Acting Like a Teacher

A few days ago, an email survey went around in which one of the questions asked was, “What did you want to be when you grew up?” The answer given by yours truly was, “teacher or actress. Which turns out? Same thing.” Then, I’m sitting watching a DVD of Connecticut Forum’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” from last year in which Bob Saget, Mo Rocca, and Nancy Giles discussed comedy. At one point, the comedians discussed the difference between old time comedy in which many jokes were based on people laughing at themselves and society, a la Archie Bunker, and present day comedy, in which comedians have to be sensitive to the ethnic/racial/gender makeup of the audience.  Bob Saget said, “New people that are coming up…you have to love your audience and you have to love performing.” All of a sudden, the light bulb went on. For someone who is generally an introverted person, teaching is a performance of love.

One of the biggest problems educators have is getting students involved in learning. Making them intellectually curious becomes more and more difficult every year. One of the issues that many teachers discuss is how to involve students in the joys of learning as opposed to just wanting good grades. Listening to stand up comedians, the parallel between standing up in front of a class and standing up in front of an audience becomes clearer. The same improvisation on the stage is necessary within the classroom.

Take, for example, an eight o’clock in the morning class. The most difficult part, at least at the college level, is getting the students to continually come to the room at that ungodly hour twice a week. Students will come to class only if they want to be there. In order to engage them intellectually, a good teacher needs to entertain. When students are entertained, they are interested. When students are interested, they become curious. When students become curious, they are willing to learn.

Learning is about connection. Connection between the topic being taught and the students’ lives. Connection between the students and the educator. The best educators create this connection through caring about their students. Standing in front of students and showing one’s humanity creates a connection between students and teacher. Making students laugh makes learning fun. Exhibiting moments of full on stupidity, such as using humorous anecdotes from one’s life to make a point, are moments in which the teacher’s humanity allows students to see that person as a human, not just an authority figure. These moments are the moments that bind the students’ interest to the individual in front of them and to the topic at hand. These moments of entertaining are no different than putting on the persona of a particular character. When the educator is in front of twentysomething faces glaring up at him/her first thing in the morning, the person s/he is no longer exists. The educator exists. The teacher persona does not have to be one reminiscent of nuns with rulers. It is, however, sometimes not the same person that gets in the car to drive home. Acting the role of edutainer, educator/entertainer, in order to get students interested is what makes being a good teacher difficult.

Sometimes, jokes fall flat. These “cricket” moments are the ones during which the students stare at the person in front of them like he has a third eye in the middle of his forehead. In some respects, teachers have to be willing to face these moments of minor failure in the classroom. These brief moments of personal failure are worth the humiliation when viewed in the greater scope of the moments that succeed. The moments in which the teacher entertains and connects. Those are the small spaces in which the connection that leads to learning manifest themselves. In these spaces, the educator can find her greatest successes. When the students fill those gaps with their laughter or their interest, they are suddenly willing to learn. This learning, this interest, becomes curiousity. This curiosity can spur the students to something greater.

These are the spaces between being an educator and an entertainer. In these moments, educators prove their love of their audience and their love of entertaining. These are the moments when teachers act like entertainers and when actors become teachers. These are those brief moments of brilliance and connection in learning.