From My Father to My Classroom: The Healing Power of Laughter

The Power of Laughter in Learning

“A cheerful heart is good medicine.”
Proverbs 17:22

I’ve always loved this verse because it tells the truth in just a few words.
Joy heals.
Laughter softens.
And sometimes, a smile opens doors that strategies and systems never will.

As an educator, especially one working with students who were frustrated, discouraged, or labeled “at-risk,” I learned early on that learning doesn’t begin with content. It begins with trust.

And trust often begins with laughter.

The Humor I Inherited

My gift as a new educator at Lindamood-Bell wasn’t just training or methodology. It was my sense of humor passed down directly from my father.

Twisted?
Silly?
Absolutely.

But also disarming.

My father had a way of using humor to ease tension, to connect, to remind people not to take themselves too seriously. Growing up, I watched how laughter could change the temperature in a room. Later, I realized I was doing the same thing, just in classrooms and intervention rooms instead of around the dinner table.

Working with children and adults who had experienced repeated academic failure, my job wasn’t just to teach reading, writing, or comprehension. My job was to lower defenses.

Many of my students came in braced for disappointment.
They expected correction.
They expected to fail.

So before we did anything academic, I made them laugh.

Disarming Before Teaching

I told jokes.
I exaggerated mistakes.
I laughed at myself—often.

And something shifted.

Shoulders relaxed.
Eye contact increased.
Participation followed.

They tried things they swore they “couldn’t do.”
Not because I forced them, but because laughter made the risk feel safe.

At Lindamood-Bell, I even won an award for being the “Clinician Most Likely to Make Someone Laugh.” At the time, it felt funny and lighthearted. Looking back, it felt deeply meaningful. Because laughter wasn’t a distraction from learning. It was the bridge to it.

Why Humor Works (Especially for Neurodivergent Learners)

For students with ADHD, Autism, learning differences, or trauma histories, humor does something powerful:

It lowers emotional barriers
It reduces anxiety and shame
It creates a connection before correction
It signals safety

When a student laughs, their nervous system resets just a little. That reset makes room for engagement. Humor creates low-stakes entry points into high-effort tasks. And that brings me to an unexpected teaching model: Biz Markie.

Biz Markie as a Model of Disarming Humor

If you’ve ever heard Just a Friend, you know exactly what I mean.

It’s not polished.
It’s not serious.
It’s awkward, exaggerated, and completely self-aware.

Biz Markie didn’t try to be cool—he tried to be real.

And that’s why people listened.

The song works because it invites us to laugh with him, not at him. His humor disarms the listener. It lowers expectations. It creates a connection through honesty and exaggeration.

In the classroom, that same kind of humor can turn resistance into re-engagement.

When educators lean into humanity instead of perfection—when we allow a little awkwardness, a little silliness—we tell students:

You don’t have to be perfect to try.

That message matters.

Laughter as a Strategy (Not a Distraction)

Some people see humor as “off-task.”
I see it as strategic.

A well-timed joke can:

Interrupt escalating behavior
Re-engage a distracted learner
Preserve dignity during correction
Restore the relationship after frustration

It’s not about being entertaining. It’s about being human. And that’s something my father modeled long before I ever stepped into a classroom.

Final Reflection

Sometimes the most effective behavior strategy isn’t a consequence or a chart. It’s a moment of shared laughter that reminds a student they’re human before they’re corrected.

A cheerful heart really is good medicine.

And sometimes, all it takes to help a student rejoin the learning is a smile, a joke… or a reminder that we’ve all been a little awkward, a little misunderstood, and maybe—even once—just a friend.

🎧 Listen:Just a Friend — Biz Markie