At The Magician School, we understand the importance of high quality after school programs. When the school day is over, it’s important to have engaging programs that support students socially, emotionally and creatively. Programs offered by The Magician School teach key Social Literacy Skills through the fun of magic tricks.

Social Literacy Skills (SLS), also referred to as Social Emotional Learning (SEL), are the set of skills that help a child or adult effectively navigate and understand social situations. Viewed as an integral part of education and development, out of school programs offer a unique space to work on these skills. As students move from the structure of a classroom setting to an out of school program, the opportunity to interact with other students and try new things can present new challenges. This is where Social Literacy Skills can be built upon and grown. 

The Magician School has worked diligently to ensure every program offered aligns with National Social and Emotional (SEL) components. In addition to these national guidelines, we also thank the guidance and support of leaders within the education space. Here’s how The Magician School integrates the five core fundamentals to Social Literacy Learning.   

Self Awareness and Management

Teaching magic is about so much more than the trick—it’s about teaching students how to speak and perform in front of their peers. This takes a whole lot of self awareness and management. The Magician School fosters a space for students to feel confident and competent through three key components. 

1. Goal Setting: Students know they have one hour to watch, learn, practice and perform a brand new magic trick. When you think about it, an hour isn’t a whole lot of time, but elementary and middle school students continue to grasp the trick and impress us with their performance. 

2. Positive Reinforcement: Many students enrolled in The Magician School are probably doing something they have never done before. They may be nervous or frustrated while learning their new trick. But, letting them know that the trick might not always be perfect, but with practice, they will only get better! It’s a great reminder of how things in life may not always be perfect, but if you give enough time and practice, you can master anything that you put your mind to!

3. Have a Growth Mindset: Practice makes perfect. The only way to become a better magician, better student, better anything, is to follow the Third Cardinal Rule (link to rules of being a magician article) of being a magician—practice. 

Social Awareness

Magicians perform in a number of different environments and social settings. It’s important to teach students different perspectives and social norms based on the environments they are in. The Magician School focuses on social awareness in three ways. 

1. Audience Etiquette: Whether a magician is performing for one person or 20, it’s important to know how to interact with a crowd. This means understanding when it is appropriate to talk, listen, clap, laugh, applaud, cry, laugh or cheer.

2. Awareness of Surroundings: There’s always one or two students in a classroom who try to speak to the teacher when it may not be an appropriate time. When learning a magic trick, there are steps that are followed to help a student determine when is the right time and place to approach someone. Whether it is in school, at a sporting event, work or even magic, this ability to assess one's surroundings will directly help a student for the rest of their lives. 

3. Communication: Words hold a great impact when performing a trick. But so do body language, tone, pace, pitch and inflection—these give different cues on how to communicate something with another person. 

Relationship Skills

Relationships are everything. From friends and family to new people we meet. It’s important for students to know how to navigate relationships to ensure each party feels heard, seen and safe. The Magician School helps students navigate relationships by teaching three main ideas. 

1. Improving Teamwork: Group and partner activities are a key part of The Magician School programming. Learning to work together, whether it be practicing or performing for one another, helps students learn valuable communication and other skills that will put them light years ahead of their peers. 

2. Constructive Feedback: This connects back to the idea of words having impact. When a student is practicing a trick, and they don’t quite get it right, the way their peers respond is important. Instead of saying “I know how you did that!” The Magician School encourages students to provide a compliment on what they did well, and a suggestion of how to improve for next time—”I like your enthusiasm, but I can see the secret. If you moved your hand like this, that would be really impressive.”

3. Leadership: When learning new tricks, it’s only natural some students will get the hang of it quicker than others. This presents a great opportunity for those students to become leaders and help the other students. 

Responsible Decision Making

In life, we are faced with a number of situations daily that make us stop, think and decide how best to move forward. It’s important to encourage critical thinking and responsibility when faced with a decision. 

1. Right Place and Time: Learning new magic tricks is exciting, and it’s likely students will want to show off their new skills. It’s important to talk with students about appropriate times to perform their magic tricks. For example, performing a magic trick in the middle of math class would be disruptive and distracting. But, performing a magic trick during recess, when a teacher isn’t teaching, could draw a whole crowd!

2. Navigating Diverse Situations: Students tend to look at diversity in one of two ways—how someone looks or how someone acts. When working on teamwork or pair work, try partnering students who have different backgrounds. This allows the opportunity to learn from each other while working towards the same goal.

3. Problem Solving: In magic, a number of things can go wrong at any moment. A magician can’t prepare for every problem, but they can have a few tricks up their sleeves for problem solving. The best way to prepare for problems is to act them out and talk through what solutions could look like. It’s also important to remind students that not every problem needs to be addressed. If minor enough, it might be best to not address it at all.