Because of their highly developed senses of humor, gifted children can often be labeled as distractions – so what are they really doing?
One of the ways to tell if a child is gifted is her ability to understand jokes and stories beyond her years. This is because she can see beyond the black and white objective words and notice how things are related in a more abstract context.
This being the case, the following is a short list and working definitions of the kinds of humor that a gifted child can bring into the classroom, often much to the chagrin of the teacher.
Satire: a new spoken or written work that ridicules human vices, stupidities, and abuses. Jonathan Swift felt that satire was, "A sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own." A very popular choice in the classroom.
Parody: a satirical or humorous imitation of a person, song, or written work (the more it looks like the original, the better!). Think of it as a subset of satire, especially if the target resembles the principal.
Cartoon: a mostly humorous drawing with an obvious message. Cartoons also tend to feature the principal.
Caricature: a distorted drawing or piece of literature that makes the original subject look ridiculous, usually with overly-exaggerated physical features that point out the target of the humor. For example, a principal that tends to make a lot of speeches with a huge mouth.
Entendre: a "double meaning" of a word; a word or saying that has an innocent, and yet another meaning which is understood in the context in which it is delivered.
Wit: the ability to make quick and clever remarks.
Wisdom: the experiences that only come from age that fuels wit.
As a final note, I have been a school principal for many years, so I am demonstrating self-deprecating humor.
