First and foremost I must say that I felt educationally unprepared for this experience; however, I also know and understand that we have to start getting teaching experience somewhere. With that being said, I taught the lesson and my "students" mastered the topic, but I thought of several things that I could have done differently. First, I needed a better introduction and attention grabber. Second, it would have been better if I had had more students participate prior to explaining the trick. This would have either temporarily stumped them and got them more intrigued, or it would have given them additional time to try to strategize and figure out the trick prior to actually showing them how to do the trick for themselves. Lastly, I had absolutely no background with the "topic" because, in my family "playing cards" are taboo, so it wasn't just because it was an unfamiliar "topic" - I had to decide is this something I can do without going against my religious convictions of not participating in or promoting those things which would be displeasing to God?
Another factor for consideration is that I would like to think that what I teach is useful, practical, and beneficial to learner - not just a time filler (i.e. I wouldn't ever teach this lesson because it does not teach any "life skills" that I would want to promote).
Based on the results of the learner satisfaction forms, my "students" where either satisfied or very satisfied with the lesson, and reported that the hands-on component and demonstration helped them learn the trick. Several suggestions included: practicing with other students, doing more than one trick, and showing a video of a professional magician for an interest approach.
Nice job Rachel!
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