Eleventh Teaching Reflection

Recently in class Cory presented about using humor pedagogically, and it spurred a lot of thinking on my part because I've done quite a bit of research relevant to the topic of humor use for my master's thesis. That said, I thought this would be a good outlet to revisit the notion on my own. I find that the idea of humor is extremely nuanced and deserves further consideration when consciously using it to teach.

Understandbly, humor is a valuable teaching tool for establishing a classroom climate conducive to learning. I think that a good teacher will consider all of our opportunities for incorporating humor in the college classroom, reviewing the impact of humor on learning outcomes, and being savvy of the appropriate use of humor. Of particular interest is humor in classes which students may avoid due to a lack of self-confidence, perceived difficulty of the material or a previous negative experience in a content area. Appropriate and timely humor in the college classroom can foster mutual openness and respect and contribute to overall teaching effectiveness.

I also think that humor use can establish rapport right from the beginning. Teachers must be creative because of the critical role we play in creating an environment conducive to optimal student learning, therefore if we can interject some sort of laughter into the first few weeks, then our students know that they are able to approach us while also knowing that we take a realistic approach to learning. I really enjoy telling funny stories about myself on the first day of class right on through the end of the semester. Many times I can see my students gain a fresh sense of energy and perk up when I start making them laugh. This playfulness is always welcome and it successfully communicates my implicit classroom rules.

Humor may also be used to communicate issues related to classroom management. I usually talk about my "top ten pet peeves" to correct behavior in a humorous way, without embarrassing any class members. When I do this it's really funny but it also conveys to my classroom what they shouldn't do BEFORE they do it... we all have a laugh and then we're reminded of what I expect of them.

Overall humor serves my classroom objectives well because it is useful in facilitating attention, bolstering motivation, improving comprehension, and most valuably, augmenting conceptual retention. I could go on and on about this, but I can't right now because I'm really tired. Maybe I'll revisit this topic later =)