Background/Context: Despite the importance of students' active engagement for learning, little is known about how teachers create environments that are supportive of students' positive motivational and learning-related beliefs, particularly at the high school level. Furthermore, most of the studies that have described teacher practices in relation…

Provides tips for integrating appropriate humor in teaching and when not to use humor. (SK)

Learning and laughter go hand in hand. Teachers certainly do not need to be stand-up comedians and spew out one-liners or dress up like clowns to make their classes fun. A little comedy can bring a lot of joy and learning opportunities to the classroom. In this article, the author shares several strategies on how teachers can put in laughter into…

As a teacher of 11-to 13-year-olds, the author sees that her role definitely requires a sense of humor. A charismatic personality and the ability to lighten things up go a long way toward an enjoyable relationship with this age group. For Michelle Willard, a certain amount of levity in dealing with typical developmental issues is the key to…

Reports on ways of having fun with the classics of literature. Describes classroom uses of parody and satire to emphasize the themes and characterizations found in Shakespeare, J.D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway, and other noted authors. (RL)

Approaches a writing assignment in an all-girls classroom by differentiating between what men think is funny ("guyfun") and what women think is funny ("galfun"). (NKA)

Suggests that teachers of required history courses have a particularly challenging task in their first class meeting because of the captive nature of their audience. Proposes using the technique of providing humorous information and intriguing anecdotes to stimulate student interest. Provides a list of such items for teacher use. (KO)

Advertisements can be used in many ways to facilitate the teaching of a commercial language. If reproduced as slides or other visual aids, they serve as a visual warm-up exercise for each class period, either reinforcing previously discussed topics or introducing new ones. Catchy headlines in commercials promote rapid expansion of vocabulary and…

Suggestions for communicating and therefore teaching college students effectively are put forth. Emphasis is on lively interactions between students and teachers, with additional focus on the instructor's need to understand student needs both in the classroom and after graduation. Specific methods are illustrated with classroom examples for…