sense of humour

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minajafari

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what should an English teacher do so as to have an enjoyable class? I think if a teacher doesn't have a sense of humor, s/he will have a boring class.what can I do in order to have a good sense of humor?
 

5jj

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[STRIKE]w[/STRIKE]What should an English teacher do [STRIKE]so as[/STRIKE] to have an enjoyable class? I think if a teacher doesn't have a sense of humor, s/he will have a boring class. [STRIKE]w[/STRIKE] What can I do in order to have a good sense of humor?
Nothing.

You either have, or do not have, a sense of humour (British English spelling).

However, if you feel that a sense of humour is important, here are a couple points to start with:

1. Try not to take yourself too seriously. If you happen to arrive in class wearing one brown sock and one red sock, or with your flies undone, accept it. Don't try to pretend it was planned, or is clever. Just accept that you are human.

2. Try not to take life too seriously. Accept that the biggest joke of all is that the only certain thing in life, once we survive birth, is that we will die:evilbat:. If you can't smile at that thought, give up all attempts at understanding humour.

3. Unless you are a professional comedian, never try to be funny.
 

Offroad

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Accept that the biggest joke of all is that the only certain thing in life, once we survive birth, is that we will die:evilbat:.
Don't forget taxes.
 

5jj

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Tdol

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3. Unless you are a professional comedian, never try to be funny.

I agree- forced humour is rarely funny. I don't think that jokes are necessary to make a class interesting and not being funny isn't a negative thing in any way if the classes are interesting in other ways. Humour can be effective, but if you're not that sort of person, don't worry about it. There are plenty of other ways to engage people.
 

SanMar

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Nothing.

You either have, or do not have, a sense of humour (British English spelling).

However, if you feel that a sense of humour is important, here are a couple points to start with:

1. Try not to take yourself too seriously. If you happen to arrive in class wearing one brown sock and one red sock, or with your flies undone, accept it. Don't try to pretend it was planned, or is clever. Just accept that you are human.

2. Try not to take life too seriously. Accept that the biggest joke of all is that the only certain thing in life, once we survive birth, is that we will die:evilbat:. If you can't smile at that thought, give up all attempts at understanding humour.

3. Unless you are a professional comedian, never try to be funny.


This was pretty funny!:lol:
 

mrang

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I use jokes to teach my lessons and many of my ex-students can still remember them. Sometimes, you can always do silly actions to elaborate rather than cracking your brain for jokes. That works well too.
 

TomUK

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In the morning look in the mirror and say to yourself: "So that's what my students will have to put up with all day long." If this does not instil a sense of humour into you, nothing ever will.

Quite often I ask myself: "What would I be without my sense of humour?"
And the answer is: "English".

TomUK
 
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You either have humor or you don't. Though if you're one of those unfortunate few, I'd recommend to liven the class up with exercises around those hidden camera clips they always show on airplanes. If you use funny content, you don't have to be (as) funny yourself! :)
 

Jimmy C

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Nothing.

You either have, or do not have, a sense of humour (British English spelling).

However, if you feel that a sense of humour is important, here are a couple points to start with:

1. Try not to take yourself too seriously. If you happen to arrive in class wearing one brown sock and one red sock, or with your flies undone, accept it. Don't try to pretend it was planned, or is clever. Just accept that you are human.

2. Try not to take life too seriously. Accept that the biggest joke of all is that the only certain thing in life, once we survive birth, is that we will die:evilbat:. If you can't smile at that thought, give up all attempts at understanding humour.

3. Unless you are a professional comedian, never try to be funny.
Great points but I would tend to disagree with the last one. I think anybody can be funny, and even if you are not, you can certainly try. I find that people and students in general appreciates your attempts and, the attempt usually at least lighten the atmosphere if you need to.
 
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