For more than 15 years, Johnny Tiersma brought humor into his classroom. He does this, be he feels it builds trust with his students.

“You know when you’re all in on the same joke, and you’re all laughing together,” it creates a bond Tiersma says. 

The sixth-grade teacher serves in the Cardiff School District in San Diego, and bringing humor to his classroom has always come naturally. For example, he names objects in his room, the projector’s name is Barbara, and he talks sweetly to Barbara when she’s not working correctly, and the students love it. 

But Tiersma knows that humor is not second nature for everyone, so he wanted to create something to act as an icebreaker for other educators. So he recently wrote a picture book called “If I Were the Teacher.” It’s about a boy who imagines what he would do if he were the teacher and his ideas are wild, funny, and imaginative.

“It is designed to be something that elementary school teachers would read to their students.” Tiersma hopes his book will be a fun activity and catalyst for bonding with the students. 

To learn more about “If I Were the Teacher” and tips on using humor and kindness in the classroom, listen to episode 233 of Class Dismissed Podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app.

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