The road to student failure is littered with teachers' assumptions.

I thought I had prepared a decent lesson. We looked at a "compare and contrast" open-ended question. I carefully reviewed what each term meant. The students seemed to get it.

Compare and contrast two categories of pure substances,
and give two examples of each.

One of my bouncy but bright students (think Tigger in Winnie the Pooh) screwed his face into an improbable knot of flesh.

Uh-oh.

Um, do you know what "compare and contrast" mean?

He gave a reasonable answer.

So what's the problem?

"There's no question here."

It's right here Tigger. See?
I read the question to him

"But there's no question!"

And then I realized what he meant--there was no question mark. And he was right--there was no question posed.

This is my third year--most of my students are not the bouncy fellas Tigger is, and most would have sat there in silence.

This is a humbling business.

READ MORE - Compare and contrast...

A friend has just been diagnosed with a recurrence of breast cancer. She has a young daughter.

While I pretend to teach science in the classroom, quite a few of the young women I teach today will lose a breast (or two) in the next few decades because of environmental factors.

I remember the first breast I saw no longer attached to the body it once helped define. I had seen body parts in various forms before, but this one was fresh. A flap of sallow skin with a wizened nipple defining it, a long trail of fibrous fatty tissue trailing off the slab.

The pathologist, smoking as he dictated, handled the breast like a butcher handles meat about to be weighed, though not as kindly.

Incidences of breast cancer change in populations as people migrate from one area of the world to another, suggesting that environmental factors contribute to this disease. There is a continuing effort at the NIEHS to identify these environmental factors and the role that exposures to specific chemicals could play in this disease.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH

***

I shaved my mother's head when her cancer recurred--bony metastases in her skull made the shaving more difficult. She walked like a marionette the weeks before she died. In a radiology reading room, we'd call them "goobers." Goobers on the brain.

Unless it was one of our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our friends--then they were metastases.

Since 1985, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals has been the sole funder of October's National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM). Zeneca has promoted a blame-the-victim strategy to explain away escalating breast cancer rates, which ignores the role of avoidable carcinogens. Zeneca's parent company, Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), is one of the world's largest manufacturers of petrochemical and chlorinated organic products -- including the plastic ingredient, vinyl chloride -- which has been directly linked to breast cancer, and the pesticide Acetochlor.

In addition, Zeneca is the sole manufacturer of Tamoxifen, the world's top-selling cancer drug used for breast cancer. In return for funding the "awareness" campaign, ICI/Zeneca has control and veto power over every poster, pamphlet and commercial produced by NBCAM. "A decade-old multi-million dollar deal between National Breast Cancer Awareness Month sponsors and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) has produced reckless misinformation on breast cancer," said Dr. Epstein.

"Chemical Industry Funds Breast Cancer Campaign"
Cancer Prevention Coalition
http://www.preventcancer.com/patients/mammography/awareness.htm

The media focuses on the strength of cancer survivors, and I have seen tremendously strong women live and die graciously through months and years of chemotherapy and radiation and surgery. The magazines will show glossy pictures of proud women, and these things matter, of course. Avon will sell "Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer Lipsticks," Mars, Inc., will sell you pink and white M&M's, and General Electric will sell you a Senographe 2000D mammographer.
They do not show a mother cowering in her bathroom, her bald head bare, blood all over the toilet from a nosebleed that will not stop, her teen-age son standing awkwardly, bravely holding her head.

They do not show the vomiting, the pain, the fear. They do not show a mother with her arm in a machine trying to squish out the fluid building up from lymphedema. They do not show the bony protuberances on a skull, the smell of dying cells.

They do not show a child wiping her mother clean because she is too proud to use a bedpan and too weak to use a toilet.

***

Dichlorodiphenyl-dichloroethene
polychlorinated biphenyls

dieldrin
chlordane

heptachlor
polychlorinated dibenzodioxins.

In 1991, these were the 6 most common carcinogens found in breast milk. The news has gotten worse since then. We are at the top of the food chain--toxins accumulate.

It has been known that breastfeeding reduces your chance of getting breast cancer. The longer you breastfeed your babies, the lower the risk. This has been attributed to hormonal changes related to breastfeeding--breastfeeding women cycle less, and had less exposure to estrogen.

There has been speculation (and it is only speculation), that breastfeeding may help reduce the chemical pollutant load on the mother. Guess who gets the chemicals?

The lifetime risk of a woman developing breast cancer was just less than 10% in the 1970's, or 1 in 10; it is now 13.4%, or almost 1 in 7 (NCI, 2005). In the 1940's, the risk was 1 in 22. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women 34 to 54 years of age.

***

Janet Jackson flashes a breast, and our Federal government rushes in to redefine obscene. Certain words and phrases will cost lots of money.

Here's an obscene phrase that won't cost anything--in fact, every October you hear it dozens of times:

Early Detection is the Best Protection.

This makes no sense--once detected, you already have it. The best protection is prevention which, admittedly, would require massive, radical changes in the way we live.

The NBCAM folks got wise--they now say "Early Detection Saves Lives"--if you go to their website, they pretend that this is what they have always said.

So it must be true.

***

I'm tired of cute images generated by multinational corporations pretending to save the world.

I am tired of AstraZeneca playing us for fools.

This is what a double mastectomy looks like. Laura Ellis is a remarkable woman who has shared her photos so the world can see beyond the "pink fuzzy teddy bears."

She gave me permission to use the photo.

You can read her story here. I don't have permission for the Zeneca photos, but I figure this all falls under education.

Thank you, Laura.

READ MORE - Another friend with breast cancer

New Jersey has a plan.

New Jersey has a plan to require all students to take pass chemistry, to pass Algebra II, to be ready for college or the workforce.

In order to ensure that students succeed in college level courses without remediation, or they are ready to enter the workforce to learn job-specific skills, their preparation must be the same.

NJ STEPS

No, it need not be.

I do not need to know quadratic equations to fix pipes, teach history, repair a car, enforce the law, raise chickens, sell appliances, lay down asphalt, write a book, practice medicine, or put out fires.

And while the pursuit of higher education can be useful beyond the "MAKE MORE DOLLARS!!!" mentality, not everyone benefits by going to college.

I happen to love clamming. Maybe I'll pursue it professionally someday. I bet I learned everything I need to clam (and be happy) by the time I finished 8th grade.

***

The vision statement of the NJ STEPS starts with a lovely sentiment:

New Jersey will educate all students to prepare them to lead
productive, fulfilling lives.

My mistake was interpreting "productive, fulfilling lives" to mean the students' lives--turns out our job is to produce "productive" workers "fulfilling" orders for the lives of others.

***

A couple of years ago, I had a nice chart with Dave, my apple farmer friend. Dave is bright, and he knows a lot (they're not the same thing). He is a self-educated man, or rather, a man educated by great minds without the filter of an "expert." I've had a few Daves in my classrooms--my hope is not to turn off their curiosity.

Dave never turned off his curiosity, and as a result never finished high school.

Dave knows a lot more than just about anybody else I know who did happen to finish high school. And college. And post-graduate programs.

A lot of somewhat bright people with shiny degrees developed an economy based on derivatives and other types of peripheral madness (if you define madness as no basis in reality).

In my chat a couple of years ago, Dave pointed out the obvious--the economy was rising on an empty house of cards.

Farmers have a bad habit of reducing economics to tangibles--food, water, energy, love. OK, the last is not so tangible in economics, but it's certainly tangible in his home.

"Mike, it's all based on [excrement]. It can't last."

It didn't.

An economy based on its citizens buying (on credit) things they don't need (or even want) could not survive if Dave's approach to life ever took hold again in this fine land.

Dave, of course, was right. And just as his family has survived a few other recessions in their 160 years on the same acres, they'll survive this one as well.

Farming's based on shit, too. At least it used to be.

***

I want every person pushing for high school students to have a working knowledge of quadratic equations (which is what you're asking for in Algebra II) take the American Diploma Project Algebra II test.

A little rusty? Drop $500 and take a review course.

"But I'm a Senator/doctor/lawyer/teacher/plumber/mayor/candlestick maker....I don't need to know this stuff."

Now tell a 17 year old kid he needs to pass a course the POTUS couldn't pass with a calculator stuffed into every one of his silk-lined pockets.

***

This is not a diatribe against education, the elite--we have FOX news for that.



A few students have the tools and the drive to become fine scientists and mathematicians, and they need all the love and support we can give them (both of which can be found in most public schools).

The funny thing about the top, say, 1% of the population in intellectual ability--it excludes, by definition, the other 99%.

We cannot all be there.
Nor need we be.

The photo is stolen from Bill Bynum's site--buy the CD. Dave is picking up Dobro tips from Mogli.

READ MORE - Raising the bar in New Jersey

Konsep Dasar Mengenai Produktivitas Kerja

Upaya meningkatkan produktivitas kerja tidak dipandang sebagai hal yang bersifat teknis. Segi-segi lain yang bahkan dapat berperan sebagai faktor penentu keberhasilan upaya tersebut menurut Sondang P. Siagian (2002:3), antara lain :

• Tujuan organisasi

Dilihat dari perspektif waktu, tujuan dapat dikategorikan sebagai tujuan akhir dan tujuan antara . Para pakar pada umumnya sepandapat bahwa tujuan akhir merupakan titik kulminasi kearah mana organisasi akan dibawa dan berperan sebagai penuntun bagi organisasi dalam menyelenggarakan berbagai fungsi dan kegiatannya

• Perumusan visi dan misi

Dalam rangka pencampaian tujuan akhir, manajemen mutlak perlu menyatakan arah yang akan ditempuh oleh organisasi sehingga terwujud sesuatu keadaan yang diinginkan pada suatu waktu di masa depan.

• Penentuan strategi organisasi

Dalam dua bisnis, lumrah untuk mengatakan bahwa strategi merupakan pernyataan umum oleh manajemen puncak tentang kegiatan bisnis apa yang akan dilakukan organisasi sekarang, dan dibidang apa organisasi ingin bergerak dimasa depan.

• Pemanfaatan teknologi dan produktivitas kerja

Tidak dapat disangkal bahwa terobosan yang terjadi dibidang teknologi dapat memberikan sumbangan yang besar pada peningkatan kerja suatu organisasi. Apabila dipih dengan tepat, teknologi dapat diterapkan pada semua jenis kegiatan dalam organisasi.

READ MORE - Konsep Dasar Mengenai Produktivitas Kerja

I've been reading Wendell Berry again. He's a teacher, a farmer, a writer, and a prophet. He gets me thinking, and thinking gets me trouble.

***

I teach high school science. I also prepare students for the New Jersey End of Course Biology Test. While these are not mutually exclusive activities, there's no sense pretending that preparing for the test does not diminish real science in my classroom.

I may be misguided anyway.

The state is pushing for children to take Algebra II, and our commissioner announced in April, 2007, that our children will be taking a joint Algebra II test shared with 8 other states, part of the "American Diploma Project Secondary Math Partnership."

“This new exam will help to ensure that our children are learning the math skills that are becoming more and more essential in an increasingly competitive job and secondary education marketplace."

Commissioner of Education Lucille E. Davy
"NJ Joins Nine-State Partnership to Administer New Algebra II Exam"

The "American Diploma Project" is a joint effort of Achieve (a partnership between government and business executives), the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation (whose mission is promoting school choice), and The Education Trust, which believes "all children will learn at high levels when they are taught to high levels."

I suspect the first group's primary aim is to create workers for the corporate world, the second's to dismantle traditional public education funding, and the third, well, I'll put them in the Lake Wobegon School of Ridiculous Optimism, where all children are above average.

And naive me, I thought public education was about creating a functional citizenry.

Again, our stated goals are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Still, take a few moments to look at the boards of these organizations. Look at their goals. Analyze what they mean.

And tell me I'm not being paranoid.

READ MORE - Why I fear the American Diploma Project

Hallowe'en is coming.
I love Hallowe'en--death in small doses can be fun.
The dead reach across the dying sunlight, to tell us what?

The occasional glimpse at death, your death, your inevitable death, can tilt your priorities a bit. Most of us could use having our priorities tilted.

If you read any national, family-friendly magazine this month, you will see the usual, family-friendly articles about Hallowe'en and safety.

Know the neighborhood
Check the treats
Make sure no razors are in the apples (or else just chuck the only decent nutrition in the bag)
Don't wear costumes that drag on the street
Make sure your child can see through the mask
Don't carry a candle (this must be left over from the 1903 edition of Parade Magazine)
Wear reflectors
Don't trick-or-treat alone
Wear flame retardant costumes.

I don't have any real problems with most of the list--even the blade in the apple adds a certain pizazz to the Hallowe'en joy of fear. A fearful citizenry also helps keep Demagogic Party in power, and the world free from democracy.

I do have a quibble with the last one, though: wear flame retardant costumes. Flame retardant clothing (at least the kind found in the I-wanna-be-Hanna-Montana outfit in a box off the shelf in Walmart) may contain PBDEs, a toxin in large doses.

PBDEs may affect development of the nervous system, reduce thyroid function, and mimic estrogen. PBDE levels are higher in children than in adults.

Products containing more than 0.1% PDBE are outlawed in Michigan. It's the "Mary Beth Doyle PBDE Act." You could look it up.

If you're afraid to wrap your child in a plastic Hanna Montana outfit, just make sure she avoids lit candles.

Or you could just make a costume out of wool--I never saw a lamb burst into flames.

***

I've seen a lot of people die, most of them slowly, in buildings reeking of death and bleach. I've seen a few die quickly. Gunshots, MVAs, embolisms, arrythmias.

Dying doesn't look like a whole lot of fun, but dying quickly seems a bit more convenient than lingering.

***

I have smoke detectors all over the home. I do not want to die in a fire.

Each detector has some Americium 241 in it. I paid decent money to put some leftover stuff from a nuclear reactor in my home. It emits radiation.

My detectors will last about 10 years; the Americium has a half-live of over 450 years. (I love that it is called Americium.)

As a science teacher, I have a responsibility to teach my children how to think.

Is Americium dangerous? Do the benefits outweigh the risks? How do you decide?

As a science teacher, I might want to remind children that aged smoke detectors are supposed to be sent back to the manufacturer. (Bet you threw yours away in the garbage.)

***

The Americium in your home sits inside a disc wrapped in gold. The radiation is "minimal"--it is extremely unlikely (whatever "extremely unlikely" means) that it will ever harm you personally.

Americium happens to be water soluble. The Americium in your home will eventually end up in a landfill if you throw it out.

It is reasonable to assume a bit of it may leak into the food web within its lifetime of a few thousand years. You'll be dead before it's a problem.

***

It has been estimated that "if ionization-type smoke detectors were placed in every U.S. home, they'd result in one additional cancer death every seven years."

No doubt smoke detectors save thousands of lives.

Now for the gruesome, meaningless question: If you were the one who developed the fatal cancer, would you rather die in a fire, or from your cancer?

I am a science teacher. I cannot answer the question for anyone except me, but I can at least point out to students why it's an absurd question. (I'd rather die in the fire.)

It's also an interesting question, not because it solves anything about smoke detectors, but because it exposes how we look at risks.

***

If anything can save our culture, it will be the return of a sense of mortality. All safety is momentary.

When you think of the dead this Hallowe'en, think of the dying. It's a process. What we do to our environment does not affect our chances of getting out alive. They are zero.

Our choices do affect, however, how we go about dying.

Happy Hallowe'en!

READ MORE - Instant safety

Suatu perusahaan yang ingin tumbuh dan berkembang selalu berupaya meningkatkan produktivitas kerja sebagai sistem organisasi tersebut, termasuk sistem manajemen, sistem fungsional dan sistem operasional. Bukan merupakan hal yang baru apabila dikatakan bahwa yang dimaksud sengan produktivitas ialah terdapatnya korelasi “terbalik” antara masukan dan luaran. Artinya, suatu sistem dapat dikatakan produktif apabila masukan yang diproses semakin sedikit untuk menghasilkan luaran yang semakin besar. Tentu banyak cara yang digunakan untuk mengukur tinggi rendahnya produktivitas suatu sistem.

Produktivitas sering pula dikaitkan dengan cara dan sistem yang efisien, sehingga proses produksi berlangsung tepat waktu dan dengan demikian tidak diperlukan kerja lembur dengan segala implikasinya, terutama implikasi biaya. Dan kiranya jelas bahwa yang merupakan hal yang logis dan tepat apabila peningkatan produktivitas dijadikan salah satu sasaran jangka panjang perusahaan dalam langka pelaksanaan strateginya.

Produktivitas berasal dari kata “produktiv” artinya sesuatu yang mengandung potensi untuk digali, sehingga produktivitas dapatlah dikatakan sesuatu proses kegitan yang terstruktur guna menggali potensi yang ada dalam sebuah komoditi/objek. Filosofi produktivitas sebenarnya dapat mengandung arti keinginan dan usaha dari setiap manusia (individu atau kelompok) untuk selalu meningkatkan mutu kehidupannya dan penghidupannya.

Secara umum produktivitas diartikan atau dirumuskan sebagai perbandingan antara keluaran (output) dengan pemasukan (input), sedangkan menurut Ambar Teguh Sulistiani dan Rosidah (2003:126) mengemukakan bahwa produktivitas adalah

“Menyangkut masalah hasil akhir, yakni seberapa besar hasil akhir yang diperoleh didalam proses produksi, dalam hal ini adalah efisiensi dan efektivitas”.

Sedangkan menurut Malayu S.P Hasibuan (2003:126) produktivitas adalah :

“Perbandingan antara output (hasil) dengan input (masukan). Jika produktivitas naik ini hanya dimungkinkan oleh adanya peningkatan efesiensi (waktu,bahan,tenaga) dan sistem kerja, teknik produksi dan adanya peningkatan keterampilan dari tenaga kerjanya”.

Dari beberapa pendapat tersebut diatas sebenernya produktivitas memiliki dua dimensi, pertama efektivitas yang mengarah kepada pencapaian untuk kerja yang maksimal yaitu pencapaian target yang berkaitan dengan berkualitas, kuantitas, dan waktu. Kedua yaitu efesiensi yang berkaitan dengan upaya membandingakan input dengan realisasi penggunaanya atau bagaimana pekerjaan tersebut dilaksanakan.

Efesiensi merupakan suatu ukuran dalam membandingkan input direncanakan dengan input sebenarnya. Apabila ternyata input yang sebenarnya digunakan semakin besar penghematannya, maka tingkat efesiensi semakin tinggi. Sedangkan efektivitas merupakan ukuran yang memberikan gambaran suatu target yang dicapai. Apabila kedua tersebut dikaitkan satu dengan yang lainnya, maka terjadinya peningkatan efektivitas tidak akan selalu menjamin meningkatnya efesiensi.

Berdasarkan uraian-uraian diatas, maka dapat disimpulkan bahwa produktivitas merupakan perbandingan antara keluaran serta masukan serta mengutarakan cara pemanfaatan baik terhadap sumbur-sumber dalam memproduksi suatu barang atau jasa.

READ MORE - Pengertian Produktivitas Kerja

BAGAIMANA FORD MENGELOLA LINGKUNGANNYA

Ford Motor Compay mempunyai sebuah sejarah panjang tentang penemuan cara inovatif cara untuk mengelola lingkungannya ( Pemasok, Pelanggannya). Dalam rangka untuk mengendalikan sumber-sumber daya yang Ford perlukan. Pada tahun-tahun awalnya Ford percaya dengan berat pada pemasok independent untuk input mesin, kotak gir, dan roda. Ford membuat sebuah rangkaian kontrak dengan pemasok untuk menyediakan suku cadang, dan semua yang Ford lakukan emalang suku cadang bersama-sama ke da;am sebuah kendaraan akhir. Akan tetapi, Ford segera mempunyai masalah memelihara kualitas suku cadang. Lebih dari itu, suku cadang yang dibuat oleh satu pemasok cenderung tidak kompatible dengan suku cadang yang dibuata oleh pemasok lain, sehingga Ford menghabiskan waktu membuat penyesuaian yang patut di pertimbangkan.

Untuk meningkatkan kualitas suku cadang mobilnya, Ford mulai untuk memproduksi sendiri. Perusahaan mengambil alih kendali dari beberapa pemasoknya dan menggabungkan mereka ke organisasi Ford, tetapi juga mulai memlilki operasi suplai sendiri, Ford segera menjadi sebuah perusahaan yang benar-benar terintegrasi vertikal. Karena itu, Ford memproduksi sebagian besar memproduksi sebagian besar input sendiri. Untuk memastikan akses ke sumber-sumber daya, sebagai contoh Ford memiliki tambang besi diangkut melintasi Lake Superior dengan tongkong yang dimilikinya sendiri. Pabrik peleburannya diluar Detroit, ford membuat dan membentuk baja ke dalam bagian-bagian badan untuk mobil dan truk Ford.

Pada dekade 1950-an, strategi vertikal ini menjadi terlalu mahal, baja pelat dan input lain yang ford buat berbiaya lebih dibandingkan material yang dibeli dari pemasok independen yang efisien akan memerlukan biaya. Sebagai akibatnya, Ford mulai lagi digunakan kontrak jangka panjang untuk mengelola hubungannya dengan pemasok. Ford menggunakan daya belinya untuk merundigkan harga yang lebih baik dan itu mendapatkan suatu biaya keuntungan atas General Motor, yang tetap terintegrasi vertikal.

Sesudah dekade 1980-an, hubungan antara kompetitor sedikit masalah dengan ford. Tidak ada kompetitor luar negeri yang signifikan, dan Big Three pembuat model Amerika – GM, Chrysler, dan Ford telah mampu untuk mengkordinir kebijaksanaan harga mereka secara informal untuk menghindari kompetisi terhadap Pelanggan, GM, Perusahaan paling besar dan yang paling kuat, menetapkan harga yang akan ia tetapkan untuk kelas-kelas mobil yang berbeda, kemudian ford chrysler menghargai mobil mereka . Tiga perusahaan bersaing terutama pada kualitas dan fitur yang mempunyai krom terbesar atau sirip paling besar.

Pada dekade 1980, akan tetapi lingkungan kompetitif menghadapi manufaktur mobil Amerika menjadi lebih tidak bersahabat seperti pembuat mobil Jepang semakin banyak bersaing untuk satu bagian sumber-sumber daya terakhir : pelanggan, pengembangan beberapa tekhnik untuk mengelola lingkungan sumber-sumber daya memberikan Jepang satu keuntungan kuat atas rekan pendamping mereka di Amerika Serikat. Sebagai contoh, Toyota dan Nissan masing-masing memiliki satu pancang signifikan dari pemasok suku cadang mereka suplier dan dengan begitu lebih memungkinkan ramping dari pada American Big Three untuk mengendalikan harga serta kualitas input mereka dan memperoleh manfaat dari sistem persediaan barang tepat waktunya. Kiretsu, sebagai hubungan formal ini antara perusahaan yang disebut di Jepang, menghubungkan perusahaan mobil Jepang tidak hanya kepada pemasok suku cadang tetapi juga dengan bank-bank besar dan dengan perusahaan di industri lain. Hubungan demikian meningkatkan kekuatan keuangan Toyota dan Nissan serta memberikan mereka kemampuan untuk membiayai penelitian gabungan ke dalam pengendalian polusi, penelitian plastik dilanjutkan.

Upayadaya lintas industri juga. Pemerintahan Jepang untuk mengendalikan lingkungan mereka tidak diketahui oleh Ford, yang bergerak untuk membuat tipe perjanjian Keiretsu sendiri, ford membeli suatu saham minoritas di cumming AS, yang menghasilkan mesin mesin di Excell industries, yang menghasilkan jendela dan di decoma International. Yang menghasilkan bagian-bagian badan dan roda, ford juga menempa hubungan dengan pesaing. Ford juga menempa hubungan dengan pesaing ford memiliki 25 persen Mazda. Dengan mana ford telah membuat banyak persekutuan strategis untuk berbagi teknologi dan fasilitas disain. Ford membeli Aston Martin Lagonda dan Jaguar Inggris, demikian pula KIA motor jepang, dalam rangka untuk mendapatkan sumber-sumber daya dan keterampilan.

READ MORE - BAGAIMANA FORD MENGELOLA LINGKUNGANNYA

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1. Background of the Problem

English is the first foreign language in our country, which is taught from Elementary level to University level. English is also intensively used in international communication, in written as well as in spoken communication. In addition, many books of science, technology, art and other published issues are written in English.

In English language, there are integrated skills to be mastered such as: Speaking, listening, reading, and Writing. As Haycraft states (1978:8) that there are various skills in mastering of language: respective skill, listening (understanding the spoken language), reading (understanding the written language), and productive skills-speaking and writing.

The researcher chooses student’s composing narrative writing as a material of narrative writing. By assumption that the composition is the result of students’ product that can be known clearly. Sofyan (1999:86) stated that Narrative is a story which is connected with events based on the plot. Then why the teachers use narrative text, it is because the narrative as a story of human experience, so that the students arrange easily the composition. As Keraf (1991:136) states that “Narrative as a story tells or describe an action in the past time clearly, so narrative is tried to answer the question: what had happened?”. Narrative as a story, so it is should have the element that can make story more interesting to the reader such as a conflict and conclusion of the story.

The students must have good communication in both oral and written form. Oral form is that speaking and listening, and written form is that writing in reading. The students have difficulties in composing narrative writing. Some of them feel difficulties in composing narrative writing such as: stuck to get diction, getting idea, and ordering the words.

Based on the problem above, the students must know some strategies in composing narrative writing such as: making outline, using picture, using dictionary, sharing with friends, using the tools (audio, audio-visual) or learning’s aids( a guide),. As Brown (2000:113) stated that strategies are specific methods of approaching a problem or task, modes of operation for achieving a particular end, planned designs for controlling and manipulating certain information. Because of that the students should choose a good strategy to compose narrative writing. As Chamot in Masdari (2005:5) says learning strategies are techniques approaches, or deliberate the learning and recall of both linguistic and contains information.

From the above explanation, we can infer that each student has certain tendency and capability in using certain learning strategies, therefore the use of various learning strategies influenced by their family background, experience, and character. In order words, strategy that is useful to student might not be useful to others. Since students have their own strategy characteristic, they will have different learning strategies that are useful and comfortable for them.

From the above explanation, the researcher will discuss about “the students’ strategies in composing narrative writing” which is conducted at the second year of SMK PGRI 13 Cikupa Tangerang.

2. The Identification of Problem

Based on the background above, the research identifies the problem as follow:

1. The students get difficulties in composing narrative writing.

2. Inappropriate learning strategies and teaching techniques.

3. There are many kind of strategies which have done.

3. The Limitation of Problem

In this research the researcher limits only on strategy in composing narrative writing done by students at second year of SMK PGRI 13 Cikupa Tangerang.

4. The Formulation of Problem

Dealing with limitation of the problem, the researcher would like to formulate the problem as follow:

1. What strategies are used by the students in writing narrative at second year of SMK PGRI 13 Cikupa?

2. What are the students’ reasons in choosing strategies at second year of SMK PGRI 13 Cikupa?

3. How do the students’ compose narrative writing at second year of SMK PGRI 13 Cikupa?

5. The Objectives of the research

The objectives of the research could be formulated as follow:

1. To find out strategies used by the students at second year of SMK PGRI 13 Cikupa.

2. To know the students reasons in choosing a strategy at second year of SMK PGRI 13 Cikupa.

3. To know the students ability in composing narrative writing at second year of SMK PGRI 13 Cikupa.

6. The Uses of the Research

1.6.1 Theoretically:

1. As the references for other researchers who are interested in investigating the teaching writing ability by using composing narrative writing to students’ composing narrative writing.

2. As the support for the theory which states that composing narrative writing.

1.6.2 Practically:

1 As the answer of the writer’s curiosity on the teaching by using composing narrative writing to the students’ and the English teachers.

2 As the information for all the teachers and the students to use strategies in composing narrative writing.

1.7 Clarification of terms

1.7.1 Writing Strategies

According to Collin (2008) state that writing strategies are deliberate, focused ways of thinking about writing.

Based on definition above, writing strategies are some of technique it can be a formal plan to write a book report, or it can be something as simple as a trick to remember how a word is spelled.

2. Strategy

According to Brown (2000:113) Strategies are specific methods of approaching a problem or task, modes of operation for achieving a particular end, planned designs for controlling and manipulating certain information.

Then strategy is as a remedy the teacher in making system area that happened to process teaching learning. (Ahmadi:2005: 32).

According to Chamot (1987) strategies are often more powerful when they are used in appropriate combinations.

Based on those definitions above, strategies are any tools or tactics that learners employ to learn more effectively and more autonomously.

2. Learning Strategies

According to Chamot (1987) learning strategies are techniques approaches, or deliberate the learning and recall of both linguistic and content information. (Cited from Masdari, 2005:5)

Then learning strategies are intention behavior and thoughts used by learners during learning, so as to better help them understand learn or remember new information. (Richards. 1992:209)

Based on definition above, learning strategies are technique approaches, intention behavior used by learner during learning, so as to better help them understand learn or remember new information.

2. Narrative writing

As Semi in Hasani (2005:22) stated that narrative is conversation or writing with the purpose tells about action or human experience based on the development of time.

Then according to Keraf (1991:136) states that “Narrative as a story tells or describes an action in the past time clearly, so narrative is tried to answer the question: what had happened?” Narrative as a story, so it is should have the element that makes the story more interesting to the reader such as a conflict and conclusion of the story.

Referring on the definitions above we conduct that narrative is a story telling about the event consist of conflict and conclusion.

7. Organization of the paper

Chapter one discusses about introduction that consists of background of problem, identification of problem, limitation and formulation of problem, objective of the research, uses of the research, clarification of terms and organization of paper

Chapter two discusses about frame of theories that consist of the definition of strategy, the kinds of strategies, definition of learning strategies, the categories of learning strategies, definition of narrative, the characteristic of narrative, the kinds of narrative, the different between narrative and recount, definition writing strategies, plan for writing.

Chapter three discusses about methodology that consist of research design, place of the research, data collecting technique, data analysis technique and analysis of the instrument.

Chapter four discusses about research result and discussion of the findings.

Chapter five discusses about conclusions and suggestion.

Untuk data lengkap skripsi ini dari Bab 1-bab 5 + lampiran-lampiran dalam format Ms. Word bisa di download disini.

READ MORE - Skripsi Bahasa Inggris (the students’ strategies in composing narrative writing)

The morning glories stay in bloom all day--the sun too low to coax them to close. A few bursts of flowers— nicotianas, wild aster, and marigolds beckon the slow, more-bumbly-than-ever bees. The ground is cool and wet, and occasionally mud squishes up between my toes.

The tomatoes are gone. I pulled them up today, skeletal remains still hanging on their stakes as though crucified and forgotten. The basil plants, usually the first to go, stand defiant among the rust-rotted tomatoes. Too much rain this season.

A mason jar with green-tinged rainwater emerges from the bean patch, the receding leaves ratting out a watery universe of euglenas and parameciums and copepods, spontaneously generated.

When the garden looks dead, and I no longer believe life is possible, I will peek through a microscope and watch the tumbling exuberance. But not yet--let the critters toss and tumble until November, when I need to see the show.

The grapes explode in my mouth. Most huddle shriveled on the vine, scrotal remnants. Some taste like beaujolais, some need to be spat out. The ground is stained with purple bird shit, the reminders of last week's drunken choir.

When I was younger, the October garden frightened me. Honeysuckle buds that would never open, basil flowers beckoning bees that were too chilled to care saddened me. When I was younger, I suspected I was immortal... the garden whispered otherwise.

No longer. Winter is coming. My winter is coming. The irrational bloom of an annual, a flash of a fuschia the night before its last frost, makes no sense to a seedling in May. In May, the seedling has work to do--grow and flower, seduce the bee, make seeds.

Mid-October, too late to seduce the bees, to make new seeds.
Never too late to flower. A single red zinnia glows in the low October sunlight.

Leslie and I have been together 31 years. Gray hairs no longer surprise us, and we are past making any more seedlings. The leaves are changing colors.

Still, in the faintly warm light of the setting October sun, she glows. It's not winter yet. I am not ready for winter. I am starting to love autumn, though.

This was written a few years ago. Last weekend I found a tiny snow pea pod, and gave it to her. She told me it was delicious. I believe her.

READ MORE - Late October

Konsep motivasi yang dijelaskan oleh suwanto (2001:150) adalah sebagai berikut

1. Model Tradisional

Untuk memotivasi pegawai agar gairah kerja meningkat perlu diterapkan sistem insentif dalam bentuk uang atau barang kepada pegawai yang berprestasi.

2. Model Hubungan Manusia

Untuk memotivasi pegawai agar gairah kerjanya meningkat adalah dengan mengakui kebutuhan sosial mereka dan membuat mereka merasa berguna dan penting.

3. Model Sumber Daya Manusia

Pegawai dimotivasi oleh banyak faktor, bukan hanya uang atau barang tetapi juga kebutuhan akan pencapaian dan pekerjaan yang berarti.

Menurut pandangan James A.F Stoner, teori-teori diklasifikasikan atas :

1. Teori kepuasan (Content Theory)

Teori kepuasan yang mendasarkan pendekatannya atas faktor-faktor kebutuhan dan kepuasan individu yang menyebabkan bertindak serta berprilaku dengan cara tertentu. Teori ini memusatkan perhatian pada faktor-faktor dalam diri orang yang menguatkan, mengarahkan, dan menghentikan prilakunya, teori ini menjawab pertanyaan kebutuhan apa yang memuaskan seseorang dan apa yang mendorong semangat bekerja seseorang.

1. Teori Motivasi Klasik

Frederik Winslow Taylor yang mengemukakan teori motivasi klasik, teori ini berpendapat bahwa manusia mau berkerja giat untuk dapat memenuhi kebutuhan fisik/biologisnya, berbentuk uang atau barang dari hasil kerjanya.

2. Teori Hierarki Kebutuhan

Abraham Maslow yang mengemukakan teori hierarki kebutuhan, teori ini berpendapat bahwa seseorang mau bekerja karena adanya dorongan untuk memenuhi bermacam-macam kebutuhan dan kebutuhan yang diinginkan seseorang itu berjenjang.

1. Physiological needs yaitu kebutuhan untuk mempertahankan hidup. Yang termasuk kebutuhan ini adalah kebutuhan makan, minum perumahan, dan kesejahteraan individu, karena kebutuhan ini sudah terasa sejak manusia dilahirkan ke bumi ini.

2. Safety needs yaitu kebutuhan akan kebebasan dari ancaman yakni merasa aman dari kecelakaan dan keselamatan dari pekerjaan, perasaan aman juga menyangkut pegawai.

3. Social needs

Manusia pada hakekatnya adalah mahluk sosial, sehingga mereka mempunyai kebutuhan sosial sebagai berikut :

1. Kebutuhan akan perasaan diterima oleh orang lain

2. Kebutuhan akan perasaan dihormati

3. Kebutuhan untuk berprestasi

4. Kebutuhan untuk ikut serta

   4. Esteem needs

Kebutuhan akan penghargaan yerhadap dirinya dan pengakuan serta penghargaan prestise dari pegawai dan masyarakat lingkungan.

1. Self Actualization

Setiap manusia ingin mengembangkan kapasitas mental dan kapasitas kerjanya melalui pengembangan pribadinya. Oleh sebab itu pada tingkatan ini cenderung untuk selalu mengembangkan diri dan berbuat lebih baik lagi.

READ MORE - Konsep dan Teori Motivasi

Walaupun setiap individu karyawan mempunyai keinginan yang berbeda-beda, tetapi ada kesamaan dalam kebutuhannya, yaitu setiap manusia ingin hidup dan untuk hidup perlu makan dan manusia normal mempunyai harga diri. Keinginan dan kebutuhan manusia tersebut menggerakkan mereka untuk memenuhinya dan untuk memperoleh kepuasan dengan tercapainya segala yang diinginkan.

READ MORE - Faktor-faktor Yang Mempengaruhi Motivasi

When I pour the pints of flocculated yeast left in the bottom of my carboy down the sink, I feel a twinge of regret. As the scummy sludge burbles its way down the drain, I say a brief prayer, thanking the little guys for their work, hoping each bud survives its passage through the sewage system.

I am a home brewer, a yeast farmer. I have felt the cool release of carbon dioxide on my palm held above my airlock as it rhythmically clacks away, marking the work of millions upon millions of yeast, busy converting sunlight into alcohol.

I love the end result as much as anyone who breathes, but I cannot romanticize away the burden I put these critters through. So pour yourself an ale, let the foam caress your upper lip, and relax--it is time you know just how much that beer cost a fellow organism.

***

Yeast is a facultative anaerobe--that does not mean, however, that it does not appreciate a breath of oxygen now and then. As any decent home brewer will tell you (and I confess few of us rise to the category of "decent"), the wort (the lovely malt, hopped extract that feeds the yeast--fetal beer) should be aerated prior to pitching the yeast.

Despite the high falutin' language, "aerating" involves nothing more than sloshing the wort around, rolling the carboy on the kitchen floor for a few minutes. With good nutrients, and a dose of good air, the yeast go into an asexual frenzy, budding like there's no tomorrow, producing gazillions of fellow yeasts, so that soon each cc of wort contains 50 million yeasties.

But (and this is THE key point)--happy yeast with lots of nutrients and oxygen do not make ethanol. They (like you and me) breathe, respire, and convert carbohydrates into water and CO2. They screw like mad, play and live and (perhaps) whistle delightedly to themselves but (again I will repeat the take home message, as a teacher will), no ethanol. No hooch. No demon alcohol.

Making alcohol requires, ironically, stress. To make alcohol, the yeast must be put in an environment that has little oxygen.

So I torture them.

I put an airlock on my carboy, and the little critters consume the oxygen they have. In order to survive, they switch over to anaerobic metabolism--you and I, we'd take the easy way out and suffocate, but the yeasties are far more evolved than we are.

So they say:

"Ha, ha, ha, Mr. Doyle, despite your diabolical airlock, we can still screw with impunity in your carboy, happy, happy, happy critters we are, with our sophisticated facultative anaerobic metabolism, that will allow us to supercede humans when the atmosphere is nothing but charred CO2 and sulfur dust...."

This makes me sad. If I were power hungry, I suppose I might glean some glee from this, but I know this will end with me sharing bottles of ale with my obligatory aerobic friends. You see, as the yeasties play joyfully among themselves, they neglect a small problem. When they switch to anaerobic metabolism, they make alcohol.

And while the yeasties are more advanced than most humans, like most humans, they are susceptible to ethanol. Once the wort reaches a certain level of alcohol, the yeast pass out and sink to the bottom of the carboy, dazed but not quite dead.

And like the male of our species, a drunk yeastie can no more reproduce than a tonerless xerox machine.

So a toast to my finely evolved buddies, and an appreciation for the complex life cycles these little guys have gone through so that you may enjoy your ale.

I hope that an ale will never be just an ale to you, my friend, for knowing the struggle that went into that bottle can only make you more versed in the complexity and relatedness of this universe, too beautiful to comprehend.

READ MORE - Yeast

Water is weird.

I love the story of Erasto Mpemba, a high school student in Tanzania who (back in 1963) trusted his eyes more than his teacher. Mpemba noticed that his warm ice cream mix froze faster than cooler batches.

Aristotle apparently knew this already, and even up to Descartes' time, the cognoscenti accepted it, but part of being modern is being sensible, and Mpemaba was ridiculed by his teacher.

This phenomenon is now known as the Mpemba effect, but it's still not well understood. ("Not well understood" in sciencese means "not a clue.") That's not my question, but if you want to tackle that one, feel free.

***

In biology we've been playing with water. Today's opening question was "why is water wet?" ("Wet" does not mean "liquid.") That's also not my question--I can handle that one.

We looked at Brownian motion, watched a charged glass rod make a stream of water bend (and leaves of wheat dance), played with dropping water on a penny, and used wet yarn to transfer water from one beaker to the next. So far, I'm fine with my chemistry and grasp of hydrogen bonds and polar molecules--I'm feeling like a philosopher king, a rare moment in teaching.

What's not so rare, however, is the crash that follows 17 seconds after assuming the role of philosopher king.

We floated paper clips on water--very easy to do with dry paper clips, pretty much impossible if the paper clip is wet. When you float a paper clip, you can see the water dimple around it, like a thin film. I know about surface tension (though not in its florid post graduate physics form).

So here's my question. Does the paper clip remain "dry" while floating? That is, do the water molecules only cohere to each other and not adhere (at all) to the paper clip?

If you stare at that floating paper clip, it looks like it is resting on a film of water without actually getting immersed. My chemistry and brief observations say it's staying dry, my students think I'm nuts.

Any thoughts?

READ MORE - A water question. Any takers?

Still, we love this chick....

this is why I love beach so much!

Still i love this bra!

I got a flat stomach!

Click here to get Nia Ramadhani FRESH HOT PICTURES to your inbox !

READ MORE - Nia Ramadhani, a hot beach scene....

That's my sister-in-law Gail.
She's slaughtering organic chickens. She looks happy!

Organically raised chickens taste good, don't require antibiotics, make good use of the land, and promote sustainable living.

They don't, however, slaughter themselves.

***

Some people in our county are protested the slaughter of deer in a local park. Most are decent, thoughtful folks. A lot of not-so-cute critters got slaughtered by their vehicles as they drove to the protest.

We are all part of the chain, there's no way around it. Some opt out of the carnivorous aspect, and that's fine--much cheaper to eat food lower on the food chain, and vegetarians do leave a few more calories around for other humans living things to consume.

Organic farming worked before the second great war, and it continues to work where it's practiced today.

You might even feel a bit smug paying the extra dollar for locally raised organic livestock.

But someone's still got to slaughter the chickens.

***

I don't think I'll see any slaughtering of livestock in the classroom in my lifetime. I do think, though, that it would be a valuable experience.

I bet Gail does, too.

The first picture was sent by Gail, the second one is from Real Time News, January 29, 2008

READ MORE - Tastes like (organic) chicken

Autumn has arrived.

The leaves are falling like colorful snowflakes. The sweet, sharp smell of autumn's decay reminds me death is inevitable, an unpleasant thought in the spring--makes sense in October. An occasional large raindrop splattered the ground.

I walked past the Park Manor Nursing Home as I do every day--large windows frame the elderly bathed in fluorescent lights, gazing out at the fall blizzard of leaves. I imagine the smell of isopropyl alcohol, of antibiotics, of death delayed too long. I am glad to be outside.

I have seen a lot of people die, even helped a few along the way. A good death in a hospital is rare.

Somehow I want my students to know this.

***

The doses of morphine were now high enough that the nurse assigned to the dying young man in the adolescent ward would no longer administer it. Titrate until comfortable was the order. I titrated.

His mother was at his side. His lungs were now near useless from cells that no longer recognized boundaries.

He stopped breathing. I went in to pronounce him. Until I pronounced him, the state of New Jersey would continue to recognize him as alive. I put my stethoscope to his chest.

The state of New Jersey was not alone. His mother quietly, adamantly told me he was still alive.

It was almost dawn. It had been a long night. I hope my face did not betray my frustration, but I kept silent.

A moment later, the dead boy's chest heaved in a last agonal gasp, a deep groan shuddering his body, his bed, my soul.

"Now he is gone," she said gently. "Now you can listen."

She was kind when I had forgotten what kindness meant.

I want my students to know this.

***

I no longer practice medicine. I teach. I probably have seen more people die than anyone else in Bloomfield High.

I had a man bleed to death under my hands, his heart ripped apart by bullets. We pumped on his chest to keep the gathering crowd satisfied. He died anyway.

I gave mouth to mouth to a baby whose parents begged me to keep her alive until someone figured out what obscure metabolic disease wracked her body. We got her back. 12 hours later, her specialists confirmed they had enough tissue to make a diagnosis. We let her go, 12 hours too long.

Lester's valve gave way from rheumatic fever. 6:30 AM, just before shift change. Some of us cussed at his timing. Lester was 6 years old.

Dying is not easy. Dying is not comprehensible. Dying is what we all are going to do. We do not do death well in this culture.

I want my students to know this.

***

I teach biology. We call it the study of life. In our culture, we tend to think of life as discrete packets called "organisms", which go about their business until they die, when other organisms make sure that the parts of the dead organism get back into the game.

We don't actually talk about life. If we did, we'd be (justly) accused of talking about religion.

***

My mom died at home. I titrated her until she was comfortable.

On the weekend she died, her oncologist was away. I needed to boost her morphine. The covering doc resisted my frantic efforts to increase her dose.

I am a retired doc. I know how to hurt other docs. Appealing to a doc's sense of humanity might work, but threatening his time works even better.

"Tell me the code to the morphine pump, or I am going to call you every half hour until she dies."

He told me the code, and my mother died two days later.

She laughed the day before she died. I want to laugh the day before I die. I want each of my students to laugh hours before they die.

***

As I walked home today, thinking about autumn and death, I knew apples would be waiting for me.

As I walked up my porch, I smelled them before I saw them. A crate of apples from the orchard that holds my sister's remains sat on the porch. The apples will taste wonderful, as they always do.

Teaching biology to students who live on concrete can be maddening. Food today is an abstract concept. Death is something that happens in hospitals, that happens in processing plants. What matters is presented as some reward in the future for their hard work.

I rarely assign homework over the weekend, but I might assign it tomorrow.

Get an apple. Go outside. Sit down. Close your eyes. Listen. Sniff.

Then take a bit of the apple.

READ MORE - Titrate until comfortable

Cut Tari, the Aceh bitch, been annoying us with her explicit pose below....

these boobs are for everyone! Be prepared !

join me to joy of sex!

Guess Am I wearing underwear or not ?

Click here to get Cut Tari's underwear to your inbox !

READ MORE - The Cut Tari Orgasm...

Dengan hanya mengetahui teori-teori tentang motivasi serta memahami apa yang menjadi kebutuhan manusia tidaklah cukup, oleh karena itu dalam pelaksanaan motivasi pihak manajer harus mengetahui jenis-jenis motivasi agar dapat diterapkan model motivasi mana yang cocok diterapkan oleh organisasi untuk memotivasi pegawainya.
Jenis-jenis motivasi menurut Malayu S.P Hasibuan (2003:99), adalah sebagai berikut :
Motivasi positif (insentif positif)
Manajer memotivasi bawahannya dengan memberikan hadiah kepada mereka yang berprestasi baik. Dengan motivasi positif ini semangat kerja pegawai akan meningkat, karena manusia pada umumnya senang menerima yang baik-baik saja
Motivasi negatif (insentif negatif)
Manajer memotivasi bawahannya dengan memberikan hukumn kepada mereka yang kerjanya kurang baik (prestasi rendah). Dengan memotivasi ini semangat kerja dalam jangka waktu pendek akan meningkat, karena mereka takut dihukum, tetapi dalam jangka waktu panjang dapat berakibat kurang baik.
Dalam praktek kedua jenis motivasi diatas sering digunakan manajer suatu perusahaan. Penggunaannya harus tepat dan seimbang, supaya dapat meningkatkan semangat kerja pegawai. Yang menjadi masalah adalah “kapan motivasi positif atau motivasi negatif” itu efektif merangsang gauarh kerja pegawai.
Motivasi positif efektif untuk jangka panjang, sedangkan motivasi negatif untuk jangka pendek saja. Tetapi manajer harus konsisten dan adil dalam menetapkannya.

READ MORE - Jenis-jenis Motivasi

Motivasi sangat penting artinya bagi parusahaan, karena motivasi merupakan bagian dari kegiatan perusahaan dalam proses pembinaan, pengembangan dan pengarahan manusia dalam bekerja. Dalam melaksanakan suatu pekerjaan seorang pegawai harus memiliki motivasi sehingga dapat memberikan dorongan agar pegawai dapat bekerja dengan giat dan dapat memuaskan kepuasan kerja.
Adapun tujuan dan manfaat dari motivasi menurut Dr. Sowatno (2001:147), diantaranya sebagai berikut :
Mendorong gairah dan semangat kerja
Meningkatkan moral dan kepuasan kerja pegawai
Meningkatkan produktifitas kerja pegawai
Mempertahankan loyalitas dan kestabilan pegawai perusahaan
Meningkatkan kedisiplinan dan menurunkan tingkat absensi pegawai
Mengefektifan pengadaan pegawai
Menciptakan hubungan kerja dan suasana yang baik
Meningkatkan kreatifitas dan partisipasi pegawai
Meningkatkan kesejahteraan pegawai
Mempertinggi rasa tanggung jawab karyawan terhadap tugas-tugasnya
Menigkatkan efisiensi penggunaan alat-alat dan bahan baku, dan sebagainya.

READ MORE - Tujuan dan Manfaat Motivasi

Motivasi merupakan keinginan, hasrat motor penggerak dalam diri manusia, motivasi berhubungan dengan faktor psikologi manusia yang mencerminkan antara sikap, kebutuhan, dan kepuasan yang terjadi pada diri manusia sedangkan daya dorong yang diluar diri seseorang ditimbulkan oleh pimpinan. Motivasi mempersoalkan bagaimana cara mengarahkan daya dan potensi bawahan, agar mau bekerjasama secara produktif sehingga dapat mencapai dan mewujudkan tujuan perusahaan yang telah ditentukan. Pentingnya motivasi karena motivasi adalah hal yang menyebabkan, menyalurkan, dan mendukung prilaku manusia supaya mau bekerja sama secara giat sehingga mencapai hasil yang optimal. Suatu perusahaan dapat berkembang dengan baik dan mampu mencapai tujuannya, karena didasari oleh motivasi.

2.3.1 Pengertian Motivasi
Untuk lebih jelasnya mengenai pembahasan tenteng motivasi, berikut pengertian motivasi menurut beberapa para ahli manajemen sumber daya manusia diantaranya :
T. Hani Handoko ( 2003:252), mengemukakan bahwa motivasi adalah :
“Keadaan pribadi seseorang yang mendorong keinginan individu untuk melakukan kegiatan tertentu guna mencapai tujuan”.
Menurut H. Hadari Nawawi (2003:351), pengertian dari motivasi adalah :
“Suatu keadaan yang mendorong atau menjadi sebab seseorang melakukan sesuatu perbuatan atau kegiatan yang berlangsung secara sadar”.
Menurut A. Anwar Prabu Mangkunegara (2002:95), mengatakan mengenai motivasi adalah :
“kondisi yang berpengaruh membangkitkan, mengarahkan dan memelihara prilaku yang berubungan dengan lingkungan kerja”.
Sedangkan menurut Henry Simamora (2004:510), devinisi dari motivasi adalah :
“Sebuah fungsi dari pengharapan individu bahwa upaya tertentu akan menghasilkan tingkat kinerja yang pada gilirannya akan membuahkan imbalan atau hasil yang dikehendki”.
Pendapat lain menurut Chung dan Megginson yang dikutip oleh Faustino Cardoso Gomes (2002:177), menerangkan bahwa motivasi adalah :
“Tingkat usaha yang dilakukan oleh seseorang yang mengejar suatu tujuan dan berkaitan dengan kepuasan kerja dan perfoman pekerjaan”.
Dari pengertian-pengertian motivasi diatas maka dapat disimpulkan bahwa motivasi merupakan suatu keadaan atau kondisi yang mendorong, merangsang atau menggerakan seseorang untuk melakukan sesuatu atau kegiatan yang dilakukannya sehingga ia dapat mencapai tujuannya.
Menurut Peterson & Plowman yang dikutip oleh Drs. H. Malayu S.P Hasibuan (2003:142) mengatakan bahwa orang mau bekerja karena hal-hal sebagai berikut :
The Desire to Live (keinginan untuk hidup), dimana manusia bekerja untuk memenuhi dan melanjutkan hidupnya.
The Desire For Position (Keinginan untuk suatu posisi), dimana manusia bekerja untuk mendapatkan posisi dalam pekerjaannya.
The Desire For Power (Keinginan akan kekuasaan), keinginan selangkah diatas keinginan untuk memiliki posisi.
The Desire For Recognation (Keinginan akan penghargaan), setiap pegawai memiliki motif keinginan dan kebutuhan tertentu dan mengharapkan kepuasan dari hasil kerjanya.

Uraian diatas mempunyai pengertian yang sama, yaitu kesemuanya mengandung unsur dorongan dan keinginan serta maksut dan tujuan. Dengan demikian maka dapat diambil kesimpulan bahwa motivasi merupakan dorongan datang dari luar atau dalam diri seseorang dalam usahanya dalam memenuhi kebutuhan, mendaoatkan posisi dalam pekerjaannya, memperoleh kekuasaan dan memperoleh kepuasan dari hasil kerjanya. Namun dalam penerapan nanti, penggunaan masing-masing unsur tersebut adalah berbeda un tuk setiap pegawai, sesuai kebutuhannya dan keinginannya masing-masing.

READ MORE - MOTIVASI

Just when things were getting really weird....click on the above image and read the last headline.

This is the Google Science news.
It now includes horoscopes.

And yet I continue to hope to teach science in this culture.

READ MORE - More evidence these are the last days....

This week I am tackling human influence on the environment.

Language does odd things with ideas--that we can separate "human" from "environment," as though we were superimposed on a world made just for us, says a lot about the way we view the world.

Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Genesis 1:28, KJV

We got the subdue part down pat.

Most of my students were raised in the dominant western culture here (call it European, call it Judeo-Christian, call it whatever creed allows us to exploit life in the name of God, in the name of capitalism, in the name of Manifest Destiny, in the name of freedom).

Americans live unsustainable lives. Children do not want to hear this. The parents paying me to teach their children do not want to hear this.

***

The logo at the top of this post means a lot to me.

Mary Beth is my sister. She was killed by a Christian missionary who accidentally ran her off the road, but it's OK, I guess, because it was God's will. The missionary told me so.

Mary Beth did phenomenal work as an environmental activist. You could look it up.

She was unfaltering in her conviction that the individual can make a difference. Her work is proof of her belief. She helped shut down Michigan’s polluting medical waste incinerators. She did some of the most effective initial organizing and educating that led to the enactment of laws limiting out-of-state trash and promoting recycling. She was a key strategist in the effort to protect women of child-bearing age from poisons in fish when the State of Michigan tried to do away with science-based advisories.

Dave Dempsey, Michigan Environmental Council

This is my fourth attempt to bring Mary Beth into my classroom. I hope I am ready this time.

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Wendell Berry, a farmer, a writer, and a thinker (a religious one at that) tackles our cultural icons head on.

In Genesis, the living soul is made of both the Earth's clay and God's breath.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Genesis 2:7, KJV

According to the myth, God did not stuff a soul into a human body made of clay. The soul is the clay, the soul is the breath.

"Living soul" comes from the Hebrew word nefesh. A lot of Americans do not realize that the Genesis was written in ancient Hebrew. No vowels. No spaces. The original text has been missing for a couple of millenia.

A common perception among dominant Christian sects is that the body and the soul are distinct elements; the body is a temporary vessel holding the more valuable soul. It has led to a pervasive themes in Western thought:

The Earth has little value; we exist to get to Heaven.
The body has little value; it exists to (temporarily) hold the soul.
The present has little value; our souls will exist for eternity in Heaven or Hell.

I am not about to tackle the meaning of soul in a classroom, but I am obligated to discuss life. That I do not see much of a distinction between the two (and that I pray for the clams as I steam them to death) no doubt influences the way I see the world.

The major denominations in these parts will tell you that they do, in fact, care for the Earth.

"Look! We have a social awareness committee!"

"Look! We recycle and drink fair trade coffee after service!"

"Look! The pastor drives a Prius and even walks to church!"

So in class I will say "Look!"

Look, children, and know that stories told by old men and old women of seas full of fish and skies full of carrier pigeons are not fairy tales.

...

Look, children, and see your grandmothers felled by breast cancer, a disease much rarer before industrialized farming.

...

Look, children, the ice caps are melting....

And I will try to get Mary Beth's voice in there when they start to feel a little desperate.

Mary Beth's empathy was always with the individual citizen, or small group of citizens, fighting against the odds to stop environmental health damage or promote an environmentally-sound alternative. She was unfaltering in her conviction that the individual can make a difference,and was the most ethical advocate I've ever known.

Dave Dempsey, Michigan Environmental Council

Enough rambling on a day dedicated to a man who marveled at the generosity of the Arawaks who greeted him in the New World, then enslaved them.

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For a brilliant dicussion on the artificial dichotomy of soul and body (and one I generously borrowed from) see "Christianity and The Survival of Creation" in Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community, Pantheon Books, 1993 by Wendell Berry. Berry notes that while Western culture behaves as though body + soul = man, allowing us to debase our bodies and our planet while holding on the hope that our spiritual component (soul) will live forever in bliss, the original view of man in Genesis is dust + God's breath = living soul.

READ MORE - Save the Earth (er...wait...I got a date with St. Peter)