Humor and laughter are ingredients that always add spice to the learning process. Since a sense of humor usually comes with each student, as a teacher you need only to encourage students to develop and channel their sense of humor for constructive purposes. (It’s already there so you might as well capitalize on it!).

As a teacher you can create a climate in the classroom where humor is nurtured and where it will flourish. An openness to the spontaneous, such as impromptu improvisations, impersonations, coincidental situations, debunking of authority figures (a risky business?), satire, irony, one-liners, and even some put-downs, gives students the accepting atmosphere they need to be spontaneous and creative. At the same time, you should never allow the cutting, hurting humor that some students use against each other. You can encourage open discussion about feelings and deal with problems as they develop. No student should be allowed to hurt under the guise of “being a good sport.”

Students’ natural inclination for humor can be hampered and even destroyed by constant criticism. A too authoritarian teacher who gives students “permission: to laugh at prescribed times helps squash that natural inclination. You need not be afraid that letting your humor show will rob you of the authority in the classroom; on the contrary, it has the reverse effect. A playful, whimsical sense of humor communicates confidence—confidence that you are comfortable enough with yourself and your situation to be natural. If you are able to relax, joke, and laugh, and if you are able to recognize the lighter moments of life and appreciate them, your credibility will actually be increased because you will become a more balanced human being to your students.

A sense of humor is essential to teachers in coping with life in the classroom. A sense of humor comes from a way of viewing the world and your position in that world. If you can view your car, crushed by a falling tree in a storm and say, “I’ve always wanted a compact car,” then you have a sense of humor that will help you deal with life’s unexpected aggravations and expected sorrows, and that will help make you a better teacher.

Have fun with Laughing Matters!

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Grades 4-8.