UNLOCKING WITH LAUGHTER

I heard some students giggling during study hall today, and, for some reason, it seemed like the sound of good education. “They must be learning something,” I said to myself – and as I thought about it for a minute or two, it became clear to me that I’ve always believed, without realizing it, in the pedagogic power of laughter. When we laugh, we are happy, and when we are happy we are relaxed, and when we are relaxed, the doors of our lives are open for a visit from wisdom. I love to see the students laughing in my classes, because their laughter means their lives are momentarily unlocked, ready to be surprised, perhaps even astonished, by a line from Shakespeare or the rules governing semicolons.