Not Naturally Funny?

Take practical steps toward humor to teach well.

My soft-spoken colleagues who are uncomfortable with high-drama delivery find they can capture students' attention by taking easy, practical steps to becoming more engaging. They begin by smiling. (Why do we have to be SO serious anyway?) When you smile, you spread a warm blanket over shivering students. Smiling silently places you are in control.

Second, be your relaxed self. "Do" you because "doing you" is the best person you can be. Good teaching comes from real people. Talk naturally with your students, not AT them.

Return snarky student retorts with a spontaneously "planned" comment, like, "I used to think that way before I grew out of it." Casual comments can quietly redirect misbehavior.

More? Try teaching with a playful attitude by doing something unexpected. For example, when students are purposefully postponing work you have just assigned, try this. Approach them, pick up their pencil, and tell them that the reason they cannot begin writing is because their pencil is "cold." Then, roll the pencil vigorously back and forth between your palms. Tell them is like rebooting their computer when it is unresponsive. Hand back the warmed up pencil, smile, and say, "It should be working for you now." Then walk away. If they are not writing within a few minutes, visit them again to "discipline" the recalcitrant pencil. Pick it up, speak to the nonworking pencil announcing that it should know better because it has been to Pencil Training School! Then, break the pencil in half and place it in a jar marked IN SCHOOL SUSPENSION. Give them a friendlier crayon to use instead.