Illinois Principals Association February 2010 Mary Kay Morrison Humor Quest Got Stress? No Kidding!

Stress Buster Find your partner- introduce yourself! Discuss your most stressful experience in education! (8 minutes total time) Udderly delighted to meet you! My name is Elsie!

Why are you here? Choose your group leader.  Leader  Time keeper  Resource person  Reporter Discuss at your table why you chose to attend this workshop. Make a list of these and report to the group.

Specific Outcomes “Got Stress?” Participants will review current research on stress and the impact on health. Participants will examine their current life style and identify their own key stress indicators. Participants will identify resources that will assist stress reduction. Participants will participate in personal goal setting to achieve a healthier lifestyle and optimize their leadership capacity.

Purpose for today Review Stress Research Nature of Stress? Look at Who Has It?  Self  Colleagues  Students Stress Sneaks up.....Signs and Symptoms Why Worry? Risks of Chronic Stress Prevention, Management or Denial Resources to Assist in Stress Reduction Humor as a Tool to Cope with Stress Goal Setting for a Healthier Lifestyle Summary

I THINK IT’S STRESS

Research On Stress Who Has Stress? We all have stress! Colleagues, Parents, Students and ADMINISTRATORS! A certain amount of stress is healthy---it alerts the attentional center of the brain. The same center that alerts us to danger is also what alerts us to challenge and opportunities for learning. Novelty, Ritual, Challenge and Movement will positively stimulate learning. Educators can use stress to stimulate learning. However fear-based threats are often used to “motivate’ students for both learning and behavior (grades, detentions). These continuing conditions can lead to chronic stress in students.

Why Worry about Stress? 65% workers said workplace stress had caused difficulties. 42 % said yelling and verbal abuse is common. 19% had quit because of job stress ( 60 % of teachers quit within first 5 years of teaching). 62% had work-related neck pain. 34% reported difficulty sleeping because of stress.  Northwestern National Life Insurance Company 2000 Integra survey Violence has become a serious crime. Americans are working longer and harder. Absenteeism has escalated.

Our Goal = Find Balance Adapted from Joy of Stress Boredom Too Little Stress Joy of Stress Black Hole Depression

Cortisol and Other Stress Hormones Fear and danger trigger a stress response. The bodies response to stress is to produce cortisol which;  Plays an important role in emergencies.  Helps our bodies make energy for effective quick responses.  Temporarily suppresses our immune system.  Sharpens our attention.

Creating the “Disease of Civilization” with Negative Thought Learning is the act of making (and strengthening) connections between thousands of neurons (neural circuits or networks.) Memory is the ability to reconstruct previously made connections. Repetition of negative thoughts can become automatic responses to stressful situations. Brain Stem Activity –when it becomes automatic (like driving a car) Neurons that fire together, wire together.

Excess or Chronic Stress Excess stress produces excess cortisol which if released over a long time span may have many negative consequences for our health. The Impact of Severe Stress  Feeling powerless  Physical symptoms  Neck and back problems  Headaches  Fatigue  Appetite suppression or increase  Sleeping issues  Emotional symptoms  Anger  Sadness  Depression Shrinks the hippocampus (Sapolsky research) Death of brain cells in the hippocampus; the system in the brain that is critical to explicit memory formation. Excess Stress Inhibits Learning

Peaceful Brain Anxious, worried, depressed Thanks to Dr. Earl Henslin, “Your Brain on Joy” for permission to print these! Brain Scans are giving us more information. Different scientists are interpreting this information in a variety of ways.

Excess Stress is Sneaky Information Explosion-access to more information  Cell phone messages  messages  I-POD Accountability  Testing is stressful-evokes fear based response. (Arizona study) Time Demands  Less time for exercise, healthy eating; stress in traffic, doing laundry, child/elder care, coordination of demands of home and work. Educators are often being expected to produce more results with fewer resources. The beatings will continue until morale improves!

Blowing off Stress! Many deny and ignore stress. Some people do not realize they are stressed until they have a personal medical crisis. Many educators develop hypertension, strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, neck and back pain, headaches and other “Diseases of Civilization”. Stressed educators often exhibit depression, anger and pessimism. They are often victims in the system. Stress management as currently defined has a limited role in reducing organizational stress because usually no effort is made to reduce the sources of stress at work and to address the emotional needs of the employees.

Coping Problem Focused Coping-stress is under your control Emotion Focused Coping-no choice but to live with the stress Cognitive Effective Shift-restructure the way we think……. Paul McGhee; Humor the Lighter Path to Resilience and Health

Video resources National Geographic-Stress Portrait of a Killer; Robert Sapolsky

Destructive Games Activity Read the handout “destructive games” Discuss;  Challenges of positive thinking.  Instances when you overcame negative thoughts.  How to deal with people in work environment who exhibit negative behaviors.  Strategies to create positive culture in your school environment. Summarize and report to the group

Understanding Stress through A Framework for Learning Context Process Content Where? How? What? Copyright Humor Quest

Is it in My Pasture? Complete the Stress Inventory handout.

Table Discussion; How stress impacts you in relationship to the model we just reviewed.  Content-What do you know from reviewing the research?  Process- How does stress impact you; nutrition, exercise, sleep?  Context- where do you find stress; environment; work, home, social network  Emotions- analyze stressful thinking and common reactions to stress? Herd it!

Keep Saying it..... “You're good enough, you're smart enough and gosh darn it people like you. “ Stuart Smalley

Cafe Conversations Excerpts from Using Humor to Maximize Learning Read your excerpt from “Using Humor to Maximize Learning” Summarize and present your information to your group Identify strategies that could have an impact in your workplace Report ideas to the larger group

Student Stress Group Discussion What impact does student stress have on learning in your district?  Academic Pressures High Stakes Testing College Preparation Exams Grades and Class Rankings  Home Environments Parents have stress Financial pressures Emotional crisis  Media and Technology I-pods Internet Cell phones My space  Other

The positive emotions provide flow or an energy that stimulates optimal learning. University of Michigan PEP (Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology) Lab “Humergy describes the energy that radiates the optimistic joy of our inner spirit, reflects our unique personality, and nourishes a healthy mind/body balance.” Mary Kay Morrison Humergy=stress reduction

Impact of the Positive Emotions Positive Psychology Using Humor to Maximize Learning

Research on Positive Psychology Humor is a complex, developmental, cognitive process that requires an environment of trust. Research generated from the National Association of Mental Health on Positive Emotionality identified this characteristics of individuals as those who are alert, enthusiastic, and energetic. Imaging technology on these brains revel the opposite patterns from those who are depressed. Humor activates the frontal lobes of the brain and requires several cognitive processes; working memory cognitive shifting and abstract thinking Fun and play can minimize the stressful conditions prevalent in most systems.

Pair/Share Activity Flow or Positive Emotionality Positive Emotionality is the study of the conditions and processes that contribute to the flourishing or optimal functioning of people, groups and institutions. Positive Psychology has three central concerns:  Positive emotions  Positive individual traits  Positive institutions Understanding positive emotions entails:  Study of contentment with past  Happiness in present  Hope for the future Study of strengths and virtues  A focus on the positive traits –not what is “Wrong”.

1.Contributes to Mind/Body Balance 2.Maximizes Brain 3.Enhances Creativity 4.Facilitates Communication 5.Supports the Change process

Contributes to Mind/Body Balance Humor relieves stress  Excess fear and anxiety can cause severe stress.  This stress can lead to health problems.  Humor can relieve stress and promote healing. Laughter is linked to healing  Humor is being used in Therapy (Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor)  Laughter releases endorphins in subjects watching comedy (Loma Linda University study-Dr. Lee Berk, California)  Vigorous laughter is stimulating, increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and circulation; circulating immune substance effectiveness, pulmonary ventilation, and alertness; and exercising the skeletal muscles. Following laughter there is a brief period during which blood pressure drops and heart rate, respiratory rate, and muscle activity decrease, resulting in relaxation (Fry, 1994).

Maximizes Brain Capacity Humor alerts the limbic system, the attentional center of the brain. Information is more likely to be remembered if it has meaning and contains an emotional “hook”. Humor gets attention. Humor requires processing of language discrepancies in order to “get the joke” Humor increases memory retrieval. Advanced language skills are at the core of humor development. One quality in identifying gifted students is recognizing their sense of humor. Humor is the number one characteristic that students desire in a teacher.

Enhances Creativity The same qualities that are necessary for creative thinking are found in the expression of humor:  Imagination: Seeing the world a little differently is the core of humor  Risk-taking: The ability to express “wild” thoughts and ideas  Divergent thinking; making unusual connections and linking different elements emerge with both humor and creativity

Facilitates Communication Humor provides insights into your own behavior and that of others. Humor is part of emotional intelligence. It is the ability to recognize our own emotions and the emotions of others and to respond with positive energy-humergy! Humor: Mirrors confidence and the ability to laugh at yourself. Mirrors anger, fear and other emotions. Mirrors communication skills and risk taking ability. Mirrors temperament and mood.

Supports the Change Process Change is difficult. “You Go First” When we can find the humor in a difficult situation we can begin to cope with the change.

Benefits of Humor Review the benefits of humor with your partner and discuss what aspect of humor you benefit the most. What are the possible downsides of humor usage? Share with the group.

There is no doubt that we have been asked to accomplish more and more in our jobs. I think that the stress that this creates has led to several belief systems that permeate our culture. If we have fun, work will not get done!” “If I am silly, I will not be seen as a professional.” “If we are laughing, they will not be learning.” “I don’t have time for humor.” “We cannot measure humor and the effect that it has so it is “soft data” and does not have a place in the serious world” Beliefs about Humor

Humor is Risky! A lot of folks practice safe humor. They only feel safe laughing in the following situations: With children With animals With drugs, alcohol With strangers Making fun of someone else

Humorphobia; the fear of fun, laughter and humor Fear of not having time for humor because of accountability expectations. Fear of being perceived as silly, unproductive, an airhead and not as a professional. Fear of losing “control”. Fear of inadequacy/not able to tell a joke coupled with inexperience in the use of humor (humor is not taught or modeled in college preparation programs). Fear of punishment or retaliation in an environment that is hostile or unaccustomed to humor. Fear of being made fun of/being the brunt of jokes.

Humordoomers; people who use negative humor to control and manipulate others Humorphobia breeds humordoomers, skilled crafters who use subtle techniques to suppress humor in the workplace. Humordoomers are usually unhappy individuals stressed by the duel demands of accountability and limited time constraints. The humordoomer is a pessimistic leach, who can suck the humergy right out of you. Grown in a petrie dish of fear and anger, they are threatened by joyful energy and enthusiasm.

Inappropriate Humor When the impact is hurtful, it is usually inappropriate, even if the intent is not so. Ridicule Sarcasm Ethnic Humor Gender Humor. “I hate being laughed at!”

The Trust Factor: A Critical Component in creating an environment An indicator of trust in an organization is the ability to have fun FunWorks by Leslie Yerkes.

Humor Builds Trust Cultivate it in the Workplace Humergy=Trust Supports enhanced communication skills/builds relationships Changes behavior of individuals and groups Relieves stress and promotes healing Increases productivity Reflects an environment of trust

Explore Relaxation Strategies Tennis Ball Massages Exercise Music Meditation Play Humor and Positive Emotionality

Reflections and Review Write your Personal Goals Nutrition (nuts) Exercise (clappers) Vacation/Hobbies (map) Sleep/Relaxation (mood music) Massage (tennis ball) Music (busy song) Close friends (kisses) Humor (snickers)

Powerful Practice Discussion How can you intentionally use humor as to affirm others and improve your workplace culture? Make a list of seven playful/fun ideas that you would like to incorporate into your workplace humor practice.

More Survival Strategies Can you ask staff to identify major causes of organizational stress that can be changed? How can you prioritize their ideas? What will happen if you brainstorm how to make improvements. Encourage exercise, laughter, healthy eating, collegiality. Use the book “Flow” as a study group format for staff development. Choose people for new positions that exhibit optimism. Provide a screening for that purpose. Monitor your own internal dialogue. Practice positive psychology. Laughter is a sign of trust. Encourage it and look for ways to increase the humor and fun in your building. Find a optimistic partner to support your efforts.

Summary Stress is universal. Chronic stress has serious consequences. Stress not only impacts our lives but the lives of organizations, parents, colleagues and students. Stress management often blames the victim. Individual change is possible through learned optimism and positive emotionality. Since chronic stress is hard wired it can be difficult to change. Organizational change is possible through the study of learned optimism positive psychology. This type of change within an organization will take concerted time and effort. AND the optimism that the culture can positively change. Humor has many benefits that can reduce chronic stress. Share one idea that you will try as a result of this session!

Using Humor To Maximize Learning by Mary Kay Morrison Using Humor to Maximize Learning Mary Kay Morrison Rowman and Littlefield Education. Blue Ridge Summit, PA. Dec Chapters The Tonic for Tired Educators Developing your Humor Being; A Nut is Born Mouse Droppings :Examining Brain Research and Humor Hurtful Humor; NO Laughing Matter The Humor Workout; Pumping Up with Practice It’s a Circus Out There Survival Humor for Stressed Leaders

Free Resources Please pull up my Humor Quest web site for additional handouts and resources. Click on workshop handouts Mary Kay Morrison Humor Quest