Positive Learning Environment

This page is dedicated to how teacher can create a positive environment for learning.

Humour when used appropriately can always engage students in learning. In fact, it is a powerful tool a teach can possess. It can be used to defuse a a tense situation or heighten/lighten  the learning mood in a class. Below is an extract of a course I attended "Humour @ work: Happy Classroom, Engaged Learners" 

Some quotes

• • Humor is a top characteristic of the best teachers

    • “The best teachers I had were all good entertainers.” - Bill Moyers

  • Humor hooks the brain - in a good sort of way!

  • Humor increases creativity. Ha-ha to Aha!

  • Humor contributes to a climate that optimizes learning.

  • Humor improves mood.

    • “We absorb the mood of the people around us.”~ Daniel Goleman

Theories Of Humor

l. lncongruity Theory - (Kant, Schopenhauer)

• • Multiple meanings

  • Detecting ambiguities

  • Sudden shift of perspective

ll. SuperiorityTheory -(Plato,Aristotle, Descartes)

    "Everything is funny as long as it’s happening to someone else.”- Mark Twain

• • Humor to inflate our own ego

  • Humor to deflate others we feel are superior

  • Seeing flaws in others as compared to ourselves

lll. Relief/Release Theory - (Freud)

• • Temporary freedom from our restrictions

  • Rebellion against the repressive or uncontrollable

  • Levity in a tense situation.

IV. Humor as a Form of Play - (Eastman)

• • A reversion to childish innocence

V. Humor Exposes the Truth - (White)

• • Rips away the veils of pretense

  • Reveals truth of human nature and human affairs

from "Licence to Laugh" by Richard A. Shade

The Four Forms of Humour

KEYS TO THE SUCCESSFUL USE OF HUMOR

I. Relationship

• • Know your audience

  • Tell stories with a purpose

ll. Rapport

• • Have an understanding of your audience‘s feelings

  • Should be laughing with, not at someone

Ill. Setting

• • Make sure the humor is appropriate for the space

  • Humor should enhance, not distract

  • Respect everyone with earshot

IV. Timing

• • Allow time for the imagination to work

  • Remember the non-verbal pathway to humor

Areas of humor to avoid: 

• 1. Sexual

  2. Ethnic/racial

  3. Religious

  4. Hostile/Sick  

  5. Demeaning to Men/Women       

From "A Lauging Place" by Christian Hageseth III, M.D.

HOW T0 DEVELOP YOUR PERSONAL SENSE OF HUMOR

• • Look for humor in everything“Nothing is quite as funny as the unintended humor in reality." - Steve Allen

    • Collect humor - Keep a journallfile/bulletin board/library of:

    • Books    Magazines     Oxymorons    Jokes     Stories     Cartoons     Headlines

    • Signs     Anecdotes     Excuses     Videos/Audio tapes

  • Smile more - Lighten up - Be more playful

  • Participate in humorous activities

    • Dress up for “dress-up" day

    • Create/perform in a sketch written by/for your colleagues

    • Make a presentation in costume

  • Use humor in your correspondencelsurveys/tests

  • Hang out with funny people - try the humor buddy system

  • Try out other styles/formsof humor

  • Tell stories about yourself

  • Have some sort of humor on hand