I know a small number of magic tricks but was able to call in the help of an old friend, Dr Alan Jones who is, amongst a long list of talents, a professional magician and teacher - the week could not have worked without him. Al and I had met up a few times during the year to plan what to do and Al had put together a fantastic magic kit for each student involved containing cards, vanishing balls, rope etc and a brilliant book called Crafty Conjurors which he had written.
On the first 2 days Al and I threw as many tricks as we could at the kids and gave them opportunities to play and experiment. Wednesday and Thursday were taken up with planning for the final show and practicing tricks and Friday was the final performance and a review.
Despite our planning the reality was that neither me or Al really knew what was going to happen during the week - and that's what made it so exciting. We could not anticipate how the kids would react to the week or how quickly they would pick things up. What happened exceeded all of our ideas and ambitions. We got a superb model of how learning can happen and a glimpse of how schools could operate more effectively.
After the first 2 days Al and I stopped teaching. We had demonstrated lots of tricks and illusions and now the kids just went away and worked with them. From that point on we were helpers and advisors - far more powerful roles. Kids showed us what they could do and we gave them advice on how to improve it. The kids had time and space to go away and work at their own pace and on what they wanted. We had 4 rooms that the kids go to and we circulated around them - but some groups would be left on their own supervised by a TA for up to 45 minutes - and they worked. We couldn't stop them working! Kids were coming in at 8 in the morning to practice, working through breaks and lunchtimes, doing stuff at home - even though we never mentioned homework. The only time we came close to telling kids off was when we had to throw them out of school at the end of the day.
The final performance was spell-binding - the quality far exceeding what we expected them to achieve. Every student performed - and we had always made it clear that performing was optional. The kids showed amazing responsibility, resilience, creativity and team-work. There were so many highlights: I tweeted about what we were doing and the kids were knocked out to get replies from such professional magicians as Piff the Magic Dragon, Josh Jay, David Copperfield and, best of all, Penn and Teller; some students really struggled with particular tricks but stuck with them and got them right; several teachers were amazed at the transformation in 1 particular Yr 8 boy who has caused problems during the year with his behaviour - he was amazing at Magic School - I think it was the first time some teachers had seen him smile; every kid personalised their trick - changing it from how we did it to something unique and personal; for me the best moment was when 1 extremely shy Yr7 boy stole the show with a hilarious performance as the mad magical scientist - he discovered that he was funny.
By the end of the week I was exhausted - but exhilirated. We are already making plans for next year's event and I aim to run a fortnightly magic club at school. The kids already arranged extra shows themselves in the school library on their own.
The whole experience did make me think about what school should be like - this is what happens when kids are truly motivated and stimulated - but also given time and freedom to experiment and play. The real challenge this year needs to be looking for ways to recreate this experience in all my lessons - let the magic continue
No comments:
Post a Comment