MORE. Seriously Fun Strategies for Motivation and Engagement. Prepared exclusively for attendees at the Learning Forward 2015 Annual Conference

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1 MORE Seriously Fun Strategies for Motivation and Engagement Prepared exclusively for attendees at the Learning Forward 2015 Annual Conference Lead change. Maximize impact. Washington DC December 8, 2015 Facilitated by: Carolyn Hirst-Loucks and Mr. Kim P. Loucks Teaching and Learning Connected 601 Sunset Lakes Boulevard SW Sunset Beach North Carolina

2 December 8, 2015 Washington DC Dear Colleague, Thank you for joining us today for MORE Seriously Fun Strategies for Motivation and Engagement. It is our sincere pleasure to have been asked to be a part of Learning Forward s Annual conference and be in our nation s capital. While everyone in this session benefits from your participation and contributions, it is those with whom you interact who will ultimately gain as a result of your efforts this morning and you, too, will have fun and be more successful. Teaching and Learning Connected (TLC) offers professional development opportunities to help anyone interested in achieving success at higher levels; providing clients with the tools and research to make the important connection between the work they do and how that work impacts their success. A variety of topics are available, such as, Building Leadership Capacity, Effective Questioning Techniques, Multiple Intelligences, MORE Serious Fun, Study Strategies for Student Success, Teaming for Success and True Colors. Please contact us for more information about TLC and visit our blog at to continue the learning from our morning. Have a seriously fun holiday season and may EVERYTHING you do be filled with success! Think Success, Think TLC! 2

3 Neologism The Washington Post publishes the winning subscriptions to its yearly neologism (a newly coined word or expression) contest. Readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. Here a few of the winners from 2011: Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller. Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash. Negligent (adj.), a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your Frisbee flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn t get it. A tour-tist 3

4 Developmental Sequence of Humor Below, in the far left column, are different ages/age ranges of human development. Descriptions of how we behave as humans at these different ages/ranges are given in the right column. Match the Age with the Human Behavior. Age/Age Range Humor Behavior 1 week A. Body functions, body noises, taboo words, clowning, silly rhyming, slapstick, chanting, and misnaming are funny. Enjoys simple riddles and word play with own names (Sticky Micky or Silly Sally). Responds to the social smile but has little capacity for sympathetic humor. Exaggerations of size and shape are funny, as is any form of surprise. 2 months B. Grins in response to configuration of human face. 4 months C. Responds to perceptual incongruities such as distortions of objects and words; rhyming nonsense words are funny ( daddy addy or maddy saddy ). 2 to 4 years D. At the beginning of this stage, concrete puns, conventional jokes, word plays, and knock-knock jokes are popular. Gradually sympathetic humor emerges, but there is still perseveration of things that strike them as funny: retelling jokes and doing stunts. Delights in anything that deviates from the norm, taboo subjects or things adults disapprove of. Begins to accept some jokes about self, can be teased. Marked increase in verbal humor over the previous stage. Toward the end of this stage, begins to learn to use humor for personal ends, including channeling negative feelings into positive humorous situations. 4 to 6 years E. Smiles during sleep and in response to tactile stimulation. 7 to 8 years F. Laughs when presented such stimuli as tickling, body contact, large toys, rhythmic or unexpected movements, teasing, and peekaboo games. 9 to 12 years G. Begins to reflect on why someone laughs and deprecates laughter that is unfeeling. Original good-natured humor, including sarcasm and selfridicule, are appreciated. Tongue-in-cheek humor, social satire, and irony become preferred humor models. Kidding, joking insults, loud laughter in public places may be observed. Forbidden topics are not laughed at in mixed company. Verbal wit is increasingly dominant over visual. Noticeable tendency to use humor to save face. Ability to parody may appear. 13 years + H. Becomes aware of linguistic ambiguity and realizes that words and phrases cannot always be taken literally. This is the height of the practical joke period; others discomfort is perceived as funny. Riddles and jokes are repeated incessantly. Enjoys stories in which animals behave like humans. Derived from the cognitive state theories of Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Jane Loevinger and the work of Paul McGhee, prepared January,

5 Cats and Dogs Questionnaire Please read through the cat and dog descriptors for each category. Think about your professional or personal life. From that perspective, check the one that best describes you. At the end, tally your checks in each column. Category Description of my cat-ness Description of my dog-ness Confidence/competency More confident than competency warrants More competent than confident Voice pattern Credible Approachable Aware of others Not very aware Much more aware Power Comfortable with it Shies away from it Seeks Promotion/challenge Comfort Conflict Doesn t back away Frightened and confused Often unaware if they cause the conflict Hesitant to point out something Innate traits Ambitious Vulnerable Just being themselves Very aware of others Average trait Wants to be respected Wants to be liked Extreme trait Arrogance Guilt-ridden Extreme trait when stressed Seen as angry Seen as pleading/victim Extreme trait when calm Seen as definitive Seen as seeking information People Held accountable Highly accepting Emphasis On issues On morale/relationship Management style Intervene early Intervene much later Level of influence Greater influence Lesser influence Self-image Self-selects Dependent on how others see them Perfection Motivated by progress Loves doing the same activity that satisfied others in the past As parents Assures their children that they are someone Encourages their children that they can be someone Purpose in life To dabble and tinker To be happy New things If self-selected, very excited Might be reluctant to try, wants to do them well Intrigue vs. Clarity Loves intrigue Loves clarity Learning levels Introduced to and inspired by complex skills Polishes old skills and masters new skills Decision-making process Loves to decide Would rather only gather information Cat total Dog total 5

6 Position and Person Axes Cat/Position + Dog/Person Michael Grinder and Associates;

7 Partners-Paraphrase When students are emotionally engaged with learning, certain neurotransmitters in the brain signal to the hippocampus, a vital brain structure involved with memory, to stamp this event with extra vividness. (Cahill, 2000 in Educational Leadership: November 2001). Humor can increase the meaningfulness of material and enhance learning and retention of such material by increasing associations between material to be learned and material students already know. (Shade, From License to Laugh: Humor in the Classroom.) The cognitive process used to understand a joke is similar to that involved in problem solving. In addition, the mental processing of humor involves using the right hemisphere and is similar to the processing of creativity. (Svebak, The Effect on Mirthfulness Upon the Amount of Discordant right-left occipital EEG alpha, 1982 and Derks, P.L., Humor Production, 1987) A seriously fun classroom is a learning environment where academics are rigorous, students are engaged, and learning is clearly evident. The classroom setting is such that the activities and strategies employed promote higher-level thinking to gain knowledge. (Hirst-Loucks and Loucks, 2014 in Serious Fun: Practical Strategies to Motivate and Engage Students) 7