I've just experienced much rich learning and sharing at Alan November's Building Learning Communities (#BLC16) in Boston. After chatting with Lena Marie Rockwood this morning, I've decided to write a number of brief posts to share the learning. Here it goes...
Charles Cooper facilitated a session on how humor can be a significant component to fostering an environment in which learning, sharing, collaborating and asking questions end up being natural by-products. When I arrived to the session, there was a YouTube video on showing very young children laughing silly with their parents. The participants in the session naturally broke out in laughter. We started laughing silly, connecting with those around us and had not yet bothered to introduce ourselves. It was almost like a basic need of connecting was already established due to the silly laughter. The laughter has facilitated our connections,
Imagine if natural connections through laughter could be one of the ways our learners connect in a classroom environment! Laughter can dispel fear, anxiety and reluctance. As long as the laughter is not at the expense of anyone in the room, a more relaxed and connected environment seems to be immediately created. Whether a humorous video is showing as learners enter our environment or whether we show a silly video prior to an assessment where learners might be a bit on edge, humor can help to calm us and help to facilitate an environment where learning and connecting is more natural.
Check out this link: Contagious Laughter
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