PSYCHOLOGY

Kristin Whitlock
khwhitlock2025@gmail.com
AP* Psychology
AP Seminars Silicon Valley Online 2020
  
Hello! I’m an AP psychology teacher from Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah.  I’ve been teaching AP Psychology since 1992 (where did that time go!). I’m excited to work with you in this workshop because I enjoy discussing all things psychology, and how we can best organize our classes in order to help students understand and use these important terms and concepts. I believe our content can be transformative for students and can help them understand themselves and others and develop ways of thinking that help them more critically analyze the world around them. 

This is a HISTORIC year for you to attend an AP Psychology workshop! Many of you have been through a lot: suddenly switching to online teaching, dealing with the dramatic changes to the 2020 at-home AP 2020 exams, and all the changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. My goal for this workshop is to RELIEVE STRESS and help us all get ready to make the 2020-21 school year a great one for us and our AP Psychology students.

Materials:
● Please have a copy (physical or digital) of the textbook you will use for your AP Psych class available
●Make sure you have a copy of the College Board AP Psychology CED (either the physical binder or the digital .pdf)
● Have access to your AP Classroom, if possible
● We will use Zoom to communicate (video conferences) so a laptop or tablet that you are comfortable using and a stable internet connection is important!
● You can find copies of all the activities, resources, in my Google Drive, which I will provide a link to as we get closer to our workshop.
●Will we also be using Google Classroom to share and submit documents.on cord if you have one available.  It may be helpful in case finding an outlet in our classroom is a challenge).
Welcome!  I am an AP* Psychology teacher from Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah.  I’ve taught AP* Psychology since 1992.  I’m excited to get to know you and talk about one of my favorite subjects!  The content of the AP* Psychology course is so applicable to our students.  I enjoy the challenge of creating a course that both prepares students to pass the AP* Psychology exam and think more deeply about how these concepts impact their daily lives.
 We will work together at the beginning of the workshop to set goals for our time together. As you look at the schedule I’ve prepared, you will notice that most of each day is pre-scheduled with a “Special Topic,”, but during part of each day we will talk about topics the group chooses (the “Psychology Content” section of the day). Thus, the syllabus below outlines a general outline for our time together, but we may modify it based on what the group decides is most important and the time we have available. One of my goals is to make sure that you leave this workshop with the resources you need most for next year. I’ll provide copies of the materials we use/discuss, either in electronic or hard copy, so you’ll have a handy “toolkit” of activities, demonstrations, and resources to draw from as you plan your curriculum.
  
Overall Schedule:
●  Start each day in the morning with all group video conference (7:30 to 11:ish PST)
●  Lunch and small group work from 11:ish to 2:ish PST (small groups set their own schedule - responsible for getting a group task done by the end of each day)
●  Individual work on a project you choose - about 2ish hours a day?
 
Typical daily schedule (customized each day)
• 8:00-8:30ish          Reconnect - discuss the “big important ending question” from the day before, discuss results of group work from the previous day, questions, etc.
• 8:30-9:00ish          Big CED topic for the day (an aspect of the CED we should all notice and incorporate into our planning (including AP Classroom demos, interpreting data from the Instructional Planning report)
• 9:00-10:30ish        Content/Skills topic of the day (one of the units of the CED - demonstrations/activities tied to psych vocab, pedagogy advice)
• 10:30 – 11:00        Get ready for group work - establish your goal for the day, explain how to “turn it in”
•11:00 – noon         Break
• Noon – 3:00          Afternoon is left for group & individual project work.  Groups will establish their own schedules (combo of synchronous & asynchronous) - have something to “turn in” by the end of their work time.
You’ll also need to divide this time to work on your own individual project (the one you chose at the beginning of the workshop)
     
 Topics:  (note: this schedule will be modified to fit a five day schedule)
 
Monday July 27:
●      Introductions, orientation to our materials/resources, tour of the CED and planning sheets, discussion about “pacing guides”
●      Discussion: Group work and your personal choice project
●      Unit 1 Scientific Foundations
●      Group work: how will you use the CED for your course planning? Make a plan!
●      On your own:
○      do the released practice exam (100 multiple choice questions) - score your own exam and be prepared to discuss what you learned
○      Decide on your personal choice project: what do you want to get done by the end of our week?
Examples of projects:
■      Unit plan
■      AP review materials for students to use before the exam
■      Overall pacing/curriculum guide for your course
 
Tuesday, July 28:
●      Reconnect: how was the released practice exam? What did you learn? Share results of group work. Share plans for personal choice project.
●      The AP Psychology test: what’s the Multiple-choice section all about?
●      AP classroom: what it is and how we use it
●      Unit 2 Biological Bases of Behavior
●      Group work: how do or will you use AP Classroom? What resources will you use to make assessments and get your students practice with multiple choice items? FRQ items? Make a plan!
 • On your own: start work on your personal choice project. Update Kristin about any changes in your plans.
Wednesday, July 29:
●      Reconnect: Share results of group work - how will you use AP Classroom? Share tips. Share updated plans for personal choice project and your progress.
●      The AP Psychology test: what’s the FRQ section all about? (you’re a reader!)
●      Unit 5 Cognitive Psychology
●      Group work: What are your favorite teaching resources?  What are the things you can’t live without? Do you have favorite websites? Books? Films? Motivational ideas? Assessments?  Class starters? Discussion techniques? Games? etc. etc. etc. Discuss and share with your group, then create a list to share.
●      On your own: work on your personal choice project.  Make sure to let Kristin know if you have any questions.

Thursday, July 30:
  ●      Reconnect: share your group work – what are your favorite resources?  Textbook talk.  What book do you use? Why?  How do you encourage your students to read the book?  Share tips. Check-in - personal choice project and your progress.
●      Unit 3: Sensation & Perception
●      Group work: by now you’ve seen many (many!) psychology activities/demonstrations. How do you plan on using activities and demonstrations in your class? Choose one unit we haven’t covered and work with your group to plan a unit that includes activities/demonstrations.
●      On your own: finalize work on your personal choice project.
 
Friday, July 31
●      Reconnect: share your group work. What unit did you plan? What activities/demonstrations are you going to use? 
●      Show off your stuff! Sharing your personal choice projects
●      The exam is over…now what?
●      Goodbyes! Final questions, tearful farewells!