Note: I’ll be retiring in July 2026, after 40 years of teaching English as a foreign language to deaf and hard-of-hearing students.  (Actually, after 41 years, but my first year didn’t count…)

So, why exactly did it take me more than 40 years to have a weekly joke/pun bulletin board displayed in class?

The answer is actually quite simple.

Overthinking it.

(I have a strong urge to say “I over-thunk it” but I have no idea where that originated…)

I’ve always toyed with the idea. But it seemed daunting, as in my learning center for deaf and hard-of-hearing teens, I teach every possible level. So:

• What level should the jokes be suitable for?
• Do I need several joke boards for different levels?
• Will the weak students be offended, and the advanced students bored?
• How do I keep track of who has seen the joke and who hasn’t before replacing it with a new one? Remember, my students don’t come to me as “a class”, every student has their own individual schedule…
• Should it be cartoons with captions instead of just words, to fit in with my emphasis on the visual aspect of everything?
• Where will I find the jokes? Will I have enough?

AND AND AND AND…

The two factors that in the past always made me put aside the “joke board” idea:

It seemed to be too much work. As it is, I have to keep track of so much and prepare everything at different levels.

I’m not a funny person. People say all sorts of things about me, but being funny is not one of them. Not at all. I did not trust myself to choose suitable jokes for teens…

 

Then one day…

I  found myself staring at this joke I encountered on Facebook related to the singer Taylor Swift, thinking, ” Vampires, Taylor Swift, blood…maybe the students would like this?”

Retiring is about gradually letting go, right?

Let’s just try posting the joke and see what happens.

Not a single student noticed this new addition to the classroom decor, leaning on the whiteboard, despite its fairly prominent place!

So, on the following days, I pointed out the joke to students as they walked in, though sometimes I forgot to do so.

I didn’t track who had seen it or who hadn’t.

I let the stronger students explain the joke to the weaker students. Some only responded with their feelings about Taylor Swift, ignoring the joke, while others were amused.

The first week wasn’t very encouraging, but I keep posting the jokes /puns weekly. Now, several weeks later, some of the students check the board regularly; they comment on how good /bad the joke is, while others will only look if I physically lay the board on their desk first. Something I don’t always remember to do.

I had a brief moment of stress when I almost went down the rabbit hole of investing time in what to do with the “used” jokes I was taking off the board (thoughts such as “should I keep them in plastic coverings to be reused in the future and make a little booklet…” aargh), but I decided to just place the used jokes in a box.

I don’t have to plan for posterity anymore.

I’m retiring.

I’m just having fun laughing with the students or discussing the jokes with them!

*** Some notes about this joke, currently hanging in my classroom:

Some students thought this joke was really clever. Two students criticized me for bringing this “thing from 2025 into 2026. We’re done with it”!

The two profoundly deaf students (most of the students function as hard-of-hearing students when they use their cochlear implants or hearing aids) didn’t get it. “sick” and “six”  are two visually distinct words for them…