Humor in the Classroom

As a science teacher/administrator for 46 years at all education levels elementary through graduate school the author witnessed a variety of classroom situations that were not only funny but often very instructive. In his book Humor in the Classroom: From Busby to Brown he relates numerous incidents of humor that occurred in his teaching career as well as those of many of his colleagues. The incidents of humor occurred at all grade levels and in a wide variety of institution types-from a tiny Native American boarding school in southeastern Montana (Busby) to Brown University. The point of the book is twofold-to entertain the reader (most folks have gone to school) and to show teachers and aspiring teachers how humor can be a powerful instructional tool. Most of the funny happenings revealed in the book are from the author's experience but several former and present-day colleagues friends and acquaintances have added their own humorous school stories to the mix. The book chronicles the humor that occurred in the author's and his colleagues' classrooms from 1964-2006 and includes stops in Montana South Dakota Wyoming North Carolina Rhode Island and back to North Carolina. The point of the book is that a sense of humor is not only a prerequisite to being a good teacher but it can help students in the learning process as well.