TEACHING WITH MAGIC - Xuxo Ruiz

A Hands-On Manual for teachers, parents and magicians

Xuxo Ruiz is a teacher and magician who found that by mixing both his passions he could be more helpful to children and teachers all over the world. Teaching with Magic got him nominated for the Global Teacher Prize.

The teachers I remember best from my childhood are the ones who made their classes more fun for me. It was fabulous having classes with them, we had such a great time together! They knew that first they needed to capture our attention. If they made the classes fun for us, we were more motivated and we had the desire to go to school. Sadly, a lack of motivation for learning is nowadays very common with most children and in most schools.

When I first started lecturing as a teacher, I would occasionally do magic tricks. Then I noticed the students' attention and motivation for learning increased. It made me think of other educators, and I wondered... Could magic help schoolteachers? How would the students react? What techniques and tricks should a teacher use in class, and parents at home?

Then I felt the need to create a practical method for motivating students in their schools, and I created Educational Magic.

In the following years, I continued implementing my magic for educational purposes in the schools where I taught. From kindergarten and elementary school to high school, from my Physical Education classes to Art classes, across Math, Language, and Science... It was not just in order to motivate, but also in order to explain, mediate conflicts, influence the students' conduct, and boost their self-esteem.

Fifteen years later, after investigating, studying, revising, adapting, practicing and applying hundreds of magic tricks at school, I have managed to arrive at the selection that you now hold in your hands.

All the tricks featured here have been tried out and evaluated with real students in real situations, and they are perfect for any teaching situation. The result of years of practical work, rehearsals, class hours, and magic...It's all right here. Going through these pages, you will learn techniques that will surprise you with their efficacy. In your hands is the opportunity to learn, to be entertained, and of course to entertain others as you teach. You will surprise your students, you will thrill them, and you will make them think.

In my personal experience (and that of the teachers and parents who have taken part in my courses), it really works. Because of that I strongly believe in the enormous resource potential of what you are about to learn.

Teaching with Magic

Foreword by Juan Tamariz

Preface by David Kaye

Introduction

SECTION 1: TAKING MAGIC TO SCHOOL

Chapter 1: Educational Magic Why? How? When? What for?
Chapter 2: The Foundations of Educational Magic
Chapter 3: Explaining Subject Matter with Educational Magic
Chapter 4: Children as Magicians
Chapter 5: Before Stepping into Action

SECTION 2: MAGIC TRICKS IN THE CLASSROOM

Chapter 6: Miscellaneous Magic
Chapter 7: Mathemagic: The Magic of Numbers
Chapter 8: The Magic of Words: The Stories that Magic Tells Us
Chapter 9: Magic and Psychomotricity: Rope Magic
Chapter 10: Body Magic
Chapter 11: Magic Bets: Winning without Cheating
Chapter 12: Developing Creativity
Chapter 13: Optical Illusions: Can You Trust Your Senses?
Chapter 14: Magic Workshop: Children Doing Magic!

SECTION 3: IN ORDER TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MAGIC

Chapter 15: More Magic, Please!

Acknowledgments

Annotated Bibliography