By © Monica Haydee Di Santi
Humor is the ability to find a comic or amusing quality in a situation, action or group of ideas, and it can not only help you to have fun but to harvest new ideas, overcome apathy and improve your teaching as well.
To be creative you have to break routine and take renewed approaches to teaching. One way to do so, is to loosen up your mind with humor. Paging comics, reading funny captions and writing your own jokes will help you relax and produce an interesting and different lesson plan.
Laughter is a psychological response to humor that brings you physical and mental benefits and sharing a joke produces an immediate social bond, showing you feel comfortable in that environment.
This spontaneous reaction to a comic or absurd situation provoked by a real situation or story you have read, will make you belly-laugh if you see yourself, your profession, a friend, or a spouse in that ludicrous situation.
Scientists believe laughter makes you healthier because it lowers the blood pressure and increases the oxygenation of the blood. Laughter also provides you with a natural process to cope with stressful situations and negative emotions, and it brings you mental comfort and well-being.
Laughter is associated with play and that’s why children laugh much more than grown-ups.
On Monday morning, the principal told his staff teachers, “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we have enough money to pay you higher salaries. The bad news is that the money is still out there in the parents’ s pockets.”
Tom came back home from school and said, “Mom I’m going to learn a second language this year.”
“Good,” said Dad. “ That’ll help you talk to foreigners.”
“Dad, what second language did you study when you were at school?”
“Latin,” he answered.
“And that helped him talk to the Romans he came across," added Mom.
“Hurray! Our teacher said we would have a test today, rain or shine.”
“Then why are you so happy”?
“Because it’s snowing.”
Teacher: “ Why are you late, Joseph?”
Joseph: “Because of a sign down the road.”
Teacher: “What does a sign have to do with your being late?”
Joseph: The sign said, "School Ahead, Go Slow!"
Have you laughed? or smiled at least? Feel better now? I hope so. Laughter is a wonderful and handy tool to make teaching and life more bearable.
© Monica Haydee Di SantiA version of this article has been published at www.absolutewriter.com
Monica Haydee Di Santi is an ESL teacher and has a master degree in Linguistics. She has been a teacher and speaker in Chile, Argentina and USA. She’s also a published translator and writer. Her work has been published in Mexico, USA, Hong Kong and India. She’s the author of www.e1-network.com