Guest Author - Dennis Regling
It is said that after 24 hours, we remember 10% of what we heard and 40% of what we see. Doesn't it make sense then, when working with students, to use visual aids to help lock the lesson into their memory?
I have been using magic to teach Bible lessons for almost 10 years. The lesson illustrated by the illusion is not only listened to with greater interest but also remembered. I have young people reminding me of things I taught several years ago.
I also do science assemblies in schools and again, magic (which is just science in disguise), helps illustrate many scientific principals. Even better yet, after one assembly where I had used some mathematical magic to amaze, I asked a young lady what she had learned. Her response, "I learned math can be fun." That was worth every dime the school paid me.
Are you a school teacher, Sunday school teacher, or any type of instructor? Do yourself a favor. Go to the library and get some magic books.
I have found magic to be a wonderful hobby involving mathematics, physics, history, psychology, and chemistry. I am better read than I ever was as a student in these subjects. Even my language skills have improved as I work to frame the illusions and lessons in perfect linguistic harmony.
Do you want to motivate your students? Create a greater desire for learning? Then show them some magical uses and some practical uses for the things you are teaching. Make learning fun and mysterious. A child in the woods is in awe and wonder of every little discovery. When my girls were little they would collect sticks and leaves when we went hiking. They would ask what this was and what that was. Learning out of curiosity and interest.
Create some awe in your classroom setting, and the students will hang on every word, seek out more knowledge and discover learning can be fun. Give them mysteries and riddles to solve. Give the lessons purpose and make them visually captivating and your students will grow in their desire to learn.
You can't force feed knowledge into a child, but you can motivate any child to seek out knowledge.
Please direct your comments and ideas on this subject to the author.
