Dan Rhodes:
My name is Dan Rhodes and I'm a magician. I got into magic when I were eight years old. I went on a cruise ship and there were a magician there and every night we watched his show and I were just amazed and absolutely baffled by the tricks he did and from that moment my my love for magic just started. I've always loved using magic to interact with people because of myAsperger鈥檚. When I was younger I was quite shy. I found it hard to interact with people. If it wasn't for magic I probably wouldn't be as good as I am now at like interacting with people and it's always a great ice breaker. You know you could walk up to literally anyone, pull out a pack of cards and do something amazing. So, when I started magic to be honest, I wasn't goodat all. It took me years to get how good I am now but I use to literally just drop the cards. I use to try and shuffle them and it use to go everywhere but with repetition and just doing it again and again and not giving up I finally got good at it and it's just good to like enjoy the journey because sometimes people think of like the end goal, like how good they want to be at something but thejourney to getting there you'll really enjoy that and you'll learn new things. It's just fun to keep going with it.
Dan Rhodes:
I think it's very important with a growth mindset to want ah whatever you do make sure you're enjoying it um because then if you enjoy it you can put all your mind power and your growth mindset towards it. I think it's very important to like have failures and make failure your best friend because the thing is every time you fail makes it even more better for the time that you succeed.So say if everything you did was perfect the first time it would get boring. It would get too repetitive. If things go well for you then you've got nothing to really achieve. So, if you fail again and again and again the second you achieve something and actually succeed just makes it a million times better. Don't be scare of what other people think because in the end it's you that'sgoing out your comfort zone to do something different because if you really enjoy something just keep going with it. Nothing is perfect at first so it takes you a while. Just think about long term what what it'll do for you if you go through with what you want to do because you don't want to live thinking what if.
Dan Rhodes:
My goal is just to keep doing magic and get into a position where I can do live shows and perform for as many people as I can and really interact with people. I honestly think that hard work will always be talent. Um, you just have to keep going and if you're passionate about something just have to keep putting in the work and you will have obstacles along the way. You know, noteverything is going to be perfect. You'll have ups and downs ah not every day is going be sunshine and rainbows but if you keep putting in the work and take it day by day and you will achieve your goals but it just doesn't happen overnight.
Video summary
Dan has Asperger Syndrome, also known as Asperger's, and sometimes finds it difficult to connect with people. In this short film he shares his experiences of learning magic, using his growth mindset, and using magic tricks to help him connect with other people.
Asperger Syndrome is no longer an official diagnosis but instead comes under the umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Teacher notes
Social relationships are critical to our wellbeing and can protect us from mental health problems.
Our relationships can help us to feel like we belong, so it's important that we make the time and space to connect with our friends and family, but also to make new connections.
Using the film
This is one of five films about wellbeing and developing a growth mindset.
They can be shown in any order and are designed to encourage students to think about their own wellbeing, and how they canlearn to build good habits to support their mental health and develop a positive attitude.
Classroom ideas
Use the film to start a class conversation about why it important to connect and communicate with people.
Discuss the different ways in which we can connect with people and the different relationships we have.
Ask pupils for four different topics of conversation. Get pupils to talk in pairs with someone in the class that they wouldn鈥檛 usuallyinteract with. Ask them to talk about the four different points to help them connect with one another.
Play Connection Bingo: create a list that asks 鈥榳ho plays the guitar鈥, 鈥榳ho likes pineapple鈥, 鈥榳ho has been on a plane鈥, etc and ask students to talk to others in the class to see if they can find someone for each item on the list.
Kristana - Be active. video
In this short film Kristana explains how weightlifting has helped her to feel better about herself, develop confidence in school and overcome challenges.
Mjd - Give to others video
In this short film Mjd explains how he used a growth mindset to learn English, and how he 'gives to others鈥 by translating for his classmates and helping them learn.
Rachel - Take notice. video
In this short film Rachel shares how she takes notice of the issues that are happening around her and how she tries to make a positive change.
Ethan - Keep learning. video
Ethan has cerebral palsy, a medical condition that affects his movement and coordination. He's also an adaptive surfer and is training to go to the world adaptive championships in California. In this short film Ethan shares his experiences of using a growth mindset to learn new things.
