Got Laughter?

When you teach 3 year olds to 8th graders, you have to be ready for anything. Sometimes I think, "What would another teacher think about the way I teach?" or "I don't think another teacher would handle it this way." Most of the time, instead of disciplining the students (which another teacher may do), I can't help but laugh. Of course, I don't do this with all the classes. In some cases, if I encourage a little, they go to the extreme and chaos may erupt. However, I can't help it sometimes. I laugh at things the students do or say as long as it's appropriate and they know not to take advantage of it and go to the extreme. Today I was laughing so hard I was crying.

I was practicing with a few students for the Christmas program. One girl was in a small singing group and had the giggles. The methods she was using to "get rid of her laughter" had me cracking up. They might have helped her, but the plan backfired on me. I was crying from laughing so hard. This was good because getting ready for a Christmas program is stressful.

Joy and laughter does increase motivation. Maybe some teachers would discipline more when I would simply laugh, but I'm content with how I manage my classroom as long as the students know the boundaries of controlled fun in the classroom.

Check out this video about the fun theory. Last time I checked, this video had over 8 million views.