"Wise Teachers Make Learning A Joy"
-Chinese Proverb
-Chinese Proverb
Assignments:
- Read the introduction and through page 11 of the text.
- Please reflect on any ahas or main points.
- Share what you are already doing in your classrooms or daily lives that foster a "Fun-damental" Attitude.
- After going over the Pop Quiz on pages 10 and 11 reflect on your personal results.
Click on comments to add your thoughts, feelings and ideas
2 comments:
Read the introduction and through page 11 of the text.
Please reflect on any ahas or main points.
The admonition in the beginning of Chapter 1 reminded me that life is short, and we have to make the most of our time, good justification to laugh.
The inevitable frustrations of teaching reminded me of something I read in Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, in which he asserts that human beings are completely free to choose their reaction to any situation. This kind of thinking encourages perspective, as The Laughing Classroom says, so we can laugh off many "problems."
Humor's greatest benefit comes in building rapport. Students fear their teachers, at least intitially, but humor gives the students a surprise they had not expected.
Share what you are already doing in your classrooms or daily lives that foster a "Fun-damental" Attitude.
I already use humor in my classes. Another thing I do is try to keep things fluid, changing. I never want the students to predict how we'll next work; I like to keep them guessing and curious. I also encourage projects that access their prior knowledge and personal experiences. They feel connected, as a result, to my classes, particularly in Mythology, whereby the students take an archetype test and then combine with their archetypal "tribe" to perform a skit on their best attributes as King/Queen, Warrior, Wizard, Lover, or Enigma.
After going over the Pop Quiz on pages 10 and 11 reflect on your personal results.
I scored much higher on the quiz than I thought I would. I got 34 true's in the first category and 14 in the second. The reason this surprised me is because while not a cynic, I consider myself a stone-cold realist when it comes to my students. I am a student of human nature, which has a lot of darkness and laziness therein. These comments would no doubt get me tagged as a cynic. But I love teaching, and I incorporate strategies to meet the challenges of human nature. Rather than moping about selfish and lazy behavior, I do my best to thwart the darker instincts of my students. I adapt and teach accordingly. Humor is a critical aspect of this.
Some AHA's that caught my attention:
1. When people were asked to recall how many teachers they could honestly remember to be exceptional, motivating, and enthusiastic, with a sense of humor and playfulness, most could not name three teachers. Some could not even remember any teachers.
When I went to elementary school, many teachers used physical force to control students' behavior. From that stand point, they succeeded. However, students' active participation in the classroom suffered.
From fifth grade to eight grade, I went to a private catholic school. I disliked going there. That school ruined my desire to go to school. There was one teacher in particular that was like having the teacher from hell. That was the meanest teacher I have ever encountered.
The principal from that school, who happened to be a nun, was not far behind from that teacher. In a meanest competition, they could have both won first place.
I remembered both women's name but not from their wonderful motivating, enthusiastic, and exceptional qualities as educators.
2. Humor is a great method to release stress.
3. Enthusiasm and laughter are contagious.
What do I do to foster a "Fun-damental Attitude?
Since I have not taught for almost six years, I can share what I do on a daily basis. I play with my children a lot. I am enjoy this great opportunity to be able to stay home with my children. My family comes first, then my career.
I do many things to help me relax. One of them is reading. I love to read fiction.
If I succeed in getting me to the gym, another thing I do to release stress is exercise. When mom is relaxed, everybody in the family benefits from it.
Also, I tried to enjoy the small things in life such as: my kids' laugh, their goofiness, the sun, the plants, conversation with family and friends, etc.
AS a family, we like to watch America's Funniest Videos. We always get a good laugh.
I sometimes chase the kids around the house. I get to be the monster. If not when I vacuum, I chase them with the vacuum cleaner. They love it. It is funny to see them jumping on the couch.
Other times, we go on road trips and play car games with the kids. And, the list goes on and on.
Pop Quiz Reflection:
I was a little bit surprised at the results I got. Of course, I have not taught in a long time so this may not be a reliable score of my attitude at that time. On the first part, I scored 33 points. On the second part, I scored 15 points.
Although I started to feel a little burned- out on my eighth year of teaching, I tried to do the best I could to instill a love for learning. I was not a mean or sarcastic teacher. I cared about every student I had. Could I have done better? Definitely! If I teach again, will I make changes? You bet!
One thing I will do is to use more humor in the classroom. I would like to incorporate more music also. The book has also many good activities to incorporate in your teaching to make learning more fun.
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