"Humor can act as a social lubricant or a social retardant in the educational setting. It can educate or denigrate, heal or harm, embrace or deface. It's a powerful communication tool, no matter which side is chosen."
"Joy Master vs. Joke Maker vs. Life Mocker vs. Fun Meister
It is crucial for us to identify our humor style--it is such a powerful tool--we need to use it in an empowering manner! Please discuss ways we can utilize this information to make our classrooms, colleagues, and schools better.
Does your humor style bring you closer to your students?
Does it enliven them or deaden them?
Is it helping you reach your teaching goals?
Is it enhancing and promoting a learning environment in your classroom?
Does it enliven them or deaden them?
Is it helping you reach your teaching goals?
Is it enhancing and promoting a learning environment in your classroom?
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12 comments:
Humor should make us closer to our students but we must be responsible with humor. I never want to harm a child or adult with humor that is used against them. Nor would I want to degrade them or myself using humor. I want to be a "Joy Master". Seeing the joy in all things, even the difficult ones. I would like to empower students and peers to use joy in their daily lives. To have fun with daily routines in learning and living so that they enjoy life in all areas.
I want to learn how my humor style affects people, in my classroom, school and other area of my life. I'm a pretty postive person, I see a glass that is half full not half empty. I cheer for the underdog and want to pass that on to people I work with and children I teach.
Being positive definately will help me reach my teacing goals, treating others with respect and helping them to become better learners and teachers.
I agree with skarolus you need to be responsible with humor. The quote is an important one to think about. Your humor can be very powerful in a positive or negative way. I work with a teacher who is very sarcastic in a funny way. Her students love her but some of the other teachers are put off by her humor. I don’t know my humor style. I know I feel closer to people I can laugh with. I think it is important to listen to the humor of others to know what type of humor they relate too. When you offend someone with your humor, adult or child, it is very important to apologies. Knowing the difference between humor and what is hurtful is important. Teaching others to see the humor in life should be added to our state standards.
I love using humor in the classroom. With kindergartners they like to laugh at all kinds of silly jokes, stories, (especially after I explain it to them.) This age group can come to school with the expectation that school is a "scary, serious," place where you work hard and I let them know that it's a fun place and try to lighten the mood so they know they can learn in a fun place!
Trying to teach children to have a sense of humor isn't always easy. It does help because many of their stories can be funny and it keeps us laughing at some silly situations. This way they don't take what happens so seriously.
I did want to comment on what lindal said about being responsible with humor. I worked with a male teacher with used cutting humor with his students. They loved him. Many of us felt it was inappropriate. Some of the students would talk that way to others including staff. I think you need to be careful how you are coming across to others and if it is respectful.
I believe humor that is used appropriately helps develop a positive rapport with students and creates an enjoyable classroom atmosphere for them to learn in. I think a splash of humor helps acheive my teaching goals as students are more likely to focus and participate if they are able to enjoy a laugh every so often. One of the courses I teach is Accounting, and sometimes the content can be a little boring....I try to spice things up whenever possible.
As we discussed earlier, students are all different. Accordingly, jokes or various types of humor may be funny to 99% of your class, but all it takes to cause problems is one student finding you or your class's humor distasteful. Even discussing topics as a class, you have to be sensitive to all of your student's feelings. I think that the ability to utilize and manage humor is a skill that we develop quickly through experience.
I think I mentioned it earlier, but in my school we have an Advisory period to start our school day. This class is a small class setting, 12-15 students, and is a lot like a guidance or Tribes time. I think this is the place that my humor with kids is used to its fullest. Like Jesse said, we need to be very careful with our humor. If 99% think something is funny, what about that 1% that doesn't. My advisory time with kids allows me to spend more one-on-one time with individuals and that is when I really try to utilize humor. I have the ability to really connect with a small group of kids throughout the school year and I know them so well that I do not worry about offending a student or making someone feel uncomfortable in class.
I am very careful with my humor in the classroom. In my private life, I am very dark and sarcastic, but I rarely show that side to my students because I know how awful it can be on the receiving end of an off-handed comment. I dropped my English Lit class in high school because I didn't have an appreciation for that teacher's humor. I don't plan humor in my lessons. I usually use humor to diffuse a discipline issue, and it's usually at my own expense. I know several teachers who rip kids apart with sarcasm, and I guess I just don't see how that can be a good thing in the long run. Most likely that kid will stop producing for you and quit caring. In theory, I'd love to be a Joy Master, but I'll settle for a lot less.
I agree with much of what has already been said. Humor can be a really great tool to use in the classroom, but it can also be extremely hurtful. I tend to be sarcastic, but I try to keep that out of the classroom (or use it only with small groups that I know well). When you teach middle school, it's pretty easy to find humor on a daily basis, and when channelled correctly, it is a great tool. We do a lot of games and partner/group activities in my class, so I really encourage the students to laugh and have fun, but to do so appropriately.
It's nice to see we are all in agreement on humor in the classroom. It should be there but used responsibly. In my classroom, we do spend a lot of time laughing and seeing the "bright" side of things. Trying to teach the children to take things lightly. We can laugh at ourselves and others, but we need to know what is acceptable and what is going be on just plain fun. So teaching the respect of laughing with someone and not at someone is important. There are many times where I'm "putting myself out there" in front of my students. Doing something silly, admitting to a mistake, etc. and then laughing, apologizing, etc. We need to be the models for our students.
Laughter helps keep us in the positive frame of mind. Even a simple smile can make someone's day. Some children are afraid to laugh, don't have the "reasoning" to understand humor as most do, or just don't want to participate. So we need to be considerate of those few children and their families. Spending some one on one time can help, but we need to be aware in the large group settings also.
In the Laughing Classroom it talks about the four different styles and I can see my humor style in all the categories. I often try to be a Joy Master and succeed. However, the other three categories come into play in my own life as well as the classroom sometimes. I know there is a teacher in my school that would most likely be placed on the negative side of the chart on pg. 15. As a result, there are definitely quite a few students that have an aversion to him and his class. However, there are some that think it is funny and almost idolize him. All in all though, I don't think it is the way to go because it alienates certain students. I know other teachers that stay on the positive end and they are better received more consistently.
I try to live by the Golden Rule. I treat all students with respect. This includes using approppriate humor in the classroom. One of my goals is to make the students smile. We have to remember, some of our students don't have a home life to smile about.
I always try to start the class by greating students in the hallway with a smile on my face. During class, I use personal stories, jokes or funny problems to ease the tension of my math class. I also use humor to disfuse discipline situations. I get a lot more control using humor, and the actions usually don't happen again.
I think I am a blend of the joke maker, fun meister, and joy master...leaning towards the sarcastic side. I do use sarcasm in the classroom, but not at the expense of anyone, except myself.
Students feel free to participate in class, say a funny story, or tell a joke in class, without crossing the line. When I make a mistake, students will not hesitate to correct me. My response usually is, "I was just testing you." We have to remember, we are only human.
I love using humor in the classroom, but I often don't use it enough. At times, I'm too business-like. When I do open up my personality and have a little fun, I find the kids enjoying it and more engaged.
The problem with me is that I have 2 types of humor I use - good and bad. I'm taking another class that is helping me eliminate the bad humor. This is a rut I get in with using sarcastic humor that may be directed at a student. It's funny to everyone but that student. This is the type of humor I'm trying to avoid.
The other type I use and am trying to use more of is story telling. I often tell funny stories about my life, my family, my dog, that get the kids laughing and liven up the classroom. It's these types of stories that help me connect with my students because they often have similar experiences or can relate in some way. This is a type of humor I like and will continue to use.
I find myself using humor more frequently in my classes. Like skarolus, I want to be a "Joy Master"in the classroom. In my private life, I tend to use more sarcasm or dark humor. It is easy to offend others with dark humor, so I try to stay away from it with my students. As others have said, humor is not humor if it offends.
There is one woman in my office who frequently uses sarcasm and dark humor with her students. She is proud to tell her colleagues about her humor. If I were a student in her class, I would feel very unhappy and scared to be at the butt of one of her jokes.
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