The Power of Laughter: Using Humor in the Classroom to Reduce Behavior

Humor increases engagement, diffuses conflict, increases retention and recall, and builds trust and connections.

It is seriously the kryptonite to inappropriate student behavior.

If you want to be able to use humor without it amping up your kiddos or students taking it too far, keep reading... Below I have 10 tips on how to use humor and still keep the calm.

These are all a part of the 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐄-𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞, which is linked below.

10 tips to use humor and keep the calm-

1. Don’t be afraid to look silly
2. Use a humorous and dramatic action when a student insults you
3. Use humorous phrases or metaphors in your presentations/instructions
4. Include memes or funny images in your slides
5. Do a joke of the week
6. Have students create silly poems and rhymes to remember concepts
7. Have students draw silly pictures to remember key concepts or key words
8. Laugh at yourself
9. Be mindful of sensitivies and apologise when neccessary
10. Stay genuine, authenticity is EVERYTHING

• Always model good humor and hold the boundary that we don't use humor to cause harm. Respectful humor is key!
• When it comes to students who get amped call "And Scene!" or another silly vocal cue to get them to come back down.
• If students take a little bit to come down, maintain your calm but don't feed into the excitement by raising your voice, your tone and demeanor should get EVEN calmer
• Use short explicit directions to get them to refocus

If you want more tips like these 👆 to prevent behaviors and have fun in your classroom, there are HUNDREDS of these types of tips in the Neurodivergent E-Book and Toolkit Bundle!

Click here to be taken to the toolkit- here.