The Comedic Beauty
of Mathematics
The Things We Learn Through
Laughter
Laila Adelah Nur, M.A.T
lailanur@mfala.org
@msnurdoesmath
The Comedic Beauty
of Mathematics
The Things We Learn Through
Laughter
Laila Adelah Nur, M.A.T
lailanur@mfala.org
@msnurdoesmath
It All Started When…
Student
Lesson
Plan
(Dress)
Me
Student
LAUSD
I Need Proof!
Such Beautiful Moments
Is this a linear
equation?
2xy – 5y = 6
Miss what
about the
'2xy'? The
'x' and 'y'
are being
multiplied.
I don't know
Miss...Maybe the
2 is just trying to
be cute like that.
Lesson Learned
Integers often try to look cuter than
one another to get closer to the
variables.
Such Beautiful Moments
Miss can we
call the
parenthese
s ‘Thun dun
duns’?
Okay distribute
the negative
one. Now you
can drop the
thun dun duns.
That's fine if
it helps you
understand
how they
work and
what to do
with them.
Lesson Learned
If you drop the parentheses to a
beat, your students may never
forget how they operate.
Research Shows…
Humor can increase students’ creativity,
lower students’ anxiety and the affective
filter, and contribute to students’ social and
emotional development.
Mcghee, Paul E., and Mary Frank. Humor and Children's Development a Guide to Practical Applications. Hoboken:
Taylor and Francis, 2014. Print.
Such Beautiful Moments
Okay. So if I
cube some
number, x,
then in order
to undo that
operation, I
need to...
Let's say I
square some
number, x. In
order to
undo that
operation I
need to...
Take the
square root!!
Take the
triangle
root!!
Lessons Learned
We still need to work on looking for
and expressing regularity in repeated
reasoning.
Advantages
1. Learn how
students think
2. Positive
classroom
climate
3. Creating
interpersonal
relationships
4. Students willing
to take risks
Slight Disadvantages
1. Going from
comedy to
seriousness
2. No hesitation to
make jokes
about teacher
3. Keeping the
jokes
appropriate
Such Beautiful Moments
How do
we verify
that two
functions
are
inverse
functions?
Show that
f of g and
g of f
both
equal x.
Okay
Yea you have
to do fog and
gof. Hey
miss…fog
gof!
Lesson Learned
Sometimes f#%k off really
means I love you…thank you for
teaching me
So What’s The Formula?
1) Incorporate humor into your own
dialogue, actions, and classroom
materials
2) Explain expectations of humor usage
and potential consequences
3) Identify when students are
uncomfortable with humor
4) Provide students with vocabulary to be
academically humorous
5) Give positive feedback for humor usage
6) Follow up classes with feedback to
ensure learning
7) Be an active participant
Stroud, Robert. "The Laughing EFL Classroom: Potential Benefits and Barriers." English Language Teaching 6.10
(2013): 72-85. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.
Humor Outside of
Class
Such Beautiful Moments
About how
much taller
am I than
the student
standing
next to me?
So
you’re a
square
and
she’s a
triangle
Whaaa?
You’re about
twice as tall
as the
shorter
person
Yea…since
the area of a
triangle is
half the area
of a square,
that means
she’s a
triangle and
you’re a
square
Lesson Learned
Sometimes the
jokes are more
than just jokes
and we actually
teach our kids
something
Laugh About Math