Humorous Educator's Final Exam

So, you have been following these blogs for the last few months, it is time to see how much you have learned. No worries, we are not going to collect any scores or turn anything in to your supervisor. However, if you do well, you may want to print off a copy and drop it in your principal or department head's mailbox. You could wrap it up in a large box with holiday paper and a note that reads, "you are so lucky to have me on staff because I am one funny and effective educator!" Caution: This type of self-promoting humor may not be considered funny to all people, so exercise caution when sharing documentation. 


So, you think you are a humor expert, or not but you have just following this blog for fun and now wonder what is in store for this entry. I am here to administer your Humor Final!

1.) What are the three main humor theories?

a.) Superiority
b.) Incongruity
c.) Narcissistic
d.) Relief
e.) a,b,d
f.) all of the answers.


2.) What does the word humor actually mean in Latin?
a.) Wet
b.) Like a dog's nose.
c.) Moist
d.) Swampy
e.) b,c,d, but never A.


3.) Spontaneous Humor is best used when...
a.) going to the bathroom.
b.) teaching a new method.
c.) arguing with your spouse.
d.) here, there, everywhere.
e.) nowhere???

4.) Which of the following guidelines was not presented by Goodman (1983) in how to be purposefully humorous?

a.) Eye of the be(hoho)holder

b.) Discover the elf in yourself

c.) Get With it

d.) Follow  the rules of the 5Ps- Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice.

e.) Be cooky, not spooky

      

5.) Lefcourt (2000) discusses 5 aspects of a presentation, which can make it humorous.  Which aspect does the following story represent? " I hung the sign around my neck and put the back pack on. I wore these two pieces the entire night. It took a lot of GUTS for me to wear the backpack and the sign. It was not common for teachers to take risk to wearing something silly in front of the parents risking their professional persona.”

a.) Bisociation

b.) Incongruity

c.) Risk-taking

d.) Tension relief

c.) Absurdity in assessment

6.) Students always get a kick out of teachers slamming themselves, making fun of their own struggles and their own insecurities. This type of humor can be used by teachers to…

a.) create a sense of community.

b.) bring down their status to relate to students.

c.) get fired from their job.

d.) defend the statement that teachers go slowly insane in the classroom.

7.) Affliative humor can be used in the classroom to…

a.) distract students from tormenting the teacher.

b.) teach students how to behave correctly in a classroom.

c.) build community amongst the members of the classroom.

d.) Affiliative humor is not a real humor style. I made it up.

8.) True or False. Ronald A Berk wrote a book about humor, which can really help educators to make their classes more entertaining. The book is titled, “Professors are From Mars and Students are From Snickers. 

9.) In his book, Ronald A Berk (that professor from Mars) reminds teachers that:

It has been estimated (not sure by who) that people remember:

10% of what they hear

30% of what they see

60% of what they hear and see

80% of what they hear, see and do

________% of what they hear, see, do, smell, feel, taste, inhale, inject, and purchase on credit. What number belongs on the line above?

10.) Provine (2000) shared the high-fives of creating humorous classrooms. Which of the statements below is not one of his five?

a.) Interpersonal eye contact

b.) Casual, caring, safe environment

c.) Laugh-ready attitude

d.) Remove Social inhibitions

e.) Use humorous material

f.) All 5 are stated above and I am just trying to trick you.

So, how do you think you did on that quiz? It wasn't too challenging, right? No worries, I am sure that you did great. (If you didn't, you may want to start back at entry #1 and reread everything. Not only will you find it more informative, but you will also get another great round of laughs out!).

Okay... Here is the moment that you have been waiting for... the answers to the quiz. Remember no cheating, plus if you did, you would be cheating yourself, after all this is NOT a real quiz and will NOT be collected for a grade.

1.e

2.c

3.d

4.e

5.c

6.b

7.c

8. True

9. 100

10. f

So. Now you have the answers. You know all the answers to life's mysteries. You're welcome for that. Humor can help you in the classroom, workplace and in life. I can't think  of a more fun life strategy like a "laugh strategy!" So, when life hands you lemons, or the students drive you bonkers, when that one coworker just doesn't seem to blend in with the team or the parents of your students intimidate you. Turn to humor. When you have to gain the attention of a generation of ADHD students, or keep the attention of a generation of media driven adults who are more concerned with typing on their iphones or blackberries, turn to humor. When you have a difficult concept to teach, or a boring assessment to administer, remember humor is your friend. Not only is humor fun, but this blog has proven that it is research based! So, don't be a fool, find time for humor in your school. (Ok, so that was a little corny, but whatever...)

Learning by Way of Incongruity- Learning by Surprise!

This blog entry will attempt to link the theoretical to the practical in aims to help teachers/educators apply humor research to practice. In order to accomplish this fun task, I must first present some theory. However, since this is a simple a blog entry and not a full literature review ( thank goodness!), I am able to present theory more concisely, more informally, and in shorter form!  Therefore, I will attempt to summarize the main theoretical approaches to humor in layman's terms.  

An analysis of current research on the theoretical framework behind humor presents three strong themes. The first theme, superiority theory, was first presented by Thomas Hobbes in 1651. This type of humor is the one in which people are amused through the degradation of others.  The second theory is the relief theory best described by Herman Spencer in the 1800s as the conscious movement of a surplus of energy from a large space to a smaller one. Then there is the incongruity theory, which originated from James Beattie in 1776. The incongruity theory occurs when a situation, story or incident ends with an unexpected twist resulting in surprise or positive feelings. Therefore in layman's terms incongruity theory is built on the idea of what is unexpected or surprising is/can be amusing.  

No you are probably wondering,"How will I apply this fun theory to my everyday encounters in the classroom?" While all theories may play out in the school setting, from the perspective of the teacher, it may be better to focus on simply the incongruity theory. Incongruity can be presented in many different ways:

1.) Incongruity can be in lesson delivery.

2.) Incongruity can be in an educator's attitude.

3.) Incongruity can be hidden within an assessment.

4.) Incongruity can be in the anticipatory set of a lesson.

5.) Incongruity can be used in the examples given to explain a lesson or even in the types of resources brought in to explain the lesson.

Let's examine some different ways in which I have used incongruity to help DRIVE home a lesson.

It was my third year teaching 5th grade and with it comes the responsibility to teach the whole history of America! If you think that I am exaggerating, I am just letting you know right now that I am not. Fifth grade teachers in my district are expected to teach from the ancient civilizations of America to the present day conflicts taking place now in the U.S.  What I discovered early on was that my students were familiar with many notable historical events, such as: the revolutionary war, the civil rights movement, and the elections of the first African American president, however they have no idea in which order these events came. So, to help them out I do a little skit. I act out scenes from the ancient civilizations all the way through the present time. I use funny voices and actions and pretty much present a monologue to my students. For example, I may say the following,"The colonists hated their taxes/ tariffs because they were so high! So, in the middle of the night, the went down to the docks and snuck out onto a boat and started dumping tea into the Boston Harbor. What was that dat called? Boston Tea Party. Then, the British government retaliated by imposing the Stamp act, taking away more of the colonists rights to govern themselves and the imposing more taxes/tariffs on the colonists. A war broke out between the colonists and the British. What was that war called? American Revolutionary War. Thomas Jefferson and a few other important leaders started drafting a special letter to the King of the British letting him know that America was no longer under his rule. What was that special letter called? The Declaration of Independence." As I continue tell the story of the Americans winning the war, but then having disagreements amongst themselves about slaves.... I am acting out the story as I am telling it. I use voices, gestures, acting, questioning strategies and try to make it as dramatic as possible. 

This is where the incongruity comes into play. Students, teachers and educators alike, when asked to summarize the history of America, will turn to a short written piece that lays out the details or a time line of some sort.  No one expects their teacher to tell the whole history of America as if she were a real story teller with voices, actions, gestures, standing on chairs and declaring land with yardsticks. This incongruity acts as the attention getter in the body of the lesson. Students are drawn into the lesson, not know what to expect next from their teacher, because she is so unpredictable, so not only does their attention remain with you, but your acting skills, though good, are not par with the actors they see on TV, and therefore provide comic relief. Though they are laughing, they will have a hard time forgetting their teacher standing on a chair with a flag prominently planted on the chair declaring this land for the British.

Another example of incongruity in the classroom, can be used when you are giving an assessment. Picture this...

The students are reading through a math quiz that you have assigned them. When they come to the final question... It is the much dreaded question, because it asks students to not only solve a problem, but also to give an explanation of the steps you took, as well as the reasons why you took those steps. 

Students always want to put those essay type questions off until the end. However, that dread may be solved with a dose of humor. If students were to enjoy the questions that they had to solve, maybe they would be more excited to complete the task. Use funny objects, famous people's names, students in the class or unusual tasks an you have added an element of humor by adding the unexpected. Here is an example of a fun word problem.

Suppose we have a cube of cheese. This cube is divided into 27 small cubes of cheese, so it looks like a Rubik cube (3 x 3 x 3). Justin Bieber is a little mouse who wants to eat the whole cube of cheese. He starts eating the cube in the center, and then has to continue eating adjacent cubes. (Two cubes are adjacent if they share a face.) Can the mouse eat the whole cube of cheese?

You can find some other great ideas (math stories, movies poems, and fun stuff) at the website: http://mathstory.com/

All different kinds of lessons can contain elements of humor. Most of this humor will stem from incongruity. Here are some videos of teachers teaching their lessons, using unexpected methods. From the content of the movies, you can tell that not only are the students engaged and enjoying themselves, they are also learning. Click on the links to watch these videos.

Raping Trigonometry Teacher

The Dance of the Parallel Lines

Dangers of A Kamikaze Plane

Finally, it is important to note that what is "learned with laughter is learned well" (Robinson, 1983, p. 121). As educators it is our responsibility to teach well. Teaching well means finding the best methods to make a lesson stick in the memories of students. When we use incongruity theory to enhance our lessons delivery, assessments, and assignments, we are using research based methods to build curiosity amongst students because they want to know what you (as the educator) will do next, thus increasing their interest as well as gaining and maintaining their attention 

(Keller, 1983). Can't think of a more fun way to accomplish all of that!

How to Create a Laughing Lounge

We have spent a lot of time talking about ways teachers can bring humor into the classroom. However, we have neglected to bring up that a teacher that is bogged down by stress may not have the capacity to be funny in the classroom. So, what's the medicine to cure such an ailment doc? Loomans and Kolberg (2002)  suggest some ways to Lighten Up the Lounge in their book, The Laughing Classroom.   The teachers' lounge can be a place of commodore or dread, a place of laughter or a place to lose your head! I know that the teacher's lounge, where I work, is a challenging place to feel happy. The outdated cabinetry, absence of windows and hodge podge of dishes and cutlery, are sure to loom a dreary feeling over its inhabitants.  However, I rarely miss an opportunity to meet up with my colleagues for lunch. Though this place is dreary, it is also a place where great stories are told, family lives are shared and bonding can occur.

So, how do we fight the drear of the lounge? Here are my favorite suggestions from Loomans and Kolberg (p.206):

1.) Bring jokes, magazines and other funny material.- This is a great idea to help people relax! Often times, teachers are sitting around the table perusing random magazines and papers that have been left behind. What if the material left behind was humorous? Surely, the mood would pick up and with it the conversations!

2.)If you have a refrigerator, put a gag item in it to surprise the staff!- This is a great idea and builds on humor theory and incongruity. If the staff is not expecting to find an unusual item in the fridge, then they will view it as extra funny! Hmm... What could that humorous item be: a rubber chicken with a sign in his mouth? An interesting stuffed animal of a sort, or just a random school supply like binders, put in the wrong place? In fact 5 years ago, we used to keep a yardstick in our fridge at work. Long story, but basically a door shelf was broken and the school district wasn't replacing the fridge, so a teacher took matters into his own hands and fixed it right up, by masking taping a yardstick into the door. Hay! At least we could use the condiment shelf again!

3.) Create a "tacky table" where you can display white elephant items- it is true, people are drawn to the unusual and generally the more yucky or weird something looks, the more humorous and interesting it becomes. We did a "white elephant" gift once at a staff holiday party. While the gym teacher wrapped up a pair of his old size 1 gym shoes turned christmas ornaments complete with hooks and all, the winner of the "white elephant" gift was actually two horses that seemed to have their noses in each other's private areas. It was interesting, inappropriate and a contradiction ( being porcelain, white and surely a children's toy), so by all means ridiculously funny!! It actually did make it to school for a day or two. What would make it to the tacky table in our lounge? Not so sure, be we have already started a junky table with junk that teachers no longer want, and therefore it is just all shoved on this bookshelf, looking junky. So maybe we are halfway there already.

4.) Occasionally, put something unexpected in the room to liven it up!- This is a great idea and is most often depicted as decorations for holidays or events. But let's think like humor experts! What would be something truly unique that could be added to the lounge to liven it up? It is fun, when the furniture gets all mixed up, or someone puts an odd ball furniture item into the lounge like an antique or just something ridiculously odd. Every year there is a group of teachers who go above and beyond to create a holiday atmosphere in our lounge. It always looks incredible and makes you feel incredible too!

5.) Donate stress thermometers and let teachers use them to check their stress levels. Now, I may be an idiot, but I have never even heard of a stress level thermometer before. However, it does remind me of a survival kit that many teachers give students at the beginning of the year with a little poem, to help them relax. It is called an emergency school survival kit. It would be interesting and fun to create a kit like that and keep it in the lounge to help remind teachers of the important work the do in their job. There are some ideas to the right about things that can be put into the survival kit. You may want to add some more additional items (like chocolate and candies), so teachers can eat them or use them. Keeping a marble in their pocket might remind teachers not to lose their marbles, or a paperclip might help them remember to keep themselves together!

So, the next time you pass through your teacher's lounge, think to yourself: what can I do to make this place a little brighter, happier, funnier? Look over this blog entry for some ideas or pick up the book The Laughing Classroom and turn to page 206 to get some more great ideas. Remember a laughing lounge, creates a happy teacher, a happy teacher, uses humor to help her kids' sense of belonging, motivation, attention and to help maximize their learning experience. Let's not even discuss what a mood lounge brings about.... there are too many benefits to names, so let's just lay back and smile!

Spontaneous Humor Versus Scripted Humor

There are many ways to use humor in your classroom. You can start with a comic strip, or a joke as the anticipatory set of the lesson. You can use an idiom or comical metaphor to thoroughly explain your point, or you can purposefully insert humorous items into a test or quiz. All of these examples of humor inclusion fall under the umbrella of scripted humor. This type of humor is reproducible, transferable, creditable, and almost always has a money back guarantee stamped all over it.

Then there is the other kind of humor. The more courageous, daring, witty, on the spot; spontaneous humor. This is the humor that just boils up from specific situations. It's the good stuff that you think of on the spot, at the moment where everyone had to be there to appreciate your true witty wisdom. You can't buy or organize or plan this type of humor. You just have to make it up. It could be an intriguing response to a comment, the body language that drives a point home, or great idea that just spurred up at the last moment and you took the gamble on it.

Both types of humor are needed to create a fun balance in the classroom. It is important to plan some humor into your everyday routines. I consider the scripted humor as the back up humor. I know that if I plan a fun activity, or I start off with a humorous grabber in a lesson, my basses are covered. However, it is in that moment that I make the witty remark, or use the spontaneous humor-filled example, that I truly know that I have got them ( I am talking about the students of course). They are captivated and hooked on each word. Then, I use my body language, the tone, cadence or volume of my voice to lure them in slowly to the topic of study. Before you know it, they are finding even the most mundane of topics, interesting, captivating and intriguing.

According to Barsoux (1996), "A TIMELY dash of humour quickly puts people at ease. It can serve as a way of disrupting the normally well-choreographed pattern of exchange between people of different ranks," Humor between a teacher and pupil aims to put students at ease. It is a metaphorical massage that loosens them up for the tough business of learning.

Therefore it may be the scripted humor that can be planned to grab a student's attention, but it is the timely spontaneous humor that keeps their attention and helps to develop the relationship between teacher and student.

In addition through spontaneous humor, Barsoux also explains how it can be used, "to break through that facade and find out their [the people you work with's] real concerns.' Humour therefore helps to disrupt 'scripted' exchanges, and to encourage meaningful contributions. It paves the way for more open, frank and constructive discussion." It is through a more open and frank discussion that teachers develop relationships with students, students become comfortable to have meaningful discourse with teachers, and educational topics become the path on which both and teacher and student together go exploring. This type of dynamic relationship between student and teacher is one that the great Latin American educationalist, Paulo Friere, described many times. You remember him for undergrad (the guy who said that students are not empty vessels waiting for teachers to fill up.) He spoke of the dynamic relationship that must exist between teacher and student through shared learning, in order for students (and teachers) to acquire a real education.

Supporting Barsoux's literature, Ramero and Cruthirds (2006), also supported that leaders must use humor to bring themselves down to the audiences level. Thefore, leaders are to start by laughing at themselves opening honest pathways of communications. Barsoux also reported that, "Their readiness to admit their own limitations makes them seem more human and approachable. It conveys the leader's willingness to listen, learn, and persevere." At the right moment, I spontaneously humor my students in a variety of ways. I willing joke about my own limitations (mostly in my inability to spell most 4th grade level words). I humor students about my own problems as a child with excessive talking and trips to the principal's office. I tell stories of my own struggles with my friends, coworkers (using no names of course) and parents. Through these funny stories, students start to see that I am a real person like them. We all connect at a more real level and humor is to thank for that connection.

CAUTION: Confusing, yet yummy metaphor coming up in the conclusion of this blog. 

When thinking about these types of humor, the planned and the unplanned, think of a cake. The planned humor is the cake; it is yummy, spongy and tastes great. But the spontaneous humor is the frosting; it is creamy, soft, decadent, and leaves a sweetness in your mouth that makes you yearn for more. Both types of humor are needed to bake the perfect cake. However, from the individual's point of view who consumes the cake, only one can have the lingering impact and that my friends is the frosting of spontaneous humor.