what's the key to a good joke timing

I started the year being really vigilant about how much time to allot to which activity within a class period. I made myself a schedule, color-coded, so I'd know how much time I have to travel to a different building, to prep and hang work, and to teach. This year has been far less dictated by time and far more dictated by a rhythm. For those who dismiss the legitimacy of "energy" being a real factor in our daily lives, spend time in a classroom during a full moon. Spend time in a classroom after a gorgeous weekend or after state testing or try teaching Kindergarteners before lunch instead of very last thing of the day. I have learned to be far more aware of the rhythm of my students this year and have let actual time fade to the back burner. Sometimes, like today, the energy of my students throws me off course and I either roll with it or become very grumpy. There is so much empathy involved, flexibility and empathy, flexibility and consistency and empathy in good teaching. Jessica Matthews is a fifth grader, fabulous in drawing and has been diagnosed as obsessive compulsive. Today she came to class after having gone on a field trip to the middle school. She had a complete 5th grade melt down when she could no longer stand her tablemate's sniffling. She was in tears because the noise was so bothersome to her. "How hard is it to just use a tissue?!" I lost my temper with her because she was being really disrespectful, as fifth graders are wont to do, and I realized too late that the whole thing probably had everything to do with feeling anxious about next year and that what I responded to was her behaviour instead of addressing the underlying problem. Better luck next time. A good lesson for me both in how I solve problems in class and in how I deflect unwanted energy. I got all stirred up by a fifth grader's energy. It reminds me of how it easier to catch a cold from a baby because they haven't yet built up the immunities adults have- just because we've lived longer.