“When we invite humor into math class, we also change the emotional tenor of what we are doing,” Horn writes on her blog. “Humor positively affects learning by releasing tension. When we laugh, we are often more at ease. Humor has even been shown to improve students’ performance on tests. Maybe laughing sessions can improve study sessions. Humor can build rapport, either with individual students or with a classroom community. I know a teacher who strategically looks for something to laugh at with each of his classes, so that they can have a shared inside joke.”
Humor in math class also encourages students to bring their personalities and identities into the classroom. “Who we are is fundamental to how we make sense of the world,” Horn explains. “When we have to leave part of ourselves at the door, we abandon crucial sensemaking resources.” And teaching students that math has nothing to do with being a person reinforces the idea that math is pointless and that students won’t ever use it in their real lives. Making the classroom more fun, with memes such as these, encourages students to be more involved and have a personal connection to mathematics.
We hope you’re getting a kick out of these silly memes about math, pandas. Whether you slept through all of your arithmetic classes as a child or you went on to become a full fledged mathematician, these pics are for you. Keep upvoting the ones that you find particularly clever, and then if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda list featuring mathematical memes, look no further than right here!
