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 The outdated cabinetry, absence of windows and hodge podge of dishes and cutlery, are sure to loom a dreary feeling over its inhabitants.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.

Using Humor in Your Assessments "Oh no, is that legal?"

So far this blog has covered the many advantages of using humor in instruction, however we have danced, tippy-toed, scooted by, skirted around, slid over and dodged the idea of formalizing humor in our classrooms through the PRINTED WORD and even more so, THE TEST!!! Yikes! Is there room for humor in our assessments? Is it even appropriate to be funny in a test? After all a test is serious business!

Well... Let's not try to answer these worldly questions all by ourselves. Let us turn to research to find out the truth about humor on test items and sewn so seamlessly into the fabric of assessment. According to a research study conducted McMorris, R., Urbach,S., & Connor, M.  (1985) , middle school students took a grammar test which resembled the format of state standardized testing. The students then completed questionnaires evaluating their test anxiety, their perception of items level of difficulty, their attractiveness to a humorous test format, and their actual score in the assessment.

Their results indicated that there were no large discrepancies between the scores of the students with the humorous test items as opposed to the students with the non-humorous test items. However, more number of students reflected that:

• the test items seemed easier
• their anxiety during the test was reduced, and
• they liked/ preferred a humorous format over a non-humorous format.

So hallelujah! The students enjoyed the assessment in a more relaxing piece of mind. And isn't that so our goal anyways? That students feel relaxed while being assessed, so that we can quickly and effectively determine what instruction has worked effectively and what instruction needs to be repeated in a new and different way. So, the next time that you are making a test, add a few punch lines to some of the questions. Here are some examples to get your creative humor juices jump-started. 

1.) The ___________ pumps the blood all over the body.

a.) lungs

b.) heart

c.) little monkeys from the zoo

d.) arteries

2.) Fill in the blank with a word from the word box.  Magnets with like poles _______________.

                    attract       repel             talk              dance

3.) When you are done with your test you should.

a.) put it in the homework bin

b.) run around the room with it above your head shouting free answers to the highest bidder 

c.) crumble it up into a ball and shoot a 3-pointer into the waste bin.

d.) I don't know. I give up. 

Remember it is up to you to keep the excitement going in your classroom. It is one of the most difficult tasks that you are charged with as a teacher. There is no secret formula for success or any magic happy pills that you can feed the students (it's wrong and illegal anyways) to get them up and motivated. So, use what you have got. Your humor. Add humor to test questions to reduce student stress, increase students perceptions of the assessment and make the test seem easier and more enjoyable to students. Don't worry, you would be doing the right thing! 

What Happens to All the Funny Children?

Many people view humor as something that belongs on T.V. or movies, in late night clubs, or enjoyed amongst close friends around food or drink. However, these people are looking at humor through only one perspective: the entertainment perspective. Humor is a fun-damental part of human nature. It exists in every culture, amongst all people and for as far back as historians have studied. Humor is part of who we are as humans and therefore should be embraced in every facet of life. 


Unfortunately, this has not always been the case. Humor was seen as taboo in work settings and schools for a long time. People associated work and school as a place for serious business and not a place of amusement. "Children in school who show aptitude for music get sent to the music room, children with aptitude for art get sent to the art room, and children with an aptitude for humor get sent to the principal’s office," (Morell, 1991, p.359) Interesting quote! And isn't it so true? Those kids who just can't contain their humor in school, find themselves in trouble. Why does that have to be the case?

A recent review of literature by Robert and Yan ( 2007) have delved into the relationships between humor and creativity as well as humor and work performance. The literature that they cite, show that we would be doing our coworkers, and our students a large disservice by excluding humor from schools. Instead, we must embrace humor to help ourselves embrace each other (metaphorically of course, unless you ask permission first). 


Hay (2001) points out that there are many possible behavioral responses to humor, however laughter and smiling are only two of them. (Hmmm, I wonder what some of the other responses are.)  One of these behavioral responses may just be creativity. Yes, it is creativity! The very essence of what it means to be an amazing student in America. ( Note: other countries may or may not feel the same way depending on their philosophy of education.) But, yes, here in America we want our students to be more creative to "think outside of the box."  Robert and Yan cite much research (Abramis, 1992; Caudron, 1992; Therrien, 2004) to support the claim that humor enhances or stimulates creative thinking. According to Barker (2002), humor may ‘‘widen pathways among the brain’s lobes’’ (p. 168).  Another theory proposed by Ziv (1988) suggests that the positive mood caused by humorous situations may reduce anxiety when voicing unique or original ideas. Therefore, teachers it is time to break out the comics, the stand-up (or sit-down jokes), the satire, the big guns** ( **I am not promoting guns at school. It is an idiom.) We need those resources to develop students who are more able to take risks in order to share original ideas which will widen their brain's pathways.

Speaking about a reduction in anxiety, research shows that humor may also help increase job satisfaction and productivity. That claim seems to be fair and make sense. I would rather do a task which is enjoyable or fun as opposed to a task that is too serious. Why wouldn't my coworkers or students feel similar? In a study exploring the effects of sense of humor and a humorous situations on stressful tasks, Abel and Maxwell (2002), discovered that being exposed to a humorous stimulus alleviated anxiety and increased positive affect. "Individuals’ sense of humor, and presumably their ability to interpret life events through the lens of humor, also appears to moderate the influence of both positive and negative life events such that a sense of humor is more strongly associated with positive affect after both positive and negative life events," (Martin, Kuiper, Olinger, & Dance, 1993). So, it's up to you to use that humor for the betterment of your colleagues and your students. 

Research shows that humor has a place in school. And not only does it have a place, it has a meaningful place in helping teachers and students to become more creative, as well as helping everyone to love their jobs ( be it teaching or learning) more and even perform better at them, too! So, what happens to all of the funny children? Let's hope that they grow up to be funny adults, so they can be more creative, productive and motivated individuals in their place of work! 

The High-Fives of Humor

As an elementary school teacher, I often start and end my day with high-fives. These high-fives are a way for me to (appropriately) connect with students. What does a high-five really mean to a child? Probably not as much a a good laugh. Using humor in the classroom is one of the deepest ways to connect with your students. Why you ask? Oh no, do I have to cite a bunch of research now to twist your arm into believing me? Fine! Here you go you research junkie!


According to Cornett (1986) and Kelly (1983), humor can facilitate learning in the classroom in the following ways:

1. It attracts attention and provokes thought, helping to hone the skills of prediction, decision making, recall, problem solving, and visual imagery.
2. It liberates creative capacities, helping students to discover incongruous relationships and solve serious problems in creative ways.
3. It helps gain friends, promote group membership, and deal with awkward moments.
4. It improves communication and develops vocabulary and reading skills through the use of puns, figurative language, homonyms, and homophones.
5. It helps to deal with difficult moments.
6. It can be an entry into the study of other cultures and reflects a group's cultural values.
7. It promotes good health and can be effective in dealing with tension, especially prior to test taking.
8. It develops a positive attitude and self-image, assisting in classroom discipline, conflict resolution, and diffusion of tension.
9. It motivates and energizes.
10. It reinforces desired behaviors.

Now, with all of those benefits how could you refuse to use humor in your classroom. There is no denying the endless amount of benefits humor bestows upon a classroom, a teacher and the students!
So let me give you a little high-five to help you integrate humor into your classroom.

In Provine's literature on integrating humor (2000), there are five tactics and results associated with the integration of humor.

1. Make interpersonal eye contact helps to set the mood for students when using humor. It also helps to establish a deeper relationship between the teacher and student. 
2. Create a casual, caring, safe and fun-loving environment is necessary, so that students can relax and enjoy the learning experience as they open up to you and the curriculum. Students should be eager to actively participate in every aspect of the classroom. 
3. Adopt a laugh- ready attitude. When teachers are able to laugh at the silliness of their curriculum or day to day situations that arise, they create an atmosphere where students can also let go of inhibitions to share in the laughter and joy of learning. The students absolutely love when their teacher laughs at themselves! ( Whenever, I make a mistake, I blame it on Monday Brain. The students always laugh and yell out, "It's Wednesday!" and I just say, " yeah well I forgot to take Monday brain off when Monday was over." This gets them rolling with laughter every time. 
4. Provide humorous material and examples for students, especially if you want them to become a humor producer themselves or you can just provide students with humorous examples, assignments, tests, and quizzes to help build their motivation and learned content. 
5. Remove social inhibitions. Make it okay for laughter to ring out in your classroom. When students are comfortable, they are more prepared to learn. Make it okay to produce, appreciate and/or share in the laughter. 

So, there you have it! The high-fives of creating humorous classrooms as outlined by Provine. Are there other high-fives in education that we should be made aware of? Absolutely! Check out the list to the right of this post. Click on the picture of the high-fives, so that you can read the funny lists about humor and teachers. 


One of my favorites is: Top 5 Things Teachers Do with Their Spare Time.

1. What spare time? Don't have any! 


Take a moment to check out the other lists. They are from the book, The Laughing Classroom. A book worth finding because it has so many different ideas of how to increase laughter in your classroom. Good luck with your continued quest to be the funniest teacher you can be!

I Want to... But I Just Can't...50 Excuses

So, you are intrigued to become a more enjoyable teacher, and you've read some of my other posts that could help you get there, but you are still stuck.

You Want To... But You Just Can't

Ronald A Berk (that professor from Mars) in his book Professors are From Mars and Students are from Snickers 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
100% of what they hear, see, do, smell, feel, taste, inhale, inject, and purchase on credit.

Therefore, if we are going to get 100% of our students to meet standards as measured by testing such as the ISAT or better known as (I Stink At Testing or Illinois' Stupid Ability Test or Is Standardization Always Trustworthy), then we better use humor to ensure that they are fully engaged, receptive, tuned-in, turned-on, and progressing towards mastery or at least towards laughter.

If this isn't enough un-cited research to convince you that you should be using more humor for the good of the students, then click on the picture to the right. This picture will lead you to 50 Excuses for Not Laughing in the Classroom. You may suffer from some of these symptoms. Have no fear, your educational doctor (ate student) is here.

Let's take a moment to cure the top 10 symptoms on this list!

1.) I tried it once and it didn't work. 
What would have happened if Edison said that the first time he tried to invent the lightbulb?


2.) Our school is highly academic.
First, I have to say... I hope so... then point to the multitudes of research that shows humor helps students retain information.

3.)The students are already hysterical.
Great... that means you don't have to be that good!

4.) I will have to ask my principal first.
Really? Okay fine then. If it makes you feel comfortable, then ask. Start with something like, "According to a whole bunch of research to increase engagement, classroom climate and memory, I would like to..."


5.)The children might miss their busses.
Avoid using humor the last 15 minutes of the day to allow students to pack up in time to catch their busses.


6.) I'm not dressed for the occasion.
Really? What were you planning on wearing a Bozo the Clown costume? Right apparel not needed.

7.) I don't have time for such non-sense.
Then why are you doing all that other non-sense? Make time.

8.) It's not proper training for the real world.
Okay, this may be my opinion, but I rather hire the guy or gal who is personable, witty and engaging then the numb one.

9.) I might get laugh lines.
That's what Botox is for.


10.) I don't do stand-up comedy. 
No one is asking you to do stand-up comedy. You can certainly sit down too!

Some of my other favorite excuses include...


31.) I'm too old to start laughing now.
Don't worry, there is no age limit.


33.) What if I lose face?
You can go look for it, or teach without one.


41.) I'm saving it for summer vacation.
Without laughter, be prepared for a year that feels like 20 years. 

43.) I read that laughter destroys brain cells.
I think you are getting laughter confused with something else.

So, don't be a party pooper by getting yourself stuck at one of these road blocks. Create your own pathway, trail, or road to a laughing classroom. If you come to a roadblock, pull out your list of 5o excuses and ask for help finding a better path or at least one that ends at an ice cream shop.

There is no time, like laughing time and there is no better time to laugh, then now!

Do it here, do it there, do it everywhere.

Delivering Humor Effectively in the Classroom

So, you want to be a fun teacher, or do you want to be a funny teacher? There is a difference. A fun teacher makes the class enjoyable, whereas a funny teacher makes the class hysterical. A fun teacher's lesson makes the material more easily memorized, whereas a funny teacher makes the material more memorable. I choose to be a funny teacher who has fun lessons. There are many reasons why I choose to be the funny teacher. 


1.) The students love what is unexpected, and a teacher cracking jokes is at the top of that list.
2.) Humor builds a positive climate in my classroom.
3.) The curriculum becomes more fun for everyone and therefore easier to learn and remember. 
4.) I like my job more.
5.) Do I really need to think of another point to convey my point?

While the first three are important points, the fourth one is the most important point to me. Come on- a teacher's happiness is the root of all happiness in the classroom. If I keep my spirits up, I keep the students engaged and their spirits even higher. After all kids are naturally spirited folks, so I don't even need to be a professional comedian. Just about anything out of the ordinary tickles their funny bone enough to invoke laughter.

So, let's say that you are not the Jedi Master of Humor. How can you make yourself more humorous? Good news, this guy Ronald A Berk wrote this book Actually, "the original title of the book was 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, but he ran into some legal snags." So the new book was instead titled...( Wait for it...) Professors are From Mars and Students are From Snickers.  And isn't that so true. Though we come from different planets, we are both chocolate, but I guess the kids are more nutty (Snickers, get it? Maybe I didn't need to explain that one).
So if you want to be nutty too, remember these tips to get your humor on.

1.) If you stink at spontaneity, pre-plan your humor!- Find a funny cartoon, a hyperbole, a ridiculous image, an outrageous simile, metaphor, idiom, joke, or artichoke about your topic. Don't fear, use google to find these!

2.) Timing is everything! Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it... Don't be in a rush to deliver the punch line. A dramatic pause leaves every student hanging off the tip of your tongue. (Not literally, thank goodness!)


3.) Involve your Audience in the action. Ask them a humorous question, give a funny quiz, have them shout out answers. Use the participation to build the tension before punch lines or to add silly movements to a sit and get presentation. When asking my students to get ready for white board exercises in math. I have them practice doing biceps curls and military presses with their white boards. This always gets a good response. Remember the most memorable activities involve your audience to write, speak, shout, move, stand, raise their hand or smack the person next to them (preferably with a blunt object). 


4.) Keep the students entertained by varying your voice! No one wants to listen to "Bueller... Bueller... Bueller," in a monotone voice. You are an actress (or actor) and you are on a stage. Heck you are famous, (at least to these 30 wide eyed children in front of you). So, take advantage. Use emotion, funny voices, dramatic pauses, screeching, shrills, noise effects, bodily sounds and songs to really make an impact on your student memories. Remember when it comes to voice level, tone and speed, the unexpected will always result in what you hope to expect... laughter!


5.) When you have nothing good left to say, spice up the curriculum with your face and body gestures. Your body tells more of the story than your voice. You have to paint a picture of funny in the students minds, so what you say is not as dramatic as what you do. Each point needs a funny face or dramatic acting to drive the point home. The more you act, the more engaged the students are. They forget that they are watching a teacher and start to feel that they are watching a movie or t.v. The only down side is the paycheck that you receive for your phenomenal acting skills. 


CAUTION: When implementing these tips, students may die of laughter, pee their pants, have crazy laughing fits or even worse love coming to school every day!


Remember, you want your students to remember the material! You want your students to remain engaged (after all increased engagement leads to less behavioral referral paper work for you). You want to love your job. So be the classroom comedian that I know that all of you can be!

If you are having trouble implementing the strategies above, please turn on your local comedy central and start taking notes.