One of the joys of becoming a seasoned teacher is that you no longer need to lecture. The classroom becomes improvisational theater, a theater of the absurd–a magical space where cognitive and affective dissonance rule. It is Socratic teaching plus the humor of a Lenny Bruce, a Mort Sahl or, even better, a Betty White.

My 16 year-old daughter was raving this morning about how cool Betty White is. I think it is her over-the-top humor that appeals to the young. It suddenly dawned on me that since my cancer diagnosis I have been channeling Betty in my classrooms . . . I may have to put that in my course descriptions so as to forewarn unsuspecting students! As one student recently put it, “it’s not so much the outrageous things you say, but that it’s coming out of the mouth of an old man!!!”