Category: My Learning Project

Going into this class I did not fully know what to expect. One thing that always came up when I talked to people about their experience doing this class was the learning project. The learning project involved us picking something we wanted to learn through online resource. I did not think about it much, but I was definitely excited to see what it was fully about. This learning project truly made this class fly by as each week I looked forward to learning a new trick or new skills with a deck of cards.

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When I heard about us doing this assignment, I couldn’t help myself but to go to magic right away! I spent some time thinking about some other options that might seem more practical, but card magic is something that I have always shown interest in. I have never been amazing with card tricks, but I have learned a few over the years, but I can confidently say I don’t even remember a thing, which is pretty crucial to something like magic. I believe one of my first moments that I became interested in magic was through the show America’s Got Talent. This talent show was something I would watch with my family each week and it was always my favourite when magicians came on. My favourite part in magic had to do with cards because it was something I always had at my house and always was easy to follow. Usually after watching an episode and seeing a magician is when my interest would be at the highest level and I would spend the next day or two trying to learn a trick. Unfortunately, I never stuck with it and by the time we were watching another the following week I had already forgot what I spent hours learning. Ironically my Tik Tok algorithm is what influenced this choice for my learning project as I always saw it on my feed. This led to Tik Tok being a primary source of how I learned. Now that you have a little bit of inside info on my learning project I will give you the full rundown.

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My Learning Project Recap

Each week I blogged about what I did:

1. Starting the Journey of Becoming a Magician –

• Introduction
• Where I am at
• Why I picked card magic
• What resources I think I will use
• Where I hope to be

2. Card Basics –

• Working with cards before getting into magic
• Being comfortable with a deck of cards
• Shuffling
• Why it will be important while doing card magic

3. Learning my First Trick –

• Using basic skills with cards to perform magic
• Learning my first trick
• Learning from Ash Marlow
• Using Tik Tok
• Sharing the tutorial
• Performing the trick

4. Building a Magical Foundation Through Ash Marlow’s Teachings –

• Learning my second trick
• Learning from Ash Marlow using YouTube
• Comparing learning from Tik Tok Vs. YouTube
• Why I chose the trick
• Sharing the tutorial
• Performing the trick

5. Becoming More Fluent with the Cards –

• Learning my third and fourth tricks
• Using a website to learn
• Using pictures and directions to learn
• Not learning from seeing the trick
• Comparison of learning from pictures vs. videos
• Sharing the tutorial
• Performing the tricks

6. This Will Freak You Out –

• Learning my firth trick
• Learning from Oscar Owen on YouTube
• Comparing Oscar Owen and Ash Marlow Tutorials
• Sharing the tutorial
• Performing the trick

You can check out my full Journey of my learning project all together right here.

Assessment of my Learning

To show my level of learning I put together a video of me doing a short performance to my dad. (I had to keep it under 10 minutes or it would not upload to YouTube) The only way to demonstrate my learning was to show how I can shuffle, handle cards, perform the tricks and perform to my audience which were all things I learned through this project. I mentioned before when I have tried to learn magic in the past, I have never been able to fully perform tricks or even when I did, I could not remember all the steps or the whole trick. I set out to learn in a way that I could remember these tricks and perform multiple tricks to people. This video demonstrates that which I thought would be the best way to show my assessment of learning. I chose to do a performance to my dad of my three favourite tricks while displaying my handling of the cards and performing to the audience.

As you can see, I was able to achieve exactly what I wanted: the ability to perform card magic. I found the more I practiced the more I became comfortable with a deck of card which ultimately led to me performing tricks more fluently. I am happy that I kept working towards this goal of learning multiple tricks. This video is an example of something I could not do before but now can do because of the work I put in throughout my learning project.

Reflecting on the Process of Learning Through Online Resources

After doing such a great process of learning online I think it is important to look at what learning online makes possible and impossible

Online learning has revolutionized education by offering a wide range of possibilities, including:

• Accessibility and Flexibility: Learners can access courses from anywhere in the world and often on their own schedules, accommodating different time zones, work commitments, and personal responsibilities.
• Cost-Effectiveness: Online learning can be more affordable than traditional education due to reduced costs for transportation, housing, and sometimes even course materials.
• Self-Paced Learning: Many online courses allow learners to progress at their own pace, catering to different learning speeds and styles.
• Interactive and Innovative Learning Tools: The integration of multimedia, interactive quizzes, discussion forums, and virtual simulations can enhance the learning experience and cater to different learning preferences.
• Inclusivity: Online learning can be more accessible for individuals with disabilities or those who face geographical, economic, or social barriers to traditional education.
• Lifelong Learning: It encourages lifelong learning by making it easier for individuals of all ages to continue their education and stay current with new developments in their fields.
• Creating an Online Community: Creating a community where people can connect and learn from others like you could see with our class and our community of blogs.
• Data-Driven Personalization: Learning platforms can use data analytics to personalize learning experiences, providing targeted feedback and resources based on individual progress and performance.

Online learning has democratized education, making it more accessible, flexible, and tailored to individual needs and preferences.

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While online learning offers many benefits, there are some aspects of traditional education that it may not be able to fully replicate or provide, making certain experiences and outcomes more challenging or impossible:

• Hands-On and Practical Experience: Fields that require hands-on practice, such as laboratory sciences, medicine, or performing arts, can be difficult to fully experience online. Virtual simulations and remote labs can help, but they may not entirely replace the tactile and immediate feedback of in-person practice.
• Discipline and Motivation: Some learners may find it challenging to stay motivated and disciplined without the structure and routine of attending in-person classes. The physical presence of a classroom environment can help keep students accountable and focused.
• Immediate Assistance: The ability to ask questions and receive immediate help from instructors or peers can be more straightforward in an in-person setting, where students can easily approach someone for clarification.

Final Thoughts

I think my biggest challenge throughout this was remembering all the tricks I learned. I have mentioned that this was what has stopped me in the past when learning magic as I would forget steps and just completely forget tricks. I found that continuously doing the tricks I was learning helped me. Each time I learned a new trick I tried to perform the trick(s) from pervious weeks. Maintaining this pattern helped me to remember my tricks and be able to perform them with one another.

Throughout this process I also found it hard to use a variety of online sources. For me it was a lot easier to learn from videos and seeing the trick done before trying to learn. This was displayed through me using videos more often than not but still finding a variety of magicians to learn from. I tried to compare and contrast between each trick and my process of learning. This process helped me to fully engage with the resource and get a full grasp of each trick or skill. It was important to focus each time on each trick as they were taught in different manners and each one was unique.

I would definitely see learning online as a benefit after completing this learning project as I was able to complete and succeed in something I have been challenged with for many years. This project forced me to have the discipline to learn online and each time I spent learning I realized how impactful it can be. I would say there is still benefits to learning something in person like magic but for me being able to stop and start videos and learn at my own pace was crucial to my understanding and success of this project.

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After doing some exploring last week of finding different ways to learn a magic trick, I stumbled across I couple of videos I wanted to circle back to. One of these videos was from Oscar Owen who runs a very successful YouTube page. I have not used any of Mr. Owens video’s, so I was looking forward to seeing how it was learning from him. It was nice to go back to learning from a video rather than reading directions as this is one of my favourites I have learned so far and I found it rather easier to learn. Without further ado here is the trick that will freak you out.

Now I know you are thinking, “How in the heck did he just do that?” and “Wow did he just freak me out!” As much as I hate sharing my secrets I will always show where I learned my tricks from. Like I mentioned I found Oscar Owen’s very successful YouTube page the other day, he has countless videos and a big following to go along with it. To tell you the truth I picked one of his videos as random and it ended up being a really good trick! Here is the full tutorial:

This week was a lot nicer going back to my roots of learning from videos rather than reading directions and not actually seeing the trick done for me. I had the chance to watch him perform the trick fully through once before showing me step by step how to perform the trick. The reason I liked this week’s trick so much is because it is another trick where you truly let the cards do the work and as long as you follow a couple of steps you will be successful every time. Oscar Owen set up the viewer to learn quickly and efficiently from this video. He has grown a successful community through these videos, and you can tell he has great experience through the way he teaches in this tutorial.

I have found myself now being able to demonstrate multiple magic tricks to viewers like friends and family and also find myself learning each new trick quicker than the previous one. I am getting a stronger understanding of the cards and letting the cards do the work. I can definitely say I learn better from watching videos and seeing the trick done rather than reading directions, but I am happy I can learn either way. Having the ability to learn a new trick in different ways allows me to have endless possibilities in the world of magic!

One thing that I found funny was mid way through the tutorial, Mr. Owens took the time to sell the viewer on some of his magic programs and distract the viewer from the trick. I am glad I have my ad guard on my laptop so I was able to skip through the infomercial with ease.

Since I spent the first two weeks learning from videos, I wanted to transition to something different this week. I simply searched up on google “card magic tricks.” Although most of the results I got were videos, when I scrolled down, I found countless websites and articles sharing different types of card tricks. I stumbled across a website that shared five different card tricks with step-by-step directions as well as a few pictures. After reading the directions of each trick I really liked two of them and decided those were going to be the ones I was going to learn and present. The two tricks I chose were called “The Mind Reading Card Trick” and “The Upside-Down Card.” After going over the directions a couple of times and practicing I felt comfortable to present it to my Audience of my amazing Mother. Here are the results:

Now these card tricks were a little quicker than what I learned previously but I found that they would be perfect for little fillers in between tricks as there was not a whole lot of set up and were quickly completed. I found these tricks through the Vanishing Inc. website. There are countless of categories and exploring you can do at this website, but where I found my tricks is here.

Now after looking at this website, you can see how the learning process is a little different. For this learning process you are not actually seeing the trick being done but simply reading how it is done. This process is tremendously different from what I have worked with previously in learning from videos and watching the tricks being performed before learning them. For myself I found it more difficult learning this way because the first time I saw the trick being done was from myself. I had to make sure I understood and read each step thoroughly to ensure I was doing it right. Lucky for me the tricks both worked, and I can say I successfully learned this tricks in a different manner.

I definitely found myself spending more time on learning through this process compared to the videos which I found more difficult and discouraging. Although it is easier to learn from videos, I am glad I switched it up and learned not only from a new source but learned in a new manner as well. I believe it is important to know how to learn in different ways to produce a more successful version of yourself. Also, when I am able to learn tricks in multiple ways it creates more possibilities for me to learn more tricks as not all tricks will be recorded and have a tutorial.

I believe since I am becoming increasingly more and more confident with cards in my hands, I am finding it easier to set up and distract the audience during my tricks as well. With more confidence I feel like I am becoming a better and more persuasive magician. I think I am able to call myself a magician now with four tricks in my inventory.

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While I was learning last week from Ash Marlow’s TikTok I stumbled upon another magic trick I wanted to learn before moving onto something else and going back into more research. I pulled up his YouTube and found the video I had previously seen. This trick was one where simply the cards did the work. All I had to learn was the order in which I ask questions or lay out the cards. No matter what if I followed the order the cards did the trick for me.

Here is the trick before I get into the explanation of it:

Now you might be wondering “How could the cards of done this trick?” I might have lied just a little bit. There is a little bit of mind bending as well. Once again, I will let Ash Marlow explain this as I was able to pick this trick up very easily and quickly.

Now that you see how the trick is done you can understand what I meant by the cards pretty much do the work for you. That is because this trick is involving some of those mathematics and numbers that I have mentioned before. Marlow explains how when we are putting the cards in piles, no matter what, their card will always be the second card. That is crucial when you incorporate the mind binding because you ultimately know where the card is already, you just do not know what the actual value of the card is.

The reason why I wanted to do this trick before moving into more research and not forget about it was because it involved the numbers and mathematics which allows the cards to do the magic for you. I find this very applicable to learning in classes and how we can in fact incorporate magic into the classroom when learning mathematics. This trick is a little bit more loosely based but there are tricks out there where counting is crucial and that incorporates numbers a little bit more. I want to explore this avenue a little bit more and find a trick next week that could be easily incorporated into the classroom and connect to mathematics very strongly.

When I take the time to reflect after learning the new tricks, I find I become more and more comfortable each time. Just like any skill I have been seeing learned each person is becoming more confident which becomes stronger products and faster learning. For this trick it was the easiest one I have ever learned. I thought this because the skills with the cards were basic, and I was able to incorporate my skills easily when handling the cards. Next, the skills of speaking to my viewer have become easier as I am confident the trick is going to work because of my practice I do before hand. Lastly, as long as I stuck to the procedure and did each step the trick was going to do itself which ultimately gave me the most confidence. Throughout this short time of practicing card magic I have found confidence is one of the more important things because it is all about fooling your viewer, and the more confident you are the more your viewer beliefs in what you are doing is the truth. I have found Ash Marlow very easy to learn from as he explains the trick effectively but quickly.  Once again I used the ability to pause the video and replay it as I followed along with my own deck of cards.

Now that I feel a little bit more confident with cards in my hands I wanted to begin learning some tricks. It was more goal from the start to try and learn one trick a week and by the end have a full arsenal of some magic tricks remembered and mastered! After learning how to handle the cards in a little bit more of an appealing way to the viewer I wanted to find a trick that I could show of some of the techniques I had learned about.

I decided to go to TikTok to try and find a trick to learn. As I mentioned before I already had some videos saved on my account before this assignment so I thought I would look through some of those first and that way I could get to the learning stage a little quicker. I ended up stumbling across a video from Ash Marlow who is someone I have saved numerous videos from.

Marlow did not have a name for this trick, but the trick is finding a card that the viewer choses and then mixed around in the deck. The deck is shuffled, and cards are even mixed upside down. After all the mixing the deck magically appears all upright and the only card flipped over is the viewer’s card. Here is a demonstration of the trick I learned with my mom:

The thing I love about Ash Marlow’s videos is he demonstrates the trick fully through before walking through it step by step with you. Learning from a video allows me to stop it and go back as much as I need rather than asking someone who is showing you a trick to keep repeating steps. This allowed me to work on certain steps that I found more difficult.

Reflecting on the learning process has been crucial when learning card magic. It is important for me to realize what works and what does not work. When looking for tricks I have to make sure I am not reaching too far that makes it too hard for me to learn and gets me disengaged with my learning assignment. I try and find things that intrigue me but are also attainable. I found learning this week from a TikTok video was pretty similar to learning from a YouTube video as I used the option of being able to pause and go back numerous times. I also enjoy being able to try and copycat what I am seeing on my screen. The hard thing with learning this way is it is tough to ask questions to the person directly, although I have had some of my questions answered with other viewers of the video. When learning this trick, I was able to use the skills of last week with overhand shuffling and dribbling the cards. Being more comfortable because of last week’s work allowed me to learn and execute this trick a little easier. I was also able to use manipulation of the cards because they felt more comfortable in my hands. If you are curious to how this was done and where I learned through step by step here is the tutorial from Ash Marlow.

@ashmarlow52

Learn the Best Card Trick (Tutorial) 😮 People Will Freak Out #cardtricktutorial #tutorial #learnmagic #simpletricks #learnfromme

♬ A Day in My Life – Soft boy

Before moving elaborately into intense card magic, I think an important step is handling the cards. I wanted to learn a little bit more about shuffling and ways to play with the deck to set up tricks. I turned to YouTube for this and started to do looking. I stumbled across a couple of videos that I thought were perfect to work on some basic card skills.

I first looked at showed three different shuffles, the Charli Air Cut, the Ribbon Spread, and the Table Shuffle. All three are perfect to use while incorporating magic. The Charli Air Cut was a shuffling method to cut the deck in half using one hand. This will be useful when trying to distract the viewer while doing magic. The next was the Ribbon Spread this is perfect when showing that you are using a full deck and all the cards are different. An important thing to remember for this method is the surface you are putting the cards on as you will need something that allows the cards to glide easy to make it the most effective. Lastly, was the Table Shuffle, this method is great way when you need to shuffle the deck in a manner to attract the viewer. It is a fancier shuffle that displays the cards intertwining with one another.

the other video I found showed some basic shuffling. The first was the Hindu Shuffle, this was a basic way of shoveling pulling cards from the top and bottom of the deck simultaneously. The next was the overhand shuffle, this was one that I have some prior experience with so I was able to pick it up quickly. Lastly was the riffle shuffle which was a play of the table riffle shuffle. This shuffle I am able to do using a table but in the air was difficult.

A funny thing I found while doing this research and looking at different videos is they are always trying to get you to watch by putting “easy” or “fast” in the tittle. More often than not these tutorials are more confusing than easy.

During this I found I became a lot more comfortable with a deck of cards in my hand which I would say is pretty important when I am wanting to do card magic. I thought this was important to learn some new shuffling techniques and skills as it can be used to help engage the viewers while performing different tricks. One thing I always remembered when watching great card magicians is their skills with the cards and what they could do when setting up different tricks. I would say my favourite one I learned was the ribbon spread as it is a great way to show the deck of cards you are using and has so many different variations to it. The easiest one to learn was the overhand shuffle as it was one had experience with and was the most comfortable with. I had the most trouble doing the riffle shuffle as I was so used to using a table or surface when performing this shuffle. One thing I have learned already is it is important to have multiple decks and work with different cards because some are very different than others and feel differently.

I always find doing something helps me learn easier and being able to follow along YouTube videos has been a really effective way for me to learn. Doing it this way has allowed for me to try what I am seeing at the same time. I am able to find the mistakes I am making simply from looking at my hands and comparing them to what I am watching on the screen. Working into next week I want to incorporate some of these shuffles with a trick that I am going to learn. I hope to be able to put it all together and have one trick prepared for next week.

When I heard about us doing this assignment, I couldn’t help myself but to go to magic right away! I spent some time thinking about some other options that might seem more practical, but card magic is something that I have always shown interest in. I have never been amazing with card tricks, but I have learned a few over the years, but I can confidently say I don’t even remember a thing, which is pretty crucial to something like magic. I believe one of my first moments that I became interested in magic was through the show America’s Got Talent. This talent show was something I would watch with my family each week and it was always my favourite when magicians came on. My favourite part in magic had to do with cards because it was something I always had at my house and always was easy to follow. Usually after watching an episode and seeing a magician is when my interest would be at the highest level and I would spend the next day or two trying to learn a trick. Unfortunately, I never stuck with it and by the time we were watching another the following week I had already forgot what I spent hours learning.

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I would love to say my base level is more than introductory but since I have never been consistent, I cannot remember a full trick and each step. As much as I want to call myself a magician already, I unfortunately cannot just quite yet. It makes me more excited knowing I am going into this pretty much with a blank slate as it leaves endless possibilities. Even though I will be focusing on card magic there are so many different variations and skills that can be adapted into your work.

For me I learn best seeing something done and then going step by step which a lot of magicians do when explaining their tricks. I plan on using platforms like YouTube, Tik Tok, and plan on finding some apps maybe on the app store to help along the way. I also already follow a few magicians on Instagram like Shin Lim and Jon Dorenbos where I will look for things like tips and pointers to help with card magic.

Ironically, my Tik Tok algorithm has been filled with magic which also influenced my decision on choosing this for my learning project. Before even learning about this assignment, I already had a few how-to videos saved to my profile which I will go back and actual use rather than them just sitting there.

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One thing I love is how card magic can be incorporated into so many different things. Spoiler alert but lots of card magic can actually just be numbers and tricks that you cannot screw up if you follow certain patterns or count a certain way which can be directly translated into school with mathematics. This can help to make something like math more enjoyable for students and allow students to connect different ways in school. Mathematics was always a favourite class of mine and I have always loved working with numbers which I think is one reason why I have always been so interested in card magic.

I believe there will be lots of things I learn about to help me work on this skill, but I think I have a strong foundation with the platforms I will work with to start and the things I will learn about to help with learning card magic. A prediction for myself is Tik Tok will be a big help for me as it is already something very present in my life. I want to make sure I am using a variety of tools to help at the same time and not only rely on Tik Tok. I plan to learn a new trick every week while remembering each trick going forward, giving me a full arsenal of cool card tricks to share by the end!