PowerPoint Presentation

The Comedic Beauty of MathematicsThe Things We Learn Through Laughter

Laila Adelah Nur, M.A.Tlailanur@mfala.org

@msnurdoesmathThe Comedic Beauty of MathematicsThe Things We Learn Through Laughter

Laila Adelah Nur, M.A.Tlailanur@mfala.org

@msnurdoesmathIt All Started When

LAUSDMeStudentStudentLesson Plan (Dress)I Need Proof!

Such Beautiful MomentsIs this a linear equation?

2xy 5y = 6

Miss what about the '2xy'? The 'x' and 'y' are being multiplied.I don't know Miss...Maybe the 2 is just trying to be cute like that.Lesson LearnedIntegers often try to look cuter than one another to get closer to the variables.

Such Beautiful Moments

Miss can we call the parentheses Thun dun duns?

That's fine if it helps you understand how they work and what to do with them.

Okay distribute the negative one. Now you can drop the thun dun duns.Lesson LearnedIf you drop the parentheses to a beat, your students may never forget how they operate.

Research Shows

SAY WHAAAA?!Humor can increase students creativity, lower students anxiety and the affective filter, and contribute to students social and emotional development.Mcghee, Paul E., and Mary Frank. Humor and Children's Development a Guide to Practical Applications. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2014. Print.

Such Beautiful Moments

Let's say I square some number, x. In order to undo that operation I need to...

Take the square root!!

Okay. So if I cube some number, x, then in order to undo that operation, I need to...

Take the triangle root!!Lessons LearnedWe still need to work on looking for and expressing regularity in repeated reasoning.

AdvantagesLearn how students thinkPositive classroom climateCreating interpersonal relationshipsStudents willing to take risks

Slight DisadvantagesGoing from comedy to seriousnessNo hesitation to make jokes about teacherKeeping the jokes appropriate

Such Beautiful Moments

How do we verify that two functions are inverse functions?

Show that f of g and g of f both equal x.

Okay

Yea you have to do fog and gof. Hey missfog gof!

Lesson LearnedSometimes f#%k off really means I love youthank you for teaching me

So Whats The Formula?

Incorporate humor into your own dialogue, actions, and classroom materialsExplain expectations of humor usage and potential consequencesIdentify when students are uncomfortable with humor Provide students with vocabulary to be academically humorousGive positive feedback for humor usageFollow up classes with feedback to ensure learning Be an active participantStroud, Robert. "The Laughing EFL Classroom: Potential Benefits and Barriers." English Language Teaching 6.10 (2013): 72-85. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.Humor Outside of Class

Such Beautiful Moments

About how much taller am I than the student standing next to me?

Youre about twice as tall as the shorter person

So youre a square and shes a triangle

Whaaa?

Yeasince the area of a triangle is half the area of a square, that means shes a triangle and youre a squareLesson Learned

Sometimes the jokes are more than just jokes and we actually teach our kids something

Laugh About Math