The Laughing Teacher: Laughter + Affirmation FUEL Growth

APRIL? Happy April Fools Day!

Spring, is really truly and officially in the air!

I was so delighted with Mar's recent article here on the value of laughter and how laughing and singing and music and happy brains are all connected.... that I thought I would piggy-back right on top of her reflections. If you somehow missed her article, by all means get over there, because she offers you a free download and we ALL know how teachers LUV free stuff!  

In the spirit of mirth, let's explore further!

Can I get a giggle?

This being the beginning of April, by the scientific chart above, 

my guess is that many of you are  somewhere in the purple phase. 

Yes. Indeedie-do! 

There is stress and then there is teacher-stress. 

Insert giggle here:________ (it IS good for you, like flossing and broccoli!)

Time for a little introspection now. 

What type of teacher are you? 

Check the staff development chart below to determine your type.

According to my own research? 

The world has all too many boring, strict, bad and lazy folks.

And yes. Some of those four types are in education.  

If you're reading here you're already in the best-of-the-best category. 

My effort today is to help you along your "fun" journey and to provide you with some research and muscle power to advocate for the HUMOR, JOY and LAUGHTER that we all 'know' are needed when working with children {while living on Planet Earth!} 

Next are a couple of TED talks devoted to the advocating of PLAY 

on behalf of children! 

According to these authorities, 

play and laughter are officially diminishing. 

{You probably don't need an 'authority' to be in agreement.}

Don't take my word for it. 

Listen to these brilliant wonders and their thoughts. 

Now we've determined that if you're anything but a FUN teacher, 

you seriously need to turn yourself around. 

GOOD NEWS!

You've come to just the right spot. 

I have a clinic for just that sort of make-over!

This sign goes with the corollary t-shirt + bumper sticker: 

"WHAT IF THE HOKEY POKEY 

IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT?!?"

What I do know to be true, comes from another bumper sticker 

in my personal collection.

If you want to be here, in this career, 

a season from now, a year from now, a decade from now,

AND the decade after that? 

You simply MUST learn how to laugh!   

We must learn how to laugh and you must engineer laughter,

teaching it to others in generous dollops of chuckling + gales of guffaws.

We as educators (and parents and grandparents and neighbors) 

must teach others how to laugh.

We must teach others how to 'see' the humorous.

We must have tools at our disposal:

We must have puppets, props and costumes, 

picnic baskets of the unexpected. 

We must have tricks and novelty up our sleeve.

We must have poems in our pockets and 

knock-knock jokes at the ready.

WE MUST BE WILLING!  

We must be willing to see our own foibles.

We must be willing to share those foibles as well!

Laughter is the very best insulation between 

 the stress and realities of our lives

and our dreams and potential. 

AND TRUST ME,

There are times when absolutely NOTHING is funny!

As a two-time cancer survivor, I know about things not being funny. 

And yet, we are directed to LAUGH! 

Laughter is good for you! 

What if you are in a 'season' where nothing is funny? 

Then my friends? 

You must:
"LAUGH ON CREDIT! "

Think of opening a laughter credit card! 

Some day this will be funny.... 

I'll put it on credit today! 

Go ahead and laugh NOW!

I was introduced to LAUGHTER YOGA by my sweet cancer-surviving sister, Linda, who has led numerous laughter-workshops around the globe. 

It turns our that our bodies and minds can receive all of the benefits of laughing,

 even when there is nothing that is actually funny! 

Linda is a kind, compassionate and generous individual. Which came first? 

The laughter or the generosity?

It is possible to be compassionately engaged in laughter from a wheel chair.

Linda is a living example of a Stage IV Meta-vivor filled with mirth,

so much laughter that it spills over onto all in the vicinity -- 

AND THROUGH PHONE LINES!

These next five images are from the website: 

Laughter Wellness with Karen. 

Stunning in their graphic glory, 

but all the more 'wondermous' for their knowledge!

Brilliant Karen "TEACHES" laughter as a career! 

I've done some clicking around on the web and found LOTS of additional resources for you! 

"How Laughter Helps in Schools and the World of Education"

"Why Laughter Makes Classroom Management more Effective" 

"Comedy in the Classroom: 50 Ways to Bring Laughter into any Lesson" 

"Study Shows how Humor Activates Child's Brain"

"40 Ideas to Experience Childlike Playfulness as Adults"

"Best Teaching Practices: Humor in the Classroom"

8 Back-to-School Activities that will get Students Laughing and Learning

"Laughing in the Classroom Safely"

"Using Humor in the Classroom" 

"Learning with Laughter and Play"

***As often happens.... it seems I'm not ever done with an article. There is so much to be said on this topic, but time has elapsed for now. I hope to expand with further thoughts, but this is what I have with the time available. 

I pulled up this FREEBIE pdf for our End of Year #TeacherFriends Twitter Chat last night and feel like you could appreciate having this ahead of time for your planning purposes. 

Go over to our Early Education Emporium to download your copy. Scroll down. It is RIGHT in the MIDDLE of my resources! Download. Print. Personalize. VOILA! 

While you're planning for your GRAND FINALE and all of your End-of-Year Performances, I want to remind you that I have two songs that are especially appropriate at this time of year! 

Whether you're looking for a great self-esteem song, or something more on the patriotic line, each of my songs is available in digital format. Each zipped file includes two Mp3s: one each of a sung version and the second is for the instrumental! There are pdfs included as well. Your students will enjoy learning the sign language to support their singing! 

Each file is available at our Early Education Emporium and at Teachers Pay Teachers, too! 

Teaching Kindness and Acceptance

I just adore Chrysanthemum...How can you not fall in love with this sweet, cute, precious little mouse?? Even my students love her!

  

This year, we kicked off the year using the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, to teach our unit on names. After reading the book to students and completing the activites, I had to ask myself, "Why have I never used this book to teach names, acceptance, kindness and respect for ourselves and others? WHY WHY WHY??"

 On the first day I just read the story to students and let them discuss what we read.

One the second day, before I read the story, I had a large red heart that I showed the children. We talked about how nice and pretty the heart was without any crinkles or markings on it. Then I told the children that each time they heard hurtful words, to crumple up the heart. I got this idea from Nancy over at First Grade W.O.W! Click on the link to take you directly to her post on this particular Chrysanthemum mini unit and to get other ideas! (She has some really great ideas for teaching social skills, I love her blog!)

At the end of the book, our heart was crumpled and it actually even tore a little bit. This brought us to the discussion of how words that we use can be hurtful and when we use hurtful words, they make a mark on someones heart that can't be fixed. I showed that students that once a heart is broken...or crinkled, it may never be the same...we can't smooth out the heart after those words are said...we can't take back hurtful words. I let that soak in for a little bit and let the students discuss their feelings and if someone has ever hurt them.

Day 3, I read the story yet again and this time we talk about ways to help heal someones heart or keep it from getting hurt. Some of the ideas my students came up with were: Saying I am sorry, not using those words at all, being kind to everyone, not  making fun of others and helping others.
After that discussion, we took our band-aides and helped to heal Chrysanthemum's heart and attached a poem to the center that reads: Before you speak, think and be smart. It's hard to fix a wrinkled heart!

Day 4 - Students made their own Chrysanthemum! The kiddos were so proud of them and I must say, they turned out adorable! We also made speech bubbles, from Chrysanthemum that say "I think the name _________ is perfect! Love, Chrysanthemum" I made this into our bulletin board for the quarter, to remind my students to always think before they speak.

Day 5: I let the kiddos act out the story as I narrated. Since this was our first acting of the school year, of course many of the students were shy and not sure what to do, but they tried their best and NO ONE made fun of each other...and that is all that mattered because that meant, the lesson taught them exactly what it was supposed to :)

And I must say after doing this mini unit, I hear my students complimenting each other all day long, every day! It is such a wonderful sound...music to my ears.

 Carie is a kindergarten teacher from Illinois who writes on the 17th of each month. She shares her experiences and ideas from her classroom, writing about reading, writing, math, Art, and several other fun and exciting things!

Carie also writes her own blog: 

Kindergarten Hugs

Kindergarten Hugs