm and fuzzies off that

I love performing for kids that come into where I work. Its easier to get them to let their guard down and have a real moment. They almost always react better than adults. Plus it feels good when they leave the store yelling "COOOOOOOL THAT WAS COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!" holding their signed card that I did...whatever with lol.

 

[deceptioproverum]

thats AWESOME


I am also doing a similar thing with my magic I am 15 and i think what your doing is really cool

keep it up

 

[DoctorMagic]

I always love to hear when magicians are spreading joy to other people, magicians or not. I think it is so awesome that your showing your students magic, for not only does it give them something to do, it brings more people into the magic community.

Like you said, it also helps students with their self-esteem... being able to perform, hopefully, for their parents and fellow classmates. I remember when I learned my first trick, I wanted to show the whole world what I knew.

Keep spreading joy!

 

[RickEverhart]

Thanks guys for all of the compliments. This week alone I had three kids come into the room wanting to demonstrate a hot rod routine, nickels to dimes routine and stiff rope. Yes we all know that these are very simple effects but in the minds of these young children, what they are doing is a miracle.

It is amazing to see the look on their face when they pull off an effect in front of their peers and everyone claps and goes nuts for them. It is a huge confidence boost for these young children. To see the smiles from ear to ear you would think you'd just given them 100 bucks.

When I get my new flip mino HD I will get permission from my students to be filmed and maybe post a few of the kids' performances.

Like I said, this wasn't a thread just to talk about young kids getting into magic...it was to show the effects of magic on young kids and to see how it translates into other aspects of their life such as their confidence, personality, determination, etc.