The last several days have been a bit of a whirlwind for my schedule. I’ve been on the West Coast involved in several meetings with our magic consultants and builders. I’m always excited about new, original illusions for our show. And we have a few of them in the works for next season.
I’ve also been working hard on the Hocus Focus project and wrapping up the full curriculum. It is finally done – at least the first stage. Last week, it will be delivered into the hands of educators, therapists, and graduate students at several international universities who will be conducting research on the effectiveness of the project.. They will help gather the data which will help me know how to “tweak” the project from here.
And there is some additional exciting news as well. I’ve accepted invitations to speak at two international education conferences. The first is the East Asian International Conference on Teacher Education Research to be held in Hong Kong in December (just a couple of months away). I’ll have the opportunity to share briefly with the participants about the Hocus Focus project, how it can be implemented, and find additional educators who are interested in assisting with the research.
The second conference isn’t being held until July 2011. Nonetheless, I’m very excited about the possibilities! This is the International Association of Special Education. One of the members of the executive board attended my presentation in Riga, Latvia in June 2010. This conference will give me a platform to share in more detail how I believe the Hocus Focus project can empower educators with new tools to help them students achieve functional and academic goals. And, hopefully, by July, we’ll also have some research data to share.
Last week I was in Indianapolis. I had the chance to appear on the local CBS affiliate’s INDY STYLE show and the FOX 59 Morning Show. As I left the FOX studio, I just couldn’t resist this picture.
We are in the office a couple of days this week. Thursday we will make our way to Rocky Mount, NC for a performance at the Dunn Center and then on to Louisburg, NC for another show at the Seby Jones Performing Arts Center.
It’s going to be a very exciting Fall and Spring 2011. I can’t imagine what’s ahead….