Laughter Is The Best Medicine

By. Teresa Marchant

If I don’t laugh, I think I might cry because education is being politically divided, daily. Wear a mask, don’t wear a mask! Get vaccinated don’t, get vaccinated!  Kids should be in school, kids should be taught remotely!  Educators have definitely shown that they are super heros and we will continue to do so, no matter what challenges we may face in the future.

Whatever your stances are, I believe we all want what’s best for children. That’s right -they are OUR children. We will spend more time with them than any other adult in their life.  Regardless of how you return to school this fall you will want to build strong relationships in your classrooms, libraries, buses, or cafeterias. We have a profound influence on those we teach.

Last year was difficult for teachers AND students. One way to combat a difficult time, is through humor. As we add a bit of humor to our lives, we can relieve stress. Humor may just be what you need to recharge your love of teaching and be ready for school in the coming weeks.

Here are a few of our favorites:

Which month has 28 days? All of them!

Why does the math book always look so sad?  Because it always has problems!

Why did the teacher wear sunglasses?  Because the students were so bright!

To lighten the mood in your classroom, try adding a joke of the day or week.  My students loved this idea and couldn’t wait to see the next joke. They were even giving me jokes to post on the board!

Another idea to relieve stress is to stay organized with lessons and schedules.  Last week, I talked about establishing routines.  This is a great way to set expectations beginning on the first day of school. Consider using a happy planner so you can customize your schedule and  include routines, jokes, riddles, or encouragements.  This way your students will never see the same joke twice.  We do more than teach reading, writing, arithmetic, or any other content. We teach the whole student. By adding humor, you may be able to connect with students you wouldn’t otherwise.