"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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When I was much younger and working as a sales associate for a clothing store I had made a joke referring to another sales associate about how slow she could be. I can not quite remember how the story went, but I was referring to her walking pace. It was not until days later, when I was called into the office, that I found out my joke was misconstrued. They thought I was referring to her intelligence. To this day just thinking about the situation mortifies me. I greatly admired my college and would never imply such a thing. I learned a very valuable lesson about how easy it is to hurt someone with humor. I not only hurt my friend but also hurt myself. I could not believe that my friend thought I could say something so hurtful. It was devastating to see myself through their eyes. Although they were very forgiving once we talked everything through, I had a very hard time getting my self confidence back. I am very mindful of the jokes I make and never make jokes about others. I prefer to poke fun at myself or tell embarrassing stories.
ReplyDeleteI think that my style of humor brings me closer to my students. I try to be very aware of my students’ personalities when I use humor with them. Some students enjoy the playful teasing and will give it right back to me while other students might be uncomfortable with that type of humor. Other students like to hear my embarrassing, goofy stories while I am sure some of the students don’t think they are that funny. I think it is important to recognize that just as we have different learning styles we also have different humor styles and it is important to recognize that in our students.
ReplyDeleteI believe that using humor is vital in my classroom. How else would I get through teaching the students about soil? The students find this not to be the most exciting subject so I bring in humor with having them sing the Antigo Silt Loam song. Antigo Silt Loam is Wisconsin’s state soil and a professor at Madison wrote a GREAT song about it.