Sharing in the classroom (Week Thirteen)

In one of the classrooms I observe, the teacher reads stories the students have written. After each story, the class is given opportunity to guess if the author is a boy or a girl and to share comments about what they like or what they think would make it better. Sometimes, the stories are so funny, I cannot help but laugh out loud with the class. I must be honest in sharing that sometimes my laugh is much louder than the rest until I get embarrassed at the realization of this fact and quiet down. During these times, I have been known to laugh so hard that I cry. Why do I share this story? This has been the breaking down of barriers in which students will say my name and talk about the fact that I am cracking up and laugh along with me. When class starts, they are now more apt to chat and interact -- more so than when I first showed up on "their door step." It has brightened my soul to not only have this interaction with the students but to see the progress in the building of relationships within the classroom setting through such a simple thing as laughter.