FCS FLASH ISSUE 117:  February 23, 2010
Link to Complete FCS Calendar (color-coded by discipline for easy reference)
February 26: Sacramento: CCGG Policy Planning Meeting
March 5: Downey: Student Design Event, “Your Design Career: Color it Green” - All Attendees Need to Register
March 12-14: Sacramento:  CA-AAFCS State and Western Region Conference
March 19: Costa Mesa:  Professional Development Event: Fashion – Info and Registration!
April 8-10: Long Beach: CAYEC Annual Conference and Expo
April 9: Westwood: 2010 CCGG Annual Meeting “Preparing for the Next Generation”
April 14-16: Bass Lake: Community College CTE Faculty Preparation Workshop 
April 16: Downey: Student Culinary/Hospitality Symposium & Competition – Save the Date and Rules Now Available
April 22:  Earth Day: The Green Generation
May 14: San Jose: Hospitality and Culinary Arts Professional Development Workshop- Save the Date!

FCS Info from VIPs:
Dolores Robles, Consumer Studies instructor at Mt. SAC, writes a well-researched article on Time Management. Dolores offers some practical tips to help your students succeed with time saving techniques you will want to try. Melanie Horn Mallers, Cal State Fullerton, puts Gay Marriage in Context. She handles a volatile and politically charged issue with sensitivity and from a historical and developmental perspective. Maria Claver, Cal State Long Beach, in Taking Gero Education Global, shares information about a new hybrid class at Cal State Long Beach, with global implications. Finally, Dana Wu Wassmer, Cosumnes River College, discusses Gluten Free Diets, and the possible benefits for the general population. 

FCS FLASH Activity: Student Motivation…What’s Your Sentence?
As students move into the semester, their energy and enthusiasm may begin to wane as looming assignments  and test dates mount. How can you motivate and inspire your students to overcome the obstacles that invariably get in their way as the new semester moves on? How can you encourage them to move forward and to stay the course especially in these challenging economic times?  

Author, Daniel Pink, has some ideas and suggestions about this in his new book, DRiVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Pink presents a new model for motivation, one he believes is more appropriate in today’s economy. Pink’s research supports the fact that intrinsic motivation, motivation that comes from inside an individual, is more powerful and enduring than extrinsic motivation. While intrinsic motivation is more of an “inside” job, extrinsic motivation comes from external or outside, rewards such as money or grades.  Today’s activity calls on students to tap into what motivates them by writing their sentence and measuring their own daily progress. See how this exercise works to keep your students inspired and motivated to succeed in your class and in their lives.

Try this:
o        Write this on the board: A great man is a sentence. Ask your students how they interpret that sentence.
o        Watch this 2-minute video. Explain that author Daniel Pink, poses this question in his book, DRiVE.
o        Share your sentence with your students. Tell students you have been thinking about your sentence and it goes like this…
o        Distribute What’s Your Sentence activity. Watch the video again, so students have a second opportunity to review it. Then have them complete the activity.
o        Ask students to share their response to the last question on their activity sheet, How is this class helping you to complete your sentence?

FYI: Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be. ~ Emerson

This newsletter was brought to you by the California Community College Chancellor's Office Family and Consumer Sciences Collaborative Grant (#09-0160). Please contact Joann Driggers (jdriggers@mtsac.edu) or at 909/594-5611 x5203 with any questions.