Transcript Got Stress? No Kidding!

Illinois Principals Association
February 2010
Mary Kay Morrison
Humor Quest
[email protected]
Stress Buster
Find your partner- introduce yourself!
Discuss your most stressful experience
in education! (8 minutes total time)
My name
is Elsie!
Udderly
delighted to
meet you!
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
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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
Joy of Stress
Black Hole
Depression
Boredom
Too Little Stress
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
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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
Brain Scans are giving us more information.
Different scientists are interpreting this information in a
variety of ways.
Peaceful Brain
Anxious, worried , depressed
Thanks to Dr. Earl Henslin, “Your Brain on Joy” for permission to print these!
Excess Stress is Sneaky
 Information Explosion-access to more information
 Cell phone messages
 Email 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.
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
Content
Process
Context
Copyright Humor Quest
Is it in My Pasture?
Complete the Stress Inventory handout.
Herd it!
 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?
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
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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.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Contributes to Mind/Body Balance
Maximizes Brain
Enhances Creativity
Facilitates Communication
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.
Beliefs about Humor
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.
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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”
Humor is Risky!
A lot of folks practice safe humor. They only feel safe
laughing in the following situations:
•
•
•
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•
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
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
Using Humor to Maximize Learning
Mary Kay Morrison
Rowman and Littlefield Education.
Blue Ridge Summit, PA. Dec. 2007
http://www.rowmaneducation.com
Free Resources
Please pull up my Humor Quest web site
for additional handouts and resources.
http://www.questforhumor.com
Click on workshop handouts
Mary Kay Morrison
Humor Quest
[email protected]