.png)
Using Humour
Bennett and Smilanich (1994, p. 81) stated that students “...like teachers who are open and who have a sense of humour”. Teachers that are willing to make appropriate use of wit within the classroom are the teachers students will remember for a life time, the ones that touch them, and the ones that motivate them to learn. This is because teachers are working towards creating a positive classroom environment. With the goal being to optimise student learning, using wit can be a way to not only get students attention, but retain it as well as creating positive cohesive bonds between teachers and students (Bennett & Smilanich, 1994). The key is to make sure it is appropriate and non-discriminatory. Optimising learning can be about finding ways to make studens retain information in order to be able to pull that knowledge at the right time. Even now, people that are well over the leaving age can recall the sames of teachers that used appropriate humour in order to make their lessons engaging, and the past-student can, in some instances, remember the lesson content (S. Smith, personal communication, July 22, 2009).
.png)
.png)
I didn't do it!
A little girl came home from school and said to her mother, "Mommy, today in school I was punished for something that I didn't do. "The mother exclaimed, "But that's terrible! I'm going to have a talk with your teacher about this ... by the way, what was it that you didn't do?" The little girl replied, "My homework." (teacher-appreciation.info, n.d.)
Biology Exam
Mr. Jacobs, the biology instructor at a posh suburban girl's junior college, said during class, "Miss Arnold, would you please name the organ of the human body, which under the appropriate conditions, expands to six times its normal size, and define the conditions." Miss Arnold gasped, then said freezingly, "Mr. Jacobs, I don't think that is a proper question to ask me. I assure you my parents will hear of this." With that she sat down red-faced. Unperturbed, Mr. Jacobs called on Miss Jones and asked the same question. Miss Jones, with composure, replied, "The pupil of the eye, in dim light." "Correct," said Mr. Jacobs. "And now, Miss Arnold, I have three things to say to you. One, you have not studied your lesson. Two, you have a dirty mind. And three, you will someday be faced with a dreadful disappointment." (teacher-appreciation.info, n.d.)
The student and the pharmastist
A somewhat advanced society has figured how to package basic knowledge in pill form. A student, needing some learning, goes to the pharmacy and asks what kind of knowledge pills are available. The pharmacist says, "Here's a pill for English literature." The student takes the pill and swallows it and has new knowledge about English literature! "What else do you have?" asks the student. "Well, I have pills for art history, biology, and world history," replies the pharmacist. The student asks for these, and swallows them and has new knowledge about those subjects. Then the student asks, "Do you have a pill for math?" The pharmacist says, "Wait just a moment," and goes back into the storeroom and brings back a whopper of a pill and plunks it on the counter. "I have to take that huge pill for math?" inquires the student. The pharmacist replied, "Well, you know... math always was a little hard to swallow." (teacher-appreciation.info, n.d.)
.png)
