East LA elementary school teacher uses magic tricks to encourage good attendance
ByGénesis Miranda MiramontesWith a magic word and a lot of enthusiasm, an elementary school teacher in East Los Angeles is encouraging good attendance among his students.
Oscar Vázquez, a first-grade teacher at KIPP Iluminar, is using magic tricks to motivate his students to show up to class.
“They are able to come out of their shell more. Some students that were very timid in the beginning are coming out, being able to talk,” Vázquez said. “They’re able to speak more to their partners and their peers.”
If his class had a good attendance week, he surprises them with a new magic trick on Fridays.
“Every day they come, they get a check mark on their anchor chart of a magic show. If they accumulate five days and they will get their magic show on that Friday,” Vázquez said.
Once his students choose what magic trick they want to see, Vázquez goes home and practices with his family.
“I want them to be able to be curious about the world, to not be afraid of asking questions. And I want them to know to just keep trying and keep digging to understand how to do things in life,” Vázquez said.