California Educator

December 2013

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Humor In my seventh- and eighth-grade beginning and advanced art classroom, we recognized the incredible humor of the Pop Art movement, which frequently included overscaled images of cartoons (Lichtenstein), giant spoons, clothespins (Oldenburg), and garish portraits of celebrities (Warhol). And then, of course, there were the surrealists! — JOHN HOUCHIN, President, Santa Barbara Teachers Association I ask that students who want extra credit tell the class a joke. One joke a week. Can't be racist, sexist, or "dead baby" jokes. Should not be pilfered from a third-grader. Must be handed in, but in handwriting, not a computer printout. This gives kids the opportunity to speak before class in a relatively nonthreatening mode, and usually starts class on a positive note. — DENNIS KELLY, President, United Educators of San Francisco We are studying genetics in my science class. To help seventhgraders deal with gametes (egg and sperm) and fertilization, I use props. I have a toy egg and sperm. They love them (especially when I ask "who has my sperm"). GIANTmicrobes (giantmicrobes.com/us) makes stuffed animals that look like common microbes. — KAROLEE J. SMILEY Twin Rivers United Educators DRY H UMOR: IQ check! P U NS: Kids love them, and they engage abstract thinking. Are they peally raying attention? I DIOM S: English learners benefit, as do primary English speakers. S I M I LES: Wacky comparisons help teach that figure of speech and reinforce learning. H I N K P I N KS: Rhyming riddles teach synonyms and can be very funny. — DAVID SINGER  Ocean View Teachers Association SP OON E R IS M S: Elementary school, grades 4-5. There has to be laughter every day in a classroom. I have a riddle a day that students can write the answer to for a sticker at the end of the day. Solving riddles definitely takes higher order thinking skills and thinking outside the box. Sometimes there are groans mixed with the laughter. — TRISH GORHAM, Oakland Education Association Comic strips. Not just funny ones, but many times those with a touch of social conscience. Kids love it. — DAVID CUESTAS Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association Know&Tell I use puns in my seventh-grade honors life science classroom. It helps to keep things lighthearted, and it helps with listening skills and critical thinking. For example, I recently asked students to draw a leaf to help illustrate the photosynthetic reaction, and I told them that high-quality drawings of this sort are "never in vain" — a pun on the veins that appear in many different species of plants. I usually first get a smirk, and then, after a brief pause, laughter is the reward. I believe laughter is an important part of creating a positive learning environment for my students. — GREG BONACCORSI, Fremont Unified District Teachers Association I try to find funny sayings, pictures or funnies to make students laugh as they enter the room. It sets the mood, makes them laugh, and we may or may not have an impromptu conversation about it. Sometimes they actually have to THINK about them! The kids love it. Some actually send me new ones to use — even the school secretaries! — DAVE RODGERS, Visalia Teachers Association USING HUMOR IN THE CLASSROOM B E Y O N D T H E F U N FA C T O R , humor can be an effective way to engage students and activate learning. We asked members about how they use humor in the classroom. Read what they had to say. READ MORE ON PAGE 20. D ECEMBER 201 3 | JANUARY 2014 Educator 12 Dec 2013 v2.0 int.indd 19 www.cta.org 19 12/14/13 3:33 PM

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