Hello and Welcome to AMagicClassroom.com
I am Joseph Eitel and the young lady beside me is my wife Julie.  We are both classroom teachers.  I teach math at Folsom Lake College in Folsom California.  Julie also teaches at Folsom Lake College.  She has retired from her Title 1 teaching position in Placerville California.  This is the area where gold was discovered.  I like to say that she is my golden discovery.  She is also the magic in my life.  For over 40 years she has endured me saying "hey, let me show you a trick."

I felt she deserved some quite time so I decided to start a web page where I can say to other classroom teachers  "hey, let me show you a trick."   I will post tricks and puzzles that I have used in the classroom with students from her kindergarten class all the way up to our college students. 

Please try a few and let me know how it went.    eiteljoe@gmail.com

Classroom Magic:  Help Create a World of Wonder

 An Excel list of all the tricks and  puzzles on the site.  
It has been a long time since I have added new items.  I have a few that I think are well worth the time to look at.
Recent Additions
Making Math Series:  Start with a basic math concept and then see how it can be changed into a Magic Effect.

Predict a Total (Cards) :  The teacher sets a stack of 12 cards on the desk face down and a single card is set face down next to that stack.  A students cuts the  stack of 12 cards as many times as they like.  The teacher then deals the 12 cards into 2 rows of cards.  The students selects a pair of cards from any of the 6 pairs.  The other pairs of cards are shown and the total of the numbers showing on each pair is different.  The predioction cards in turned over and then the students 2 cards are reveled and the prediction card equlas the total of the 2 cards.  The student was able to select the only pair out of the 6 pairs that had the corrrect total.  Eaasy to do and easy to change to other totals and numbers of cards once you understand the math concept involved.  

Card Match:  2 students have a stack of 5 or 6 cards.  They move cards from the top on a selected stack to the bottom of that stack several times and then turn over their top cards.  Each time their top cards at turned over they match.  Based on a very nice math concept that is explained in the download.  Easy to do and a real nice effect

Prize List:    2 students use numbered cards to determine the amount of money they can spend on a prize.      A 3rd student uses number cards to select a prize.  They find that all 3 get free homework for a year (but that year is 2040).   Easy to do  and real fun for the students.

Menus Trick 4 or 5 menus:  A meal is selected by 4 students selecting an item form 4 different menus.  After the meal is selected a prediction is reveled with a gift card that pays the exact price for the meal they selected.    4 Menus:   4  menus from UCLA's fast food court         5  Menus:   5  menus from UCLA's restaurant facilities. 

Single Menu Trick:  2 students use number cards (or die) to determine the amount of money they can spend on a meal.   They find they cannot get much to eat.   A 3rd student uses number cards to select a mea and after the meal is selected they fund they cab have a nice meal. 

Magic Die:  4  die are rolled and the top and bottom numbers are used to create four 2 digit numbers.  The total of the 4 digit numbers is predicted in advance.  (it is not based on a total of 7 for the opposite sides).  A 6 die version is also shown.

Magic Addition Board.:  3 different students put tags with single digits onto pegs on a peg board in any order the wish to create three 3 digit numbers  A 4th student adds up the three 3 digit numbers to get a total.   Without seeing the numbers you can predict the total.  Requires you to make the tags and the board if you do not have a classroom peg board. 

The items below have links to them on the other pages. 
Square Deal (Math puzzle)
Rock Paper Scissors (Math Magic)  Great classroom fun
3 coin prediction Card (Math Magic )
Lucky Numbers :  A nice number effect
Heads Up trick based on algebra
1 new math trick Supper Addition 3D
2 new Bird Prediction tricks were added         Great classroom introduction to birds
1 new math trick Lego Prediction added         This has been the number 1 hit so far.
  

Just for Fun
A teacher hands a student a square sheet of paper and tells them he will give them one quarter if they can tear the paper into 4 equal parts.  The student does so, and demands payment. The teacher asks to look at the four slips of paper, and says:  "Yes, you did it.  Here's your quarter"  and he gives the student one of the four pieces of paper.

A statistics teacher’s wife is having a baby.  The doctor hands the baby to the teacher.  His wife asks “is it a boy OR a girl”  The teacher says YES.

The math teacher’s wife sent him to the store.  She told him to get a loaf of bread, then she said “ if they have eggs get a dozen.  He came home with 12 loves of bread.

               A “bit” of fun
A computer scientist wrote his child's age as   1 0
His wife said he was a bit off so he wrote        1 0   1   
His wife then told him to move the 1 over a bit more so he wrote     1 1 0       
His child said that's right,  I am 6 years old.  
Now all  0 1 1  of them are happy.