Semantic Mapping

This strategy involves arranging concepts and relationships on paper to create a semantic map, a diagram in which two key concepts are highlighted and are linked with related concepts via arrows or lines. Such a diagram visually shows how ideas fit together. This strategy incorporates a variety of other memory strategies: grouping, using imagery, and associating. This strategy is valuable for imroving both memory and comprehension of new expressions. It can be used for prelistening or prereading activities designed to help learners understand and remember vocabulary that will be heard or read. It can also be used as the basis for an entire listening or reading activity by giving the main concept or expression and asking students to listen and fill in the rest. Semantic also provides a good note taking format.

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Applying Memory Strategies to The Four Language Skills

Storage and retrieval of new information are the two key functions of memory strategies. These strategies help learners store in memory the important things they hear or read in the new language, thus enlarging their knowledge base. These strategies also enable learners to retrieve information from memory when they need to use it for comprehension or production. Descriptions of memory strategies below focus mostly on the storage function, because that is the initial key to learning, but some general comments are included about the retrieval function as well.

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Encourage the development of listening strategies

Most of foreign language students are simply not aware of how to listen. One of your jobs is to equip them with strategies that extend well beyond the classroom. Draw their attention to the value of such strategies are 

• looking for keywords
• looking for nonverbal cues to meaning
• predicting a speaker's purpose by the context of the spoken discourse
• associating information with one's existing cognitive structure (activating schemata)
• guessing at meaning
• seeking for the general gist
• for tests of listening comprehension, various test-taking strategies

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Classroom Management

Teacher must create a classroom atmosphere that is comfortable for the students and helps them learn to high standard. All of the teacher's thoughts, plans, and actions help create an orderly learning environment in which all students feel safe and can be productive.  

Acquiring good classroom management skills takes time and experience. Teachers must be organized and able to make certain decisions in order to conduct effective lessons. They need to know how to arrange the classroom, how to group students for cooperative learning, and how to give clear instructions, elicit information from students, correct errors, manage students' behavior, and choose an appropriate textbook.

Arranging the classroom

In classrooms with a large number of students, the desk arrangement may not be flexible. However, many classrooms can accommodate different desk arrangements for accomplishing different tasks. When arranging the classroom environment or the desks themselves, the goals of the class must be considered. These goals include:
- promoting attention and minimizing distractions
- providing structure, access, and orderliness
- making efficient use of limited space

Factors that may influence the classroom management are as follows:
- number of student
- size and shape of classroom
- placement of non-movable items such as book cases
- available furniture
- types of lessons and activities that will take place

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The Psychology of Humor An Integrative Approach

We all know what it is like to experience humor. Someone tells a joke, related an amusing personal anecdote, makes a witty comment or an inadvertent slip of the tongue, and we are suddenly struck by how funny it is. Depending on how amusing we perceive the stimulus to be, it might cause us to smile, to chuckle, or to burst out in peals of convulsive laughter. Our response as accompanied by pleasant feelings of emotional well-being and mirth. Most of us have this sort of experience many times during the course of a typical day.

Because humor is so familiar and is such an enjoyable and playful activity, many people might think they already understand it and do not need research in psychology to explain it. However, the empirical study of humor holds many interesting surprises. Although it is essentially a type of mental play involving a lighthearted, social, emotional, and cognitive functions, making it is a fascinating and rewarding topic of scientific investigation.

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Tips For Choosing Books For Storytelling

Children naturally enjoy listening to or telling stories. Besides the enjoyment they provide, stories can help children to develop their language skills. Teachers can read from storybooks or retell or create stories, all of which enrich the interactive language environment in the classroom.

Books or stories for children should be chosen carefully. The context and language level must be suitable for the children's age and abilities. Following are some suggestions on how to choose books for children:

a. Choose books with ending that fit with happens in the story.
b. Find books with interesting pictures (colorful, if possible)
c. Search for books about children who are the students' own ages, or book about animals.
d. Look for fairy stories and folk tales which contain moral or cultural lessons which children are familiar with, such as the story of .......

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Grammar Basics for Writing

Unlike in the past, grammar teaching today is more learner-friendly. Teachers can use a variety of activities to teach grammar, such as games, songs, poems, or task-based activities. If the activities are enjoyable and repetitive, the students will internalize the language through the patterns they use and hear during the activities. Once students understand the concept, they can begin using the grammar in their writing.

Young learners often have difficulty understanding logical explanations, and abstracts grammar concepts may confuse them. Elementary school students can learn simple grammar if it is taught at their level learning. The teacher should give students a grammar focus for their writing.

More formal writing, such as report writing, is challenging because it focuses on the whole text. In this type of writing students must:

a. use language suited for the assignment
b. complete the writing in a certain way
c. develop and practice good writing style

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Tips For Teaching Speaking

The goal of teaching speaking is to get students to communicate effectively and efficiently. In order to achieve this goal, the teacher should:

a. make sure that students use the language to the best of their ability
b. teach students correct pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary
c. explain to students th appropriate context of the communication

Effective and efficient communication is the result of providing enough language input. The teacher can accomplish this by using English when giving instructions, giving simple commands, reading passages out load. Other English activities such as playing games, singing songs, performing a role play. Give the students opportunities to communicate in English. As a teacher consider including varied speaking activities in the classroom, they may find the following tips useful:

a. help students to become familiar with the topics
b. put students into pairs or groups
c. rearrange the classroom
c. give students the English word and its Indonesian translation when they are learning new vocabulary

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Principles of Teaching Listening

Of four skills, listening is naturally the first skill children need to develop before they feel ready to speak, read, and write. They listen to the teacher when he/she is greeting them, introducing new words and expressions, asking questions, giving instructions, playing games, etc. However, children normally have very little exposure to speak English in their daily lives. Outside English classes, most children do not need to communicate in English and only a few listen to English songs or watch movies in English.

Teachers will find the following principles of teaching listening to children useful:

a. Listening English is difficult for many young learners. They often do not understand what the teacher is saying and they ask the teacher to speak in Indonesian.

b. Instructions are the most natural classroom communication that young learners can experience. Children need a lot of exposure to real spoken English, so it is advantageous for them if the teacher speaks and gives instructions in English as much as possible.

c. Because students use the teacher as a language model, teachers should think of how to clearly introduce an activity before going to class.

d. It is good idea support a listening activity with visuals such as pictures, facial expressions, movements, and mimes.

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Managing The Language Learning Classroom

Teachers must create a classroom atmosphere that is comfortable for the students and helps them learn to high standard. All of the teacher's thought, plans, and actions help create an orderly learning environment in which all students feel safe can be productive.

Acquiring good classroom management skills takes time and experience. Teachers must be organized and able to make certain decision in order to conduct effective lesson. They need to know how to arrange the classroom, how to group students for cooperative learning, how to give clear instructions, elicit information from students, correct errors, manage students' behavior, and choose an appropriate textbook.

Arranging the classroom

In classroom with a large number of students, the desk arrangement may not be flexible. However, many classrooms can accommodate different desk arrangements for accomplishing different tasks. When arranging the classroom environment or desk themselves. These goals include:

a. promoting attention and minimizing distractions
b. providing structure, access, and orderliness
c. making efficient use limited space

Factors that may influence the classroom arrangement are as follows:

1. number of students
2. size and shape of classroom
3. placement of non-movable items such as book cases
4. available furniture
5. types of lessons and activities that will take place

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Reading Activities

To make reading enjoyable and to help students improve their reading skills, teachers should vary the types of reading activities. The reading activities described below are only some of the many reading activities that can be used with young learners.

Extensive Reading

Children choose what they want to read from the selections provided either by the teacher or from other sources outside class such as children's magazine, comics, storybooks, novel, and web pages. This activity usually involves 'reading for pleasure' as the students normally choose what they like.

Intensive Reading

This type of reading usually takes place in the classroom, and the teacher generally decides the texts. The teacher uses the texts to help children develop reading skills such as skimming (reading for general information), scanning ( reading for specific information.

Predicting

The teacher shows picture that go with text or, if there are no pictures, uses the title to discuss the topic and ask questions. This process helps students predict what they are going to read.

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principles of Teaching Reading

Reading is an important skill in learning a foreign language. Students can improve their English and expand their vocabulary of class by reading on their own. Unfortunately, many teachers believe that teaching reading to children causes them to lose their motivation to learn English. This view is usually based on teacher's experience in using reading materials in the course book that are pften long, boring, and filled with difficult words. However, reading can be fun and motivating if the language and the task are at the right level for the students and if the teacher uses the appropriate method and approach.

Two principles that are useful in teaching reading to elementary school students are the word approach and the whole language approach. The following principles for teaching reading to young learners using these approaches:

1. The word approach is used in introducing new vocabulary. Teaching a written word and its pronunciation without teaching its meaning is in effective.

2. The word approach can be done with look and say activities or through word recognition games such as matching words and picture.

3. In the whole language approach, children do not read works in isolation but in connection to other word. They read sentences that have meaning.

4. Combining word and whole language approach is a good idea. Pre-teaching a story's vocabulary using giving the reading text to students help them understand the text.

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Parenting class is the best solution

Be a good parents is very hard now. We don't have much time for our children if we are always busy.We can't control about their education. Our Children's development is very important for us so we can't give our child to a person who has bad background in education. You can solve the problem with Parenting Class.That method can do from internet so it can save your time. You just find the people who has that service. You find it easily from google.

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Factors in learning for students

All students are limited in what they can learn by the stage to which body, mind, and emotions have developed. At any stage , there are limits to what we can learn to do, even with the best teaching and practice and interest. Then with the continued maturations and experience, or limits expand, our people’s potency broadens.

If the students enrolled by chronological age, all the students in class are close to the same age, especially in lower grades, and it would be easy to assume that they should be able to learn about the same things. But chronological age may be poor indicator of development age.

Motivation in learning is surely needed for transforming knowledge. In the simplest way, motivation is what lies behind our behavior. Motivation has the important part in learning activities.. Motivation is one way to make the students to motivate in learning the subject if they felt the materials needed for their life. If there is not natural motivation in their students themselves, so the students have to support their motivation for learning the materials. It is depend on the students themselves to support their motivation, because there are various ways to motivate us.

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Types of Learning Style

Learning style can be categorized into three categories. They are as follows: (1) cognitive styles, (2) affective styles, and (3) physiological styles.

Cognitive Styles

This style includes the aspect of brains which perceive meaning and interact with the world. It is often used to predict student achievement and to help students understand their cognitive strength and weaknesses. There are some characteristics of cognitive styles. They are as follows:

a. Analytical skill: identify simple figure hidden in a simple complex field: use the critical element of a problem in different way.

b. Spatial skill: recognize and create objects mentally.

c. Discrimination skill: give more attention on important things and are able to avoid distractions in a question.

d. Categorization skill: understand and form quickly information which is accurate, complete, and organized.

e. Sequential processing skill: understand more information presented by the teacher in a step-by-step.

f. Simultaneous processing skill: make their own conclusion about the materials.

g. Memory skill: detect and remember easily the difficult things in the lesson.

Affective styles

Affective styles of learning are a style of learning by-product of personality, cultural environment, parental and peer pressures and school influences. There are some characteristics of affective styles. They are as follows.

a. Persistence orientation: willingness to work at a task until completion.

b. Verbal risk orientation: willingness to express opinions, speak out.

c. Grouping preference: preference for whole class, large group, small group or dyadic grouping.

d. Verbal-Spatial preference: preference for verbal or non verbal activities.

e. Manipulative preference: preference for “hands-on” activities.

Physiological styles

This style includes perceptual modes and environmental factors that effect learning perceptual response portion of the inventory describes the initial response to information as a visual or emotive response. There are some characteristics of physiological styles. They are as follows.

a. Perceptual response: to initial reaction to information is visual, auditory or emotive.

b. Study time preference: preference for study time in early morning, late morning, afternoon or evening.

c. Posture preference: preference for formal or informal study arrangement.

d. Mobility preference: preference for moving about and taking breaks or working until finished.

e. Sound preference: preference for quite study o background sound.

f. Lighting preference: preference for brighter or dimmer study areas.

g. Temperature preference: preference for studying in a cooler or warmer environmental.

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Concept of learning style

All people learn differently, in the field of language learning, people differently shape the way they learn. In other words, language learner uses different language styles. At school students apply different learning styles and so do in learning English. Learning English as a foreign language of course needs certain learning strategies.

Teachers of English at school should know their student’s learning styles and continually observe the learning styles that are applied or used by their students so that they can adjust to their student’s learning styles. As a result, the teachers can apply accurate English teaching strategies and also motivate the students to learn English well.

Students can understand lesson easily if a teacher’s teaching method can accommodate student’s learning styles. By having their own learning styles, students know subconsciously how to learn English more effectively and also they can decide their own way in which they can learn best and more efficiently.

Students learn in a typical way, w cannot do much to change that fact but we can help them learn to capitalize on their strength as well as cope their weaknesses. As a professional teacher, she / he should be able to facilitate the student to learn. For that, we have to know about their learning styles. Learning style describes the way we learn and how we deal with ideas day-to-day situations in our life.

There are only a few teachers who care to try to find out the learning styles that are used by the students. This can be seen from the fact that teachers tend to only prepare their administrative work in teaching rather than get to know student’s difficulties, let alone student’s learning styles. This case indicates that leaning styles is not many known by the teacher yet.

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Total Physical Response

James Asher (1977), the developer of Total Physical Response (TPR), actually began experimenting with TPR in the 1960s, but it was almost a decade before the method was widely discussed in professional circles. Today TPR, with its simplicity as its most appealing facet, is a household word among language teachers.

You will recall from earlier in this chapter that over a century ago Gouin designed his Series Method on the premise that a series of simple actions associated with language will be easily retained by learners. Much later, psychologist developed the "trace theory" of learning in which it was claimed that memory is increased if it is stimulated, or "traced," through association with motor activity.

Over the years, language teachers have intuitively recognized the value of associating language with physical activity. So while the idea of building a method of language teaching on the principle of psychomotor associations is not at all new, it was this very idea that Asher capitalized upon in developing TPR

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TEACHING STRATEGY FOR CROWDED CLASSROOMS

A paper by ANTON


Abstrak
Kelas padat merupakan tantangan besar bagi seorang guru. Mengelola kelas dengan jumlah siswa lebih dari yang seharusnya terkadang menjadi beban yang luar biasa. Bagi kebanyakan guru di Indonesia, situasi seperti ini sudah menjadi fenemona biasa. Kelas-kelas di sekolah negeri dihuni lebih dari 40 siswa dan para guru kerap mengalami tekanan dan kebingungan dalam mengelola, apalagi mengajarnya. Tulisan ini dimaksudkan untuk sedikit memberikan pandangan maupun strategi alternatif dalam mengajar kelas padat.

Key words : Teaching strategy dan crowded classroom

One of many challenges that educators should face in Indonesia is the overpopulated classrooms. Classrooms in Sekolah Negeri or public schools mostly contain more than 30 students in a single classroom. Public schools in remote area even have classrooms that contain 45 students for each. One of many causes why this phenomenon appears is because the government’s policy which filter students to study in Sekolah Negeri, consequently many middle level private schools just wait students who failed entering Sekolah Negeri to enroll.

The complexity of the problem in Indonesian education system is not to be blamed. Teachers who become vehicle in every policy government make should be aware and clever in anticipating every obstacles. Being concerned with what best for students is much more important than complaining to the government. Pressure on curriculum demand, administrative work, presenting the materials, preparing test and remedial, and grade the test make teacher as a very demanding job.
Minimizing stress and pressure in daily routines for teacher is proven to bring productivity and lead a meaningful learning process. Teaching crowded or overpopulated classrooms is admitted as the stress and pressure vector for teachers. It consumes much time and energy to teach such challenging classes. This paper is aimed to give insight in finding suitable strategy to teach classes that have overpopulated population.

The Importance of Classroom Management
Headmasters, teachers and administrators play an important role in establishing effective discipline at school though in the classroom, a teacher is the manager. Teachers and other elements at school should work together to create effective teaching learning process. If teachers are strong, effective principals support them and help them get even better. On the other hands, if the teachers are weak, principals have to teach them the secrets of successful classroom management and overall discipline.

As the world keeps changing, “classrooms” also change. Students today are different with ones, let’s say, ten years ago. That means the problems are different too, and classroom management seem a little bit tougher than it used to be. The phrase “classroom management” has been familiar to teachers. But how is it defined? Classroom management refers to the actions a teacher needs to take in order to maintain order in the classroom which enables learning to take place (Whetten, 2008).
The key to successful classroom management is good teaching, not rules. In a classroom where learning is fast-paced, relevant, success-oriented, and makes sense to each student, behavior management becomes a secondary concern. When the classroom is a place of learning-excitement, students don't have time to get everything done that they want to do, including getting into trouble (Del Rosario, 2003).

Obviously, changing times and changing learners needs different teaching techniques and strategies. Teaching can't be a static profession. Effective teaching today has to be rooted in a curriculum where all students succeed. The best curriculum in the world however, won't come alive for learners if teachers don't practice effective instructional strategies. Wise words saying “Good teaching comes first. Good behavior follows.” Indicate that a teacher plays as the motor to the whole elements in the classroom.

Managing Crowded Classroom

When talking about crowded classroom, that means we talk about non-ideal classroom. Certain numbers of students who should ideally occupy the classroom relatively depends on the class itself. So the degree of ideal here means when all students share their turn equally, when teaching learning process run well, and teachers can control and monitor students well.

Students’ experience in large classes is often impersonal, frequently hindering effective learning. Research has shown that students are more motivated to learn when they believe their teachers care about them and their learning. This conclusion is consistent with related findings on the correlates of effective learning: students’ positive responses to subject matter and instructors enhance learning through meaningful relationships between teachers and students and among classmates (Whetten, et al, 2003)

Students learn more when they identify with their teachers as role models meanwhile, In large classes the interpersonal communication necessary for such learning is often inhibited. Because communication can be impeded by an impersonal relationship between teacher and students, it follows that students’ ability to learn may be impaired by a lack of access to the instructor. For example, students may misunderstand a concept and/or they may have important personal questions about the subject matter that they don’t feel comfortable asking in class, especially a large class. Furthermore, Whetten, et al proposed some suggestion for teachers how to deal with this problems.

a. Be yourself. For students to feel they have a relationship with the teacher, they need to feel they know who the teacher is. To accomplish this, teacher should incorporate into his or her teaching some things that are unique about him or her as a teacher and as a person. This might involve relating something about past experiences as an academic or sharing personal insights into the subject matter, especially things you are passionate about. Also, consider sharing your spiritual quest, especially in relation to this subject matter.

b. Learn students’ names. Try to learn your students’ names regardless of the size of the class. Learning students’ names lets them know that you think they are important, especially in very large classes.

c. Make course expectations clear and course content relevant to students. On the first day of class explain your philosophy of learning, explain why you think the course material is important, describe the process you went through to select readings, assignments, tests, etc. For example, in an introductory psychology course, one professor begins this way: “I expect that for many of you this is the only psychology class you will take in college. Therefore, my goal in designing this course was to highlight those aspects of my discipline that I believe are most relevant for your everyday life. Here are a few examples . . .” Learning centered teaching involves designing a course from the perspective of what students need to learn (rather than what teachers want to teach). Early in the semester share your assumptions about what your students need to learn. In addition, provide a mechanism for students to indicate what they want to learn. Then, reinforce these points throughout the semester by illustrating how the choice of readings, assignments, etc., reflect your efforts to make the course relevant to their needs and interests.

d. Plan group discussions/assignments. Begin group activities on the very first day of class. For example, allow students to conduct paired interviews to get to know each other, or put students in small groups to discuss some of the main themes/topics you are introducing as part of the course. Promoting such group-learning activities right from the beginning of the course lets students know you are interested in them and their ideas, and it provides them with a human connection—if not to the instructor directly, to student peers in the class.

e. Ask for (and implement) student feedback. Another way to personalize the learning experience for students is to solicit feedback during the course and then report which suggestions you found particularly valuable and intend to implement. You can use the program Students Consulting on Teaching (SCOT) to interview your class or you can administer your own survey about what helps the students learn, what hinders their learning, and what suggestions they have to improve the course. You might discover, for example, that students wish you would incorporate more examples in your explanations of difficult concepts. Later, if you use more examples during the rest of the semester, announce that you are doing this in response to the feedback you received from them.

f. Stay connected with students. A couple of times each semester send out a general e-mail to all students in your course (especially easy with Blackboard), offering students some coaching tips, learning strategies, suggestions for test preparation, etc. There are at least three reasons for sending out this information via e-mail rather than making an announcement in class: (1) students appreciate an e-mail as a personal message to them; (2) everyone receives the e-mail, regardless of whether or not they were in class; and (3) it saves valuable class time.

g. Make the most of TAs. Think of TAs not only as aids for helping students learn, but also as your “personal representatives” during the course. In order for the TAs to effectively represent you as the course instructor, consider these questions: How do I want the TAs to prepare for each discussion? What should they focus on? How can they effectively interact with each and every student? How can they best contribute a perspective and an attitude that actually helps students learn?

h. Post the TA schedule. If the course includes a walk-in help lab staffed by TAs, consider posting the times when the individual TAs are scheduled to work. Experience has shown that many students prefer working with the same TA, and by posting the schedule students can consistently work with the TAs they find most helpful.

i. Explore new teaching strategies. To personalize the learning experience for students, experiment with new strategies to help students learn. For example, using small groups (or teams) for class discussions or projects allows each student to speak/contribute, hence fostering interaction among students and promoting cooperative learning. Personal connections are enhanced when the faculty/TAs visit the discussion groups to listen and field questions. Well-designed active-learning experiences can foster collaboration among students and between students and teachers (or TAs).

Team English for Large Classroom

Team English is a technique for teaching communicative language in large classes. Conceptually, Team English can be used with any large group of students, from kindergarteners to business executives. It is particularly effective with teenagers, who are often hard to manage in crowded classes of forty, fifty, or even more students. Team English uses team and member identification through colors and numbers while at the same time incorporating principles of cooperative learning, an approach to education in which students work together to achieve a common objective. As a result, Team English provides an organization and management system that allows students to interact in communicative activities while preventing the chaos often resulting from attempts to use groups in large classes.

An important component of Team English is the ability to identify teams and individual members quickly and easily. Each team has a designated color. Each student wears the team color and a team number. Colors can be personalized further by using them in a team name. Once students are comfortable working together, they can choose names like the “yellow tigers” or “red dragons.”

To display the team color, teachers can have students wear a sports sash, jersey, head band, or other identifier that can easily be seen from a distance. A less expensive solution is to take light-weight plastic folders and cut them in half at the fold. We then punch one hole in each corner of one short side of both pieces. Next we join these pieces with ribbon so that they can be worn as a bib, front and back. Students can be responsible for carrying these with their other school materials.

Numbers identify each member of the team. In teams of six students, numbers 1-6 are used; if there are nine team members, students are numbered 1-9, and so forth. To make it easy we can a large number centered near the neckline on both the front and back of the garment. This makes it easy for us to see the number, even if the students slide down in their seats or have their backs to us. Teachers can glue or iron on numbers, or create your own by using a large-width permanent marker. The important thing to remember is that the numbers need to be large enough and high enough to be seen from a distance when students are seated at their desks.
For each activity, form pairs or groups appropriate for that activity. With a team of nine members, there are 28 different combinations of triads alone. In effect, each team represents a small class, which allows students to develop team loyalty while still interacting with a variety of classmates.

To encourage peer mentoring, teachers can form pairs and groups of mixed higher and lower abilities. The students with stronger leadership and English skills can be the group leaders. They then take on a mentoring role for the other students. As other team members develop these skills, they too can assume leadership roles. Within the group, teachers can assign each student a different responsibility, based on that student’s ability. At times, you may also want to form more homogeneous groups within the team. Each group can do a different activity, again depending on ability. Teacher can then easily assist the group most needing individual attention within each team.

Before assigning students to the teams, teacher should choose a captain for each team by selecting students recognized for their leadership ability as well as their English skills. Teacher can then distribute the remaining students randomly to the teams or assign them by ability. In the latter case, after identifying the captains, we rank the remaining students from high to low in English ability. Starting at the top of the ranking, we distribute one student to each team. After the first round, we then distribute one student from the bottom of the list. We alternate rounds in this way until you have placed all students on a team. Should we anticipate conflicts among students, we can switch these students to other teams before you begin. Likewise, if we see an imbalance among the teams, we can move students until all teams seem roughly equal in ability.

Once we have designated the number of players on a team, we will need to assign each student a number. If the students are distributed by ability, it is a good idea to number the students by ability consistently across teams. For example, in teams of nine, the lower level ability students could be given numbers 2, 6, 7; the mid range 3, 5, 9; and the higher level 1 (usually the captain), 4, 8. It is better not to order students’ ability sequentially from 1-9 so as not to stigmatize any specific student. By knowing which students correspond to specific levels of ability, we can control for homogeneity or heterogeneity within pairs or groups. While some people think of numbers as impersonal, team numbers take on a more meaningful affiliation, as they do in sports. In addition, they help you learn your students’ names because you can associate the name with the student’s team color and number.

To organize the teams within the classroom, the teacher needs to create a floor plan of the desks. We can then block off sections of the classroom so that team members are able to work with each other within their respective section. Students can move within that block as activities dictate. We do not need to require each student to sit at a specific desk, since we can easily identify students by their team color and number. However, when introducing Team English, the teacher may want to assign seats for the first few days, placing the captains in a central position so they are close to all their team members.

When using Team English for the first time, we can hand out the team identifier with its number to the relevant student, ask the captains to do so, or have the students create their own identifier, as described earlier, with the color and number that you have designated. When the teams are in place for the first time, we can begin with a Total Physical Response (TPR) activity. TPR uses commands to which the students respond, thus reinforcing their team and individual identity. First we have teams respond to commands, for instance, “Yellow stand up,” or “Blue waive your hands.” Next we use the same commands with numbers so that the appropriate member from every team responds, such as, “All fives stand up,” or All threes waive your hands.” Finally, we call on individual students, for example, “Red five stand up,” or “Green three waive your hands.”

After the warm-up activity and any other activities required to introduce concepts of team cooperation and responsibility, we form groups within the team, appropriate to the specific activity you plan to use. Pairs or groups of three work particularly well in classes where desks are packed so close together that it is physically difficult to form larger groups. Also, pairs or triads allow easy viewing of materials if each group has only one copy.

Conclusion

Being a teacher is also being committed to creativity. Teachers have the responsibility of not only teaching children well, but a responsibility of teaching children to become active, participating citizens in our society. Classrooms serve as a platform for this teaching and learning. Thus, in order for this platform to be created, an efficient, practical and flexible classroom management plan needs to be in place. Classroom should be an environment that adapts for all students’ individuality in which students develop character. An efficient classroom must consist of a positive and motivating learning community where students’ individuality are recognized and appreciated, who are treated fairly.

Unfortunately, crowded classrooms are far from ideal. While teachers are busy transferring knowledge to students, they also have a hard work to reinforce discipline and at the same time treat every one of their students as individuals, not as a noisy and chaotic groups of people.

Effective strategy for crowded classroom should be applied for the sake of teachers and the students. Expert or other experienced teachers who conducted research proposed many strategies to deal with this situation, but the best solution and most effective ones do not come hand to hand. Teachers should observe the class and choose the most suitable strategy for their own class. The most important thing, teachers and students should feel comfortable and teaching learning process run smoothly.


References

Del Rosario, Maureen. 2003. Classroom Management Plan. EDSPE 526B-Cheney ………

Elkin, David J. 1972. Effects of Group and Situational Variables on Perception on Crowding. A paper presented at the Annual Convention of The American Psychological Association in California. Washington University. Washington D. C.

Loewy, John H. 1972. Effects on Density, Motivation and Learning Situation on Classrooms Achievement. A paper presented at the Annual Convention of The American Psychological Association in California. Washington University. Washington D. C.

MacDonald, Marguerite, et al. 2008. Strategies of Teaching Class Rules and Procedures Effectively. Classroom Management: Team English for Large Classes. Available: http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?docid=146452
Sanderson, Donna R. Classroom Management Students Observing Student Teachers: A Win-Win Combination. West Chester University.

Whetten, David, et al. 2003. Conquering the Crowded Classroom. Focus On Faculty: A newsletter vol.11. No.2. Brigham Young University Faculty Center. Available: www.byu.edu/fc.

Winer, Janice. I, et al. 1977. Factors Effecting Perception of and Responses to Crowded Classroom Environment. A paper presented at the Annual Convention of The American Psychological Association in California. National Science Foundation. Washington D. C.

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EDUCATOR BURNOUT: BENARKAH BUKAN MASALAH SERIUS?

PROGRAM PASCA SARJANA
UNIVERSITAS SRIWIJAYA
2009


EDUCATOR BURNOUT: BENARKAH BUKAN MASALAH SERIUS?

OLEH
A N T O N


Abstrak
Banyaknya tekanan yang dialami guru, baik secara internal maupun eksternal, membuat beberapa orang yang menjalani profesi ini menjadi rentan akan stres. Padatnya kelas, banyaknya kelas yang diajar, minimnya penghargaan, siswa yang susah diatur, atau problematika lainnya merupakan sedikit dari banyak masalah yang memicu kelelahan emosional dan kemudian menjadi burnout. Makalah ini menyoroti sebab akibat burnout dikalangan pendidik dan bagaimana mengatasinya secara efektif.


Profesi pendidik atau guru secara historis dilihat sebagai profesi yang sangat erat berhubungan dengan kasih sayang, kesabaran dan ketekunan. Sayangnya, terkadang kenyataan yang ada di dalam kelas membuat kegiatan mengajar menjadi sebuah pekerjaan yang penuh tekanan. Pada saat ini, para pendidik dituntut untuk mengatasi masalah sosial yang ada di masyarakat, yaitu menyiapkan para peserta didik menghadapi hidup yang sangat kompleks.

Dalam kegiatan mengajar sehari-hari, para pendidik mengahadapi banyak problematika yang menjadi tekanan tersendiri terhadap mereka. Pada dasarnya, manusia tidak dapat lari dari tekanan karena tekanan merupakan bagian dari kehidupan. Tekanan bisa didefinisikan sebagai respon fisiologis dan psikis terhadap apa yang terjadi pada seseorang, dan setiap individu mempunyai batas ambang untuk menerima tekanan yang datang dalam hidupnya.

Gold dan Roth (1993) menggambarkan bahwa profesi kependidikan masa kini dianggap mempunyai tiga hal negatif, yaitu tekanan itu sendiri, moral pendidik, dan rendahnya pandangan terhadap profesi pendidik. Di beberapa negara, persoalan tekanan di kalangan pendidik bukan lagi sekedar bahan kajian ilmiah, namun telah menjadi isu dalam media masa, seperti halnya yang terjadi di Malaysia pada tahun 1990an. Pada saat itu ada 75 guru yang meninggalkan profesi mereka di Serawak dengan alasan yang beragam, dan terkuak bahwa alasan-alasan yang mereka kemukakan bermuara dari tekanan yang mereka hadapi selama mengajar (Othman, 2003)

Banyak para pendidik yang menerima banyak tekanan menjadi pesimis terhadap apa yang mereka lakukan. Sebagai akibatnya, mereka tanpa sadar melahirkan sebuah perasaan negatif terhadap diri mereka sendiri, siswa yang diajar, dan profesi yang mereka jalani. Kian lama, perasaan tersebut menjadi sebuah perasaan kelelahan emosional kronis yang membuat apa saja yang mereka lakukan menjadi tidak positif. Imbasnya kinerja yang rendah, siswa yang terabaikan, dan hilangnya keinginan untuk melakukan rutinitas, apalagi berprestasi. Fenomena inilah yang dikenal dengan nama burnout.

Definisi burnout
Istilah burnout pertama kali diutarakan dan diperkenalkan kepada masyarakat oleh Herbert Freudenberger pada tahun 1973. Freudenberger adalah seorang ahli psikologis klinis pada lembaga pelayanan sosial di New York yang menangani remaja bermasalah. Ia mengamati perubahan perilaku para sukarelawan setelah bertahun-tahun bekerja. Hasil pengamatannya, ia laporkan dalam sebuah jurnal psikologi profesional pada tahun 1973 yang disebut sebagai sindrom burnout. Menurutnya, para relawan tersebut mengalami kelelahan mental, kehilangan komitmen, dan penurunan motivasi seiring dengan berjalannya waktu. Selanjutnya, Freudenberger memberikan ilustrasi tentang apa yang dirasakan seseorang yang mengalami sindrom tersebut seperti gedung yang terbakar habis (burned-out). Suatu gedung yang pada mulanya berdiri megah dengan berbagai aktivitas di dalamnya, setelah terbakar yang tampak hanyalah kerangka luarnya saja. Demikian pula dengan seseorang yang terkena burnout, dari luar segalanya masih nampak utuh, namun di dalamnya kosong dan penuh masalah seperti gedung yang terbakar tadi. Burnout merupakan suatu problem yang kemunculannya memperoleh tanggapan yang baik, sebab hal itu terjadi ketika seseorang mencoba mencapai suatu tujuan yang tidak realistis dan pada akhirnya mereka kehabisan energi dan kehilangan perasaan tentang dirinya dan terhadap orang-orang lain.
Guru dan burnout

Tanda awal burnout biasanya adalah timbulnya perasaan kelelahan secara emosional di tempat kerja. Lalu apakah kelelahan emosional itu? Ketika ditanya, para guru menggambarkan sebagai rasa “terkuras”, “lesu”, “kering ide” dan juga diikuti kelelahan fisik dan tanpa motivasi kerja.

Guru yang mengalami kelelahan emosional cenderung menutup diri dari teman kerja dan siswa. Mereka “membuat” apa yang disebut dalam ilmu psikologi sebagai “detached concern” yaitu menjadi sinis dan membatasi diri dari pergaulan.

Aspek lain dari burnout adalah perasaan rendahnya pencapaian atau prestasi. Di awal karir biasanya seseorang mempunyai pengharapan tinggi atau paling tidak memberi kontribusi kepada instansi atau institusi maupun masyarakat, namun setelah beberapa tahun, pengharapan itu tak kunjung datang sehingga menimbulkan frustasi.

Adanya beda visi dan cara kerja guru baru dan guru senior maupun institusi juga bias memicu cepatnya guru-guru baru mengalami burnout. Perbedaan-perbedaan tersebut diantaranya:
1. Ekspektasi yang tidak realistis dan ekstrimnya perbedaan antara apa yang di dapat pada training tau kuliah dengan kenyataan yang terjadi dilapangan.
2. Kebijakan dan prosedur institusi yang menyulitkan
3. Sumber daya yang tidak memadai untuk melaksanakan tugas dengan baik.
4. Rekan kerja maupun senior yang sulit diajak kerja sama.
5. Tidak adanya penghargaan terhadap guru yang sukses atau berprestasi.

Faktor Eksternal Pemicu Burnout
Sementara banyaknya atasan atau institusi yang menyalahkan penyebab burnout lebih pada karyawan sendiri, ternyata institusi pendidikan pun bisa sebagai pemicu burnout di kalangan guru. Beberapa penelitian menguak bahwa kurangnya kontrol otonomi pada seseorang juga menyumbang terjadinya burnout. Kontrol otonomi tersebut melibatkan persepsi guru terhadap pengaruh mereka pada pengambilan keputusan yang berkenaan dengan isu-isu yang terjadi seperti misalnya pengaturan jadwal, maupun pengambilan kebijakan-kebijakan yang secara langsung mempengaruhi lingkungan kerja.
Seharusnya, tanpa disadari bahwa peningkatan keterlibatan guru dalam proses pengambilan keputusan adalah sebuah cara efektif untuk mencegah stres atau paling tidak mengurangi efek-efek dari stress tersebut.

Ketiadaan support group yang efektif juga bisa memicu burnout. Support group adalah kelompok yang sengaja dibuat dengan kesadaran tinggi untuk meminimalisir terjadinya burnout. Support group yang efektif mencakup orang-orang yang menyediakan emosional comfort atau kenyamanan emosional, yang tidak mengkonfrontasi secara brutal jika guru bertingkah tidak sepantasnya, yang memberi dan menyediakan dukungan teknis problematika di tempat kerja, yang menyediakan bimbingan untuk pemulihan kepercayaan diri, yang befungsi sebagai pendengar aktif dan berbagi kepercayaan, persepsi terhadap realitas dan penyambung lidah bagi guru dan atasan.

Dukungan sosial dari rekan kerja turut berpotensi dalam menyebabkan burnout. Sisi positif yang dapat diambil bila memiliki hubungan yang baik dengan rekan kerja yaitu mereka merupakan sumber emosional bagi guru saat menghadapi masalah dengan siswa maupun atasan. Individu yang memiliki persepsi adanya dukungan sosial akan merasa nyaman, diperhatikan, dihargai atau terbantu oleh orang lain. Sisi negatif dari rekan kerja yang dapat menimbulkan burnout adalah terjadinya hubungan antar rekan kerja yang buruk. Hal tersebut bisa terjadi apabila hubungan antar mereka diwarnai dengan konflik, saling tidak percaya, dan saling bermusuhan (Sihotang, 2004)
Sejumlah kondisi yang potensial terhadap timbulnya konflik antar rekan kerja, yaitu:
(1) perbedaan nilai pribadi;
(2) perbedaan pendekatan dalam melihat permasalahan; dan
(3) mengutamakan kepentingan pribadi dalam berkompetisi.

Di samping dukungan sosial dari rekan kerja tersebut, dukungan sosial yang tidak ada dari atasan juga dapat menjadi sumber stres emosional yang berpotensi menimbulkan burnout. Kondisi atasan yang tidak responsif akan mendukung terjadinya situasi yang menimbulkan ketidakberdayaan, yaitu bawahan akan merasa bahwa segala upayanya dalam bekerja tidak akan bermakna. Sementara itu, penghargaan dan sanksi yang diterapkan ditempat kerja juga bisa dihubungkan sebagai pemicu burnout. Bagi banyak karyawan maupun guru, reward atau penghargaan dan sanksi atau hukuman dianggap sebagai pernyataan dari atasan mengenai baik buruknya pekerjaan mereka. Tekanan eksternal untuk mendapatkan penghargaan dari atasan sementara kapasitas kerja yang tak memadai bisa menjadi sumber utama burnout. Kahn dalam Cherniss (1980) mengemukakan bahwa adanya konflik peran merupakan faktor yang potensial terhadap timbulnya burnout. Konflik peran ini muncul karena adanya tuntutan yang tidak sejalan atau bertentangan. Contohnya: (1) seorang guru diharapkan untuk menerapkan disiplin kepada siswa namun di sisi lain ia harus memperlihatkan perasaan kasih sayang, perhatian, rasa humor agar suasana pembelajaran dapat tercipta secara baik, (2) guru-guru ingin agar siswa yang hiperaktif tetap dipertahankan di sekolah namun pihak yayasan sekolah meminta agar siswa yang berkelakuan seperti itu harus dikeluarkan dari sekolah, dan (3) sebagai pekerja sosial ia harus melakukan kerja lembur namun sebagai seorang ibu ia juga harus memperhatikan kebutuhan keluarga pula. Farber (1991) mengemukakan bahwa, ketidakpedulian, ketidakpekaan atasan, kurangnya apresiasi masyarakat dengan pekerjaan, kritik masyarakat, pindah kerja yang tidak dikehendaki, kelas yang terlalu padat, kertas kerja yang berlebihan, bangunan fisik tempat kerja yang tidak baik, hilangnya otonomi, dan gaji yang tidak memadai merupakan beberapa faktor lingkungan sosial yang turut berperan menimbulkan burnout.

Faktor Internal Penyebab Burnout: Latar Belakang dan Karakteristik Pribadi

Aspek lain pemicu burnout adalah faktor latar belakang atau pribadi. Faktor latar belakang misalnya jenis kelamin, umur, tingkat pendidikan, dan jenis dan tipe siswa yang diajar. Sementara karakter pribadi termasuk ekspektasi individu terhadap pekerjaan itu sendiri dan karakteristik kepribadian individu yang bersangkutan.

Umur pendidik atau guru menjadi faktor paling umum pemicu burnout. Guru yang lebih muda cenderung mengalami level kelelahan emosional dan fisik yang lebih tinggi. Schwab dan Iwenicki (1982) juga menemukan bahwa jenis kelamin guru dan level kelas yang diajar berhubungan dengan perasaan penyebab burnout. Guru laki-laki lebih punya sikap negatif terhadap siswa daripada guru wanita. Sementara guru yang mengajar siswa SMP dan SMA lebih punya sikap negatif terhadap siswa dan jarangnya punya perasaan puas terhadap pencapaian kerjanya dibandingkan guru yang mengajar di SD.

Faktor latar belakang yang telah dijelaskan tadi terbukti berhubungan sangat signifikan memicu burnout, faktor-faktor lain semisal status pernikahan, jenis komunitas yang diajar, tingkat pendidikan dan lamanya pengalaman mengajar terbukti tidak secara signifikan memicu burnout.

Faktor personal yang banyak disetujui para psikiater sebagai unsur utama pemicu burnout adalah ekspektasi terhadap apa yang ingin dicapai pada pekerjaan yang dijalani. Seperti yang dijelaskan sebelumnya, umumnya pendidik memasuki lapangan kerja dengan komitmen dan harapan bisa berkembang dan berubah ke arah lebih baik, ketika realitas terhadap apa yang dicapai tidak seperti harapan, beberapa guru beranggapan dia telah gagal dan menyalahkan diri sendiri, apalagi jika pindah atau mencari profesi lain bukan merupakan opsi.

Reflection : Mengenali Diri Apakah Terkena Burnout
Cherniss (1980) menyatakan bahwa ketika seseorang mulai memperhatikan tanda-tanda atau gejala-gejala burnout yang dinyatakan di dalam literatur, makna konsep burnout meluas lebih jauh. Karenanya, tanda dan gejala yang biasanya dikaitkan dengan burnout adalah sebagai berikut: (1) resistensi yang tinggi untuk pergi kerja setiap hari, (2) terdapat perasaan gagal di dalam diri, (3) cepat marah dan sering kesal, (4) rasa bersalah dan menyalahkan, (5) keengganan dan ketidakberdayaan, (6) negatifisme, (7) isolasi dan penarikan diri, (8) perasaan capek dan lelah setiap hari, (9) sering memperhatikan jam saat bekerja, (10) sangat pegal setelah bekerja, (11) hilang perasaan positif terhadap siswa, (12) menunda pekerjaan dan terkesan menjauhi masalah, (13) menyamaratakan orang atau siswa, (14) tidak mampu menyimak apa yang orang ceritakan, (15) merasa tidak aktif, (16) sinisme dan sikap menyalahkan, (17) gangguan tidur/sulit tidur, (18) menghindari diskusi mengenai pekerjaan dengan teman kerja, (19) asyik dengan diri sendiri, (20) mendukung tindakan untuk mengontrol perilaku, misalnya menggunakan obat penenang, (21) sering demam dan flu, (22) sering sakit kepala dan gangguan pencernaan, (23) kaku dalam berpikir dan resisten terhadap perubahan, (24) rasa curiga yang berlebihan dan paranoid, (25) pengunaan obat-obatan yang berlebihan, (26) konflik perkawinan dan keluarga, dan (27) sangat sering membolos.

Burnout mengkombinasikan fisik, emosi, dan mental, dan merupakan suatu keadaan yang sukar untuk keluar darinya. Kita tidak bisa mengatakan “Saya kena burnout hari ini tapi besok tidak lagi kok”. Seseorang yang secara fisik kelelahan setelah lari maraton, namun secara emosional gembira, tidak mengalami burnout. Demikian pula orang yang tertekan namun tetap nyaman di dalam bekerja, tidak mengalami burnout. Burnout tidak selalu terjadi pada setiap orang, karena ada perbedaan individual yang turut berpengaruh. Satu hal yang memiliki kontribusi besar terhadap timbulnya burnout, yaitu jika mereka merasa tidak bernilai, tidak dihargai, dan pekerjaan mereka merasa tidak berarti (Muslihuddin, 1999).

Tekanan pekerjaan (ketidakseimbangan antara sumber daya dan tuntutan) tidak harus menyebabkan kelelahan yang hebat, dan dengan penanganan yang berkaitan dengan burnout yang bersifat defensif. Artinya, walau kelelahan menghasilkan beberapa perubahan tingkah laku dan penderita melampiaskan terhadap siswa dan teman sejawat, hal itu belum tentu bahwa ia burnout. Tetapi secara umum, semakin besar dan semakin kronis stres dan semakin tidak berdaya seorang pekerja untuk mengubah situasi, besar kemungkinan burnout terjadi dan bisa semakin buruk (Cherniss, 1980).
Solusi Efektif Mengatasi Burnout

Terdapat berbagai cara efektif untuk mengatasi kejenuhan pada para pegawai pada suatu lingkungan kerja. Salah satunya adalah munculnya kesadaran pada diri para pucuk pimpinan bahwa dalam melaksanakan pekerjaannya, seorang pegawai banyak menghadapai berbagai problem yang bisa berdampak pada timbulnya sindrom burnout pada mereka.

Oleh karena itu, untuk mengatasi hal-hal tersebut hendaknya para pimpinan lapangan melakukan hal-hal sebagai berikut:
(1) menciptakan birokrasi yang tidak menimbulkan anggapan di mata pegawai bahwa para pembina yang bekerja di kantor, di manapun ia berkantor, tidak peduli dengan kesulitan mereka, atau bekerja untuk menghambat niat baik mereka. Tidak juga membuat pegawai merasa seolah-olah dipimpin dan atau dibina oleh mereka yang memiliki citra tidak kompeten, tidak efisien, kurang komitmen, kurang berminat terhadap hobi dan kegiatan kantor pada umumnya.

(2) melakukan pembinaan pegawai secara profesional, artinya lakukan serangkaian usaha bantuan kepada pegawai, terutama bantuan yang berwujud layanan profesional guna meningkatkan proses dan hasil pembinaan yang menggairahkan,

(3) melakukan hubungan profesional yang tidak kaku, yang akrab, yang tidak bersikap otoriter pimpinan, sehingga pegawai tidak takut bersikap terbuka kepada pimpinan. Dengan demikian, akan terjadi interaksi antara pegawai dengan pimpinan yang harmonis, sehingga pada gilirannya tersedia kesempatan untuk mengembangkan ke arah yang dapat menurunkan kemungkinan terjadinya burnout.

(4) melakukan dukungan sosial yang cukup bermakna kepada pegawai. Sebab dukungan sosial yang tidak kuat dari pimpinan dapat menjadi sumber stres emosional yang berpotensi terhadap timbulnya burnout. Jenis dukungan yang diharapkan pegawai ialah: (a) saran dari pimpinan dalam mengatasi masalah pekerjaan yang dihadapi pegawai, (b) kesediaan pimpinan untuk berempati terhadap perasaan-perasaan pegawai saat mengahadapi murid, wali murid dan masyarakat, (c) peran pimpinan dalam memberikan informasi yang berkaitan dengan pekerjaan dan promosi, (d) memberi contoh tingkah laku yang dapat dijadikan panutan ditempat kerja pegawai, (e) memberi umpan balik yang konstruktif terhadap kinerja pegawai

(5) melakukan kebijakan pembinaan yang dapat meningkatkan kepuasan kerja pegawai.
Selain itu, yang lebih penting dalam mencegah terjadinya burnout adalah usaha yang dilakukan para pendidik itu sendiri. Para pendidik haruslah waspada akan munculnya burnout. Sebab, selain merugikan diri sendiri, juga berdampak pada pekerjaan dan citra pegawai yang sampai hari ini perlu diperjuangkan. Untuk para guru, beberapa langkah di bawah ini bisa di terapkan untuk menghindari burnout.

1. Ekspektasi atau harapan
Sebagai guru atau pendidik, kita punya ekspektasi atau pengharapan, baik terhadap siswa, guru lain, administrasi, maupun orang tua siswa. Tentu saja beberapa hal tidak akan sesuai seperti yang diharapkan karena kita tidak bisa membuat senang semua orang setiap waktu, maka:

a. Buatlah batasan dan pengharapan yang tegas dengan siswa ataupun orang tua siswa, maksudnya bahwa apa yang diharapkan orang tua siswa kadang tidak terkabul, atau sebaliknya.

b. Tegas dengan siswa, kalau perlu bilang “Tidak” sebagai kalimat lengkap jika mendapati siswa mulai mencari celah-celah kelemahan kita.

c. Jangan berharap setiap hari akan berjalan lancar terus, sehingga kita bisa mengantisipasi yang bakal terjadi.

d. Minta kepada TU klarifikasi jika tidak yakin apa yang mereka inginkan untuk kita lakukan.

e. Harus fleksibel, jika apa yang tidak diharapkan terus datang, maka kita punya rencana cadangan.

2. Manajemen waktu
1. Gunakan periode perencanaan untuk bekerja, bukan untuk bersosialisasi.

2. Pertimbangkan untuk memeriksa tugas-tugas siswa di sekolah atau di dalam kelas bersama-sama untuk menghindari menumpuknnya pekerjaan.

3. Jika jam istirahat, gunakan untuk bersosialisasi dengan kolega atau ngobrol ringan dengan para siswa.

4. Bagi guru baru, turut serta dalam aktifitas sekolah bisa membuat “sense of connection”, namun jangan terlalu banyak karena bisa membuat kelelahan ketika mengajar.

5. Jika sudah terlalu banyak tugas yang diemban, hindari tanggung jawab yang secara realistik tidak bisa dipegang.

3. Support atau dukungan
Pilihlah seorang mentor. Penelitian membuktikan bahwa ini bisa menjadi faktor utama untuk menghindari burnout pada guru baru.
- Temukan seseorang yang gayanya anda kagumi
- Seringlah bertanya dan minta nasehat darinya.
- Terapkan apa yang terlihat baik untuk dilakukan
- Jangan mengisolasi diri, temukan waktu untuk bersosialisasi dengan kolega lain juga (arisan, mungkin)
- Jika perlu, berikan sumbangan berarti (misalnya jika pintar piranti lunak) kepada TU.

4. Kedisiplinan
- Buatlah ekspektasi yang realistis dan konsisten dengan respon yang didapat.
- Jika mendapati ada siswa yang bermasalah dengan disiplin, jangan ragu bertanya dengan guru-guru lain karena para guru adalah satu tim, seorang guru tidak bisa menyelesaikan banyak tugas sendirian.
- Ingatlah bahwa siswa punya latar belakang berbeda-beda yang mengakibatkan mereka bertindak berbeda pula di sekolah atau di dalam kelas.

5. Keseimbangan
- Mengajar adalah profesi, bukan hidup anda, maksudnya ada banyak hal-hal lain yang bisa dilakukan diakhir pekan atau liburan.
- Kejar atau lakukan apa yang menjadi minat di luar kerja.
- Jangan memberikan semua waktu dan energy untuk pekerjaan sehingga orang-orang tercinta menjadi terabaikan.
- Coba untuk menghindari membawa pekerjaan ke rumah (walau agak sulit jika datang waktu mengisi raport), jika tak ada pilihan lain, jangan korbankan waktu berharga untuk keluarga.

6. Self-care
- Jauhi orang-orang yang punya sikap negatif (misalnya orang-orang yang bilang “sudahlah, guru-guru lain juga begitu”)
- Ingat, tidak ada orang yang sempurna.
- Carilah waktu untuk latihan fisik atau sekedar mencari keringat.
- Karna sering bergaul dengan anak-anak, jangan sampai lupa bergaul dengan orang-orang dewasa.
- Jangan lupa sarapan sehat tiap pagi.
- Banyak tersenyum dan humor bisa sangat bermanfaat untuk kesehatan dan mengajar di kelas, jadi jangan terlalu serius.
- Sabar dengan diri sendiri juga sangat penting.

Kesimpulan
Menjawab pertanyaan apakah burnout di kalangan pendidik merupakan masalah serius atau tidak, tentu saja jawabannya adalah burnout bisa menjadi masalah serius jika dibiarkan berlarut-larut. Burnout yang dialami tiap guru, jika memang ada, berbeda-beda tingkatannya. Menyadari bahwa kita sendiri mengalami burnout tentu sangat berguna, dan keinginan untuk lepas dari burnout adalah kunci keberhasilan untuk memerangi situasi ini.

Di samping keinginan individu itu sendiri, perhatian atasan juga diperlukan. Atasan maupun rekan kerja harus peka terhadap beberapa orang yang memperlihatkan gejala burnout. Diagnosa terhadap apa yang mereka rasakan dan alami harus dilakukan dengan pendekatan yang personal dan dengan komunikasi dua arah. Umumnya, mereka yang mengalami gejala burnout ingin didengar, sehingga cara efektif untuk “menarik” mereka dari gejala ini adalah bersikap terbuka dan membiarkan mereka mencurahkan apa yang dirasakan.

Kerjasama yang baik antar guru atau pendidik, atasan yang peka akan keinginan dan harapan bawahan, lingkungan dan fasilitas yang menunjang proses pembelajaran merupakan harapan semua guru, namun jika yang diimpikan tersebut jauh dari harapan dan mendatangkan tekanan, sangatlah bijak untuk mencari cara bagaimana menjadikan tekanan yang datang sebagai sebuah tantangan yang bisa memicu kinerja yang baik bahkan berprestasi, bukan malah menyerah dengan keadaan.

REFERENSI

Cherniss, Cary. 1980. Staff Burnout-Job Stress in the Human Services. London: Sage Publications, Beverly Hills.

Farber, Barry A., Crisis In Education: Stress and Burnout in the American Teacher, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Gold, Y. and Roth, R. A. 1993. Teachers Managing Stress and Preventing Burnout : the
Professional Health Solution. London: The Falmer Press.

Othman, Mohd Razali. 2003. Strategi Menangani Tekanan Di kalangan Guru-guru Sekolah Menengah Zon A Di Bahagian Kuching/Samarahan, Sarawak: Satu Tinjauan. Malaysia. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Pines, Ayala and Aronson, Elliot. 1989. Career Burnout: Causes and Cures, New York: The Free Press, A Division of Macmillan, Inc.

Muslihuddin. 1999. Fenomena Kejenuhan (Burnout) Dikalangan Pegawai Dan Cara Efektif Mengatasinya. Available on : http://www.lpmpjabar.go.id/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=166&Itemid=316

Schwab, R.L., & Iwanicki, E.F., & Pierson, D.A. 1983. Assessing rote conflict and role ambiguity: A cross validation study. Educational and Psychological Measurement. Available on : www.pdfgeni.com

Sihotang, Imelda Novelina. 2004. Burnout pada Karyawan Ditinjau dari Persepsi terhadap Lingkungan Kerja Psikologis dan Jenis Kelamin. Palembang: Universitas Bina Darma Palembang. www.pdfgeni.com

Pines, Ayala and Aronson, Elliot. 1989. Career Burnout: Causes and Cures, New York: The Free Press, A Division of Macmillan, Inc.

Muslihuddin. 1999. Fenomena Kejenuhan (Burnout) Dikalangan Pegawai Dan Cara Efektif Mengatasinya. Available on : http://www.lpmpjabar.go.id/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=166&Itemid=316

Schwab, R.L., & Iwanicki, E.F., & Pierson, D.A. 1983. Assessing rote conflict and role ambiguity: A cross validation study. Educational and Psychological Measurement. Available on : www.pdfgeni.com

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Elements and Subelements of Method

What is a method? Three decades ago Edward Anthony gave us a definition that has quite admirably withstood the test of time. Method is the second of three hierarchical elements, namely, approach. Here are Elements and Subelements of Method that can you use in teaching process:

Method :
1. Approach:
a. A theory of native language:
- an account of nature of language proficiency
- an account of the basic units of language structure

b. A theory of the nature of language learning
- an account of the psycho-linguistic and cognitive processes involved in
language learning
- an account of the conditions that allow for successful use of these
processes

2. Design
a. The general and specific objectives of the method
b. A syllabus model
c. Learners roles
- types of learning tasks set for learner
- degree of control learners have over the content of learning
- patterns of learner grouping that are recommended or implied
d. Teacher roles
- types of function teachers fulfill
- degree f teacher influence over learning
- degree to which teacher determines the content of learning
e. Types of learning and teaching activities
f. The role of instructional materials

3. Procedure
a. Classroom techniques, practices, and behaviors observed when the method in used
- resources in terms of time, space, and equipment used by the teacher
- interactional patterns observed in lessons
- tactics and strategies used by teachers and learners when the method is
being used

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