A cartoon was shown of a classroom where students were literally hanging from the ceiling, tied by their feet. Outside the door, there was a sign that read In-School Suspension. This cartoon shown in a workshop on classroom management practically ensures a chuckle or two. That chuckle goes a long way in creating a climate conducive for learning. Tempers can be cooled and showdowns often avoided when a teacher employs the age-old strategy of humor.

Laughter has been called internal jogging because it can have as beneficial an effect on the brain and body as traditional jogging and aerobic exercise. When students are learning content by participating in motivating simulations, when there is feel-good music playing in the background, and when students are jogging internally, the positive environment so essential for retention of information is created.

Humor can also result from students’ involvement with games. I play Jeopardy with students and adults to review course content. Students love it and laugh the entire time. Other games such as ball toss, Wheel of Fortune, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire add excitement to what could be an otherwise boring lesson.

Eric Jensen suggests that middle or high school teachers appoint a class clown whose job it is to tell a riddle, pun, or joke at an appropriate time. After the class has worked hard and when their brains need some downtime, have the student tell the joke. Students will laugh, thereby facilitating memory and creating a positive classroom climate conducive to learning.

Don’t ever confuse humor with sarcasm. Any teacher that demeans or dehumanizes a student destroys the emotional support that so many students come to school needing. If you expect respect from your students, you must model it with your students.

What the Research Says

Humor and music are prime ingredients for improving students’ emotional states, and that emotional climate has so much to do with how much students can learn (Lengel & Kuczala, 2012).

Because the language skills of older adolescents are more highly developed, they can understand the subtlety of humor, irony, or satire (Feinstein, 2009).

The creative use of humor can engage students by making the content come alive, focusing students’ attention, increasing retention, and relieving stress (Cooper & Garner, 2012).

Make It Happen

• Buy a joke book, and start your class with a joke of the day. If you tell a joke at the beginning of each period and students begin to look forward to it, they will be sure to show up on time for your class. After all, who wants to miss out on an opportunity to laugh?

• Have students place appropriate jokes or riddles on cards and bring them to class. Read all jokes and riddles ahead of time for their appropriateness. Put all of the cards in a box, and have a student draw one card out daily. Share the joke with the entire class.

For more examples of how to use humor to improve classroom behavior, consult the 2nd edition of my best-selling book, Shouting Won’t Grow Dendrites.