Foundations Newsletter

 The expectation for education to be increasingly entertaining has steadily grown since the mid 1980’s.   At times, student demands for games and fun are insatiable. There are some days when I put enormous energy and effort into creating a stellar activity, only to have students finish it and then expect the next lesson to outdo the last. There are moments when I feel a bit like the actor at the end of this sequence:

Although this slap-stick moment highlights how hard it is to entertain people, I can’t help but wonder about the value of the idea- “make ‘em laugh”. While it is unrealistic to try sustain constantly out-do one’s self in the art of entertaining-while-educating (we are only human), the idea of figuring out how to make them really laugh has stuck with me. Even when I am exhausted (like the character who collapses on the floor) what can I do to make my students laugh? While most of us are probably not interested in learning slap-stick routines, there are alternatives that are perhaps a better fit in the classroom.

Here are some tried-and-true* tips for upping the comedy in the classroom (without collapsing or literally bouncing off walls).

1. Do strange or silly things with your voice. This helps if you do this at unexpected moments and the delivery is deadpan.
2. Pantomime, act things out, and make fun of how talented you are while you are doing it.
3. Draw very very badly.
4. Do impressions, even if they are terrible. Asking the students to guess who you are will draw interest and probably get a few smiles if not some good laughs.
5. Ask students to do impressions of you (not for the faint of heart).
6. Make ridiculous rules. For example, require everyone play musical chairs if their phone rings during class.
7. Pretend to have irrational fears and ham up your reactions.
8. Ask students to tell you something they think is funny.
9. Seize the teachable moment. Every so often students make mistakes with gender calling me sir. I try to change my posture and voice and act like a man. Initially students giggle a lot and are confused, but once they realize the mistake they’re more likely to pay attention to their pronouns and titles in the future- and usually with a smile to boot.
10. Laugh at your mistakes. Sometimes I make “mistakes” on purpose to get some laughs and sometimes they are genuine. Either way, enjoy the laugh, and students might too.

*Cautionary note: Successful humor is contingent upon sufficient rapport and knowing your students well enough to judge if they will be scared or alarmed by silly behavior. Knowing your audience is essential. My 7^th grade science teacher barked and scooted around on all fours the first day of our class and it worked for him, but that was not something that would transfer easily to another context. .