The benefits of a light-hearted classroom atmosphere contributes to a positive learning environment.
Humor may improve memory and classroom relations.

School is not the first thing that would come to most people’s mind when speaking about humor, but maybe it should be.
Most students find that humor in the classroom creates a positive learning environment.
“I think humor makes the class more interesting and engages the students,” sophomore Paul Lisker said.
History teacher Sam Harned agrees with Lisker that humor is a positive force when it comes to education.

“Humor makes people happier and more willing to learn,” Harned said. “It creates a more cheerful work environment.”

It seems that a cheerful work environment is just what students need. As the pressures put on teens become greater and greater, students often say that they prefer their classes with lighthearted atmospheres to their more serious ones.
“I’m a lot less stressed in a class that’s funny,” freshman Dylan Brown said. “I always perform better when I’m not under a lot of stress.”
Junior Erin Bax agrees that humorous classes are less of a burden.
“Classes where the teacher makes jokes and jokes around with the students are always my favorites,” Bax said.
Humor has more benefits for students than just allowing them to release their stress, it can help improve their performance in the class and deepen their understanding of a topic.
“When the teacher of a class is funny, you’re more motivated to do well for that teacher because you like them more,” Brown said.
Lisker also feels humor betters his performance and understanding.
“Many times, you don’t get a joke unless you’ve been paying attention to the class,” Lisker said.  “So when I know a class is funny, I’m more motivated to be attentive and involved.”
Physics teacher Gabriel De la Paz finds that using humor has yet another benefit in his classroom.
“Humor can help students remember when certain things are taught,” De la Paz said.
Among other things, humor has proved especially useful in the unending struggle between students and teachers to make students ask questions when they don’t understand.
Students, especially the more quiet and withdrawn, often feel uncomfortable speaking up in class or are afraid to embarrass themselves by asking a “stupid” question.
In a humorous class, the comfort level between the members of the class is higher making the number of unasked, unanswered questions fewer.
“By using humor in a classroom, a teacher makes themselves seem more approachable as a person that you can talk to and that will understand you,” Lisker said. “If I have any questions or concerns, being able to approach a teacher is very beneficial.”
Harned and De la Paz both agree that most of their students feel pretty comfortable with them due in part to their use of jokes when they teach.
Though some worry that humorous classes can create too loose of an environment, students say that that rarely is an issue.
“I’ve never had a class where humor is a problem,” Bax said.  “It mainly just makes me more interested in the class.”
Despite its reputation as being trivial, it seems that humor is one of the more powerful tools teaching tools in a classroom.
“A lot of teaching is about keeping students motivated,” De la Paz said.  “Using humor in class is a part of achieving that goal.”