Day 10
Being grateful for humor--share a story about a time in your career where humor played a part.
Humor is a tool I use a lot in my classes. I love laughter and the release of endorphins that laughter brings about. In a classroom of sullen, angst-ridden teenagers, laughter really is the best medicine. I could tell story after story about how humor played a part--from the jokes I tell in class to the personal joy I get from the students' sometimes humorous behavior--but, alas, I didn't write those stories down, and it's moments like this when I rue my personal dislike for a daily "what I did today" journal/diary.
So because I don't have a written record of the hilarity in my classroom, I have to pick something recent enough to remember off the top of my head. Just today I told a silly joke in my sign language class. A student I'd had in another class had seen me sign/tell this long, silly joke in another class, so he has been asking me all semester to tell it. Today I finally told it. It's one of those stupid jokes where the punch line has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual joke, so it is hilarious.
I signed the joke as I told it, and the kids were laughing along with me as we went through the repetitive portions of the joke. When I did finally get to the non sequitur punch line, the kids groaned at the seemingly pointless end to the ten-minute long joke. Then they immediately began plotting how to use the punch line to tantalize the members of the class who were absent.
Humor in education is important; a laugh shared between people can break down barriers, build rapport, and bring people together. That's part of what education should do with all things, not just jokes.
So because I don't have a written record of the hilarity in my classroom, I have to pick something recent enough to remember off the top of my head. Just today I told a silly joke in my sign language class. A student I'd had in another class had seen me sign/tell this long, silly joke in another class, so he has been asking me all semester to tell it. Today I finally told it. It's one of those stupid jokes where the punch line has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual joke, so it is hilarious.I signed the joke as I told it, and the kids were laughing along with me as we went through the repetitive portions of the joke. When I did finally get to the non sequitur punch line, the kids groaned at the seemingly pointless end to the ten-minute long joke. Then they immediately began plotting how to use the punch line to tantalize the members of the class who were absent.
Humor in education is important; a laugh shared between people can break down barriers, build rapport, and bring people together. That's part of what education should do with all things, not just jokes.
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