"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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7 comments:
It is so true that, humor is subjective and a matter of personal taste. What one person feels is funny, may not be to another. There are certain individuals that I have a very hard time relating to. These are the life mockers. I am turned away by these individuals. I hate to hurt others and see them suffer.
I feel that my humor style falls into the Joy Master. I feel that I have a warm sense of humor and work hard to make sure that all my students are comfortable. I modify activities in my class to their individual needs, so that everyone can feel success. I think that my humor style does help to bring me close to my students.
My humor style definately enlivens them. My students feel energized when they leave my gym. I love to have fun with them. I compliment them often and encourage them to try things and to do their best. This helps to increase their self esteem. Everyone of them needs to feel important.
I also use humor to educate and to create a positive learning environment. I focus on cooperation rather than competition. We focus on teamwork.
I stress to them that we are all unique and have many talents to share with others. I encourage them to come to me if they are uncomfortable with something. I don't force them to do it, but encourage them to try. Sometimes all you have to do is modify it slightly and they try it. My goal for them is to have fun and try their best. I can reach these goals with my humor style.
After reading the descriptions of the humor types, I believe I am 90% Joy Master and 10% Joke Maker. The humor traits of a Joke Maker that I have are self-deprecating (I believe it's essential to laugh at yourself once in a while) and off-color (one thing that makes things funny is the unexpected, so sometimes I go for the shock value).
I think my humor style brings me closer to students because they will often come to me to talk about serious issues because they know I will not make fun of them or make them feel in any way awkward.
My humor style makes my classroom a fun and lively place. One memory I have that reinforces this is a student of mine who raised her hand and told me that she needed to laugh, and she told me that I could help her.
The last part of this question (am I reaching my goals) is the hardest for me to really answer because even though I've been told by my principal and my students that I am good at teaching math and making it fun, I worry about really achieving my goals. I try really hard every year to make sure I do even better than last year. I guess a little self-doubt can be a healthy thing when it's channeled into making things better.
I am a "Joke Maker". I was glad to also realize that I had all 4 "positive" characteristics checked. I am however, sometimes sarcastic. Usually with adults more that my students.
I feel that encorporating my humor with the students creates a great relationship. I enjoy hearing what the 8th graders remember when their speaches are created for graduation. They usually say something about each teacher, and they do mention the hilarious stories in Math class. That makes me feel great! Especially when they laugh all over again during the ceremony.
Having this type of relationship creates a great learning relationship. They laugh, then they buckle down and learn. When I see frustration, I'll throw in something to make them laugh. Even if it is having a student throw a chalk eraser against the wall to release frustration. The class laughs, and we get back to tackling the lesson.
Humor has so many different levels to it and different types of humor are appropriate in certain situations and/or with certain age groups. With my second grade students I am a joy master. I like to be silly with some of the group movement activities we do. I love greeting the kids every morning and complimenting them on something or asking them questions about their night/weekend. I feel I'm a good listener for them whether they're talking about their new bike or a problem they had at recess. I also have some of the fun meister traits. I move around and gesture when I'm teaching and I can evoke laughter out of my kids pretty easily with my goofy faces.
I think my sense of humor makes it easy for kids to approach me - whether they're my own students, or someone else's when I'm in the hall or on recess duty. It helps to lighten up the room again and lift everyone's spirits when we've been working so long or if we've just dealt with a problem in the classroom. A smile goes a long way in creating a connection with kids.
Karen, You sound like a wonderful gym teacher. PE is so awkward for many students and it can be so intimidating for those of us who are not athletic to see the athletic stars shine while we bumble along.
Like Cross wrote, I, too, like to greet my students at the door with a smile. I have music playing everyday when they enter and the students often want to hear their favorite songs. When they hear Spanish coming in the room, it helps set the mood and makes for a better transfer from their math, social studies or English class.
I think I am a Joy Master. I was really honest about my responses for all four categories. I was really happy to see that for so many of the statements, I could say,"yes, I do this frequently" or "Yes, the students do say this to me in their end-of-the -year letters or in comments made after an activity." An activity I'd like to share is Dear Dr. Humor- a collection of true stories with a humorous twist. Dear Dr. Humor is a wonderful little book that is so worth the investment of $8-10.00. Let me share one darling story with you that always makes the kids laugh for its unusual twist. A family submitted this story. Their next-door-neighbors went on vacation. When the family returned home from work, they found their dog with "Fluffy," the rabbit the next-door children had as a pet. It had been mauled,was dirty and VERY DEAD. Appalled, they washed the rabbit up and drove all over town (Atlanta, I believe)to find a rabbit with similar markings of Fluffy. They couldn't. They decided to put Fluffy back in the cage and see what the family would say, expecting they would realize he had died when they were out-ot-town. After the family came back, the neighbors waited anxiously for a call. After two days, the mom called, curious. The other mother responded they had a great vacation but everyone was puzzled when they came home to find Fluffy in his cage. She explained that he had died before they left on vaction and the children had buried him in the back yard. THIS IS A TRUE STORY! Hope you enjoyed that! Back to the question of humor types, I try hard not to be sarcastic in the classroom. It's not my style to have a sharp, biting wit, although often I admire people who have a quick comeback. Sometimes, though, that humor can hurt. Students comment on those teachers who are sarcastic with them.
I am 70% Fun Meister and 30% Joy Master. Unfortunately, I sometimes give in to the negative traits of the Fun Meister, but I've been trying to limit them to less and less each year. As a sarcastic person, sometimes the comments just slip out before thinking of the consequences.
I think my style brings me closer to my students. I often notice that students are more apt to say hi outside of class, whether in the hall, office or outside of school. The increased comfort level aids kids when they need help or have a question so that they aren't afraid to ask for it.
I'm not sure if my style helps me achieve teaching goals. I never can make it thru the entire math text, but I'm not sure if changing my style would remedy that problem.
I love the little checklists the book provides for this section. I find it interesting to see how much I actually do and hope that I am never crossing the line into the negative traits listed.
After reading through, I think I am 60% Fun Meister, 30% Joke Maker, and 10% Joy Master. I do find ways to have fun with the subject matter by laughing at my words/drawings/self. The kids ask everyday if I have another story to share (usually about my son!). I find that I can connect with my students at a different level than some of my collegues because of the rapport/respect I instill in my students. They know that the number one goal is to learn, but they also know that they are supposed to have fun while doing so!
Life/Learning is what you make of it. If you find yourself bored and tired of something that you know you have to do (laundry, dishes, etc.) then you have to find something fun to make it better! Like shooting "baskets" with the clothes into the washer. You can have fun and learn at the same time, if you have a teacher utilizing one of these humor styles. Kids will love it, and love us for helping them through their struggles!
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