The Laughing Classroom: Everyone's Guide to Teaching with Humor and Play (Loomans, Diane)
Creating a laughing classroom offers one guarantee: positive  unpredictability.If students could choose their teachers the way the rest of us choose  seminar workshop leaders, just imagine how different education would be.  The classes, seminars and lectures that I've enjoyed and learned the most  from were given by teachers or speakers who were personable, fun to  listen to and included some activities or audience participation. On the  other hand, I remember school teachers who were so boring or intimidating  that I couldn't wait to be finished with their classes. If I learned  anything from them it was only out of fear or necessity, and the  information was forgotten as soon as the exams ended.Authors Diane Loomans and Karen Kolberg combine their talents inThe  Laughing Classroom, which should be required reading for every teacher  who sets foot in a classroom. This brilliantly illustrated book offers  many ideas for bringing humor and play to all aspects and levels of  teaching. The techniques, divided into Warm-ups, Laughing Lessons and  Play Breaks, are well laid-out and simple enough to use immediately.  There are methods for effective discipline, reframing negatives into  positive, before and laughter scenarios, and more. --The Light Connection, September 1994I only wish I had a humor mentor, especially one named Professor  Oops!The Laughing Classroomis a cure for teaching doldrums, lesson  languor and student stupor. Steve Allen, in the book's foreword, explains  how masters in any profession have healthy sense of humor and believe  their work is joyous necessity, not merely necessary. What more can we  ask as a teacher?Reach for this book on a difficult day. I promise you that after taking  the humor questionnaire, doing just one assignment from your humor  homework and glancing at several of Martha Westons clever  illustrations, you will be smiling. Also, you will find several ideas to  try in your own classroom. as the authors state, education is too  important to be taken seriously!The Laughing Classroomis filled with hands-on techniques to try in any  situation. From one-minute warm-ups (making three faces, passing the  compliment, mental flossing) to a five-minute play break (tongue  twisters, forgetful storytelling, 60-second mirthquake), even a novice  humorist will find an activity to try. I started with the three faces  warm-up. In this activity, students pair up back-to-back and practice  making sad, mad and glad faces. On the count of three they turn to face  each other while making one of the three faces. The object of the game is  to match faces with your partner without any other communication. Our  results were spontaneous and uplifting. After the activity, my students  sat down, ready to concentrate afresh on their lessons.Emboldened by my initial success, I next tried a more ambitious play  break: conducting. I played a lively, non-lyrical piece of music and  asked my students to silently conduct the orchestra in time to the  music. I chose an allegro section from The Nutcracker Suite, and was  amazed and excited to watch even my most restrained students waving their  arms and hands in time with the music, using their bodies to express the  emotions of the music.Chapter 28 introduces a more instructive and serious note. In Teaching  with Humor That Heals, the authors discuss discipline issues and provide  helpful insights for teachers who are desperate for behavior control  advice. Problem students are often modeling terrific forms of  playfulness[that are] just misdirected. Teachers who have taken our  courses have commented on a decrease in behavior problems in direct  proportion to the addition of humor and play in the classroom. If you  need an excuse to explore humor and play, behavior control is an  excellent goal to strive toward.The Laughing Classroommakes you smile and makes you think. You will find  yourself experimenting with activities just in case they work. Even if  making faces does not solve your behavior problems, what harm can a smile  and a laugh bring? If one minute of concentration can be gained for the  one minute of laughter, the classroom and our teaching world will be a  far happier place. Where laughter abounds, curious minds can  flourish. --Association for Childhood Education International, Summer 1995We all learn more effectively when we are enjoying the process. Humor  sets a social context within which most students feel comfortable and  appreciate learning. Loomans and Kolberg have written the best available  cornucopia of hands-on ideas for applying humor and easy-to-follow  techniques for increasing the playfulness of teaching. There are  warn-ups, laughing lessons, and play breaks.The Laughing Classroombegins with self-inventories concerning personal  uses of humor and extracts a laughing oath. There are 30 ideas for fast  and fun humor, 25 ways to go the extra smile, and the ABCs of fun.  Techniques include humorous ways to improve memory, enliven debates, and  promote cooperation. The authors demonstrate how to use humor in  discipline and ease tension with before and laughter scenarios.The format and illustrations are a joy.The Laughing Classroomis an  invaluable resource and probably a step toward better mental health for  all teachers. --Intervention in School and Clinic, January 1995--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.