Using humor in the classroom: learning may be serious business, but that doesn't mean you can't have a little fun along the way.

Faced every day with the prospect of getting--and holding--the attention of a room full of students, that ever-resourceful professional known as a teacher resorts to the use of a number of tools and tactics. Among these may be humor.

A science teacher at Roosevelt Middle School in Blaine, Minnesota, is described by his principal in a newspaper article in the Pioneer Press as "kind of a nut in the classroom." But Tom Luck, who often recognizes his students' birthdays with his own rendition of Elvis singing "Happy Birthday," generates numerous calls and letters each year from parents commending his teaching ability.

In Maryland, a Frostburg State University professor dresses in costumes and uses props such as a rubber chicken. George R. Plitnik helps his students explore physics through his course, "The Science of Harry Potter," and he often does so while dressed as Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Harry's school, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Marilyn Mitchell has been a teacher, a middle school principal and now is administrator for marketing and career development of the Van Buren Intermediate School District in Lawrence, Michigan. Her sense of humor has served her well through all of these jobs, but she has never needed it more than now. Mitchell presented a session at the December ACTE convention in Orlando called "Humor, Don't Leave Home Without It!" She says that her current position involves "being the gum for 12 districts on No Child Left Behind," so one reason she put together this presentation was for the sake of her own sanity.

That is another benefit of humor; it can also be a great stress reliever. Mitchell presented an exercise in laughter vs. stress that involved sitting in a rigid chair and gripping the edges of the chair tightly while tensing every muscle. She then suggested trying to laugh loudly while maintaining total body tension. It's next to impossible for most people to do both. Laughing means letting go of all that tension. (Not that stress is ever a problem for teachers!)

Among the group exercises Mitchell offered at her presentation were Laughing at Fear and Laughter or …