Bro. Paul Galantawicz’s humor was one of the many things that made our science lessons memorable and enjoyable. He made us laugh a lot. He taught us Biology and Chemistry from grade nine to eleven (O’levels) at St. Xavier’s Jawalakhel School.
One of the many he did to that end, for example, was either start every lesson or one of the lessons a week with jokes. I forget which. Regardless, he would tell us five jokes. We would then vote for our favorite and the one that got the most votes would become the “Joke of The Day”!
Many of the jokes came from books, which he would basically read aloud from. I remember there being at least a few different “series.” One of the series I still remember jokes from is “The Pisser Jokes”!
The other North-American teachers used humor as well. And, no different from Bro. Paul, they also shared a lot of themselves with us making the lessons memorable and enjoyable. They would talk to us about their personal lives, about their interests, hobbies, and daily activities they engaged in etc. — weaving many of them into our lessons, something I endeavor to do too.
I have NO recollection of any Nepali teacher doing any of that as a matter of course. Or, if they did, they were so few and far in between that they failed to leave any impression on me. I have next to no recollection of a Nepali teacher sharing jokes in class or using humor and making us laugh a lot. Again, clearly, at least not enough for me to remember anyway.
Sadly, if what I have observed is typical, that is STILL the norm. I have visited many schools — both urban and rural, both private and public — and observed many teachers. But I rarely observed them using humor!
As a matter of fact, that had been so striking that on September 11, 2019, I made a Facebook post inquiring why they don’t.
Just the day before I made the post, during a lesson at a school with tenth graders, I had used humor and made the students laugh a lot!
One of the things I have been trying to pass on — as a tool — to the teachers I work with is, of course, humor! And what better way to get that across than to use it with them at workshops for them?!
The following short five-minute video comes from the beginning of the introductory workshop for teachers, one that I have conducted a number of times. Apart from humor, I surprise them with something they didn’t expect about — and from — me in order to grab their attention and hold it!
And I am sure it was that element of surprise and the unexpected that got some of my students in Azerbaijan anxious to leave their math class for chemistry, as per the anecdote shared with me by a colleague, their math teacher.
And, of course, like I said, I still use humor when engaging with students. The following short, less-than-two-minute- long video is an example of just that. It comes from the beginning of my presentation I made some time ago to the IB Diploma year 1 students at Ullens School in Kathmandu.
(The first joke about the floor, which none of the students laughed at, was in reference to the fact that the room I was presenting in, strangely, did NOT have anything to sit on and the students sat on the floor! Before I started speaking, the presentation had started off with two of their teachers talking to them. Anyway, did you get the joke?)
If you are a teacher in Nepal, please please PLEASE use humor!
What do you think?
