PSYCHOLOGY

Kristin Whitlock
khwhitlock2025@gmail.com
AP* Psychology
AP Seminars Silicon Valley Online 2021
  
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 has been very interesting year to be teaching!  What a great time to attend an AP Psychology workshop! Many of us have been through a lot: switching to online teaching and dealing with the dramatic changes to our school schedules caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. My goal for this workshop is to RELIEVE STRESS and help us all get ready to make the 2021-22 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)
● 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!
● Yu 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 and Google docs/slides to share documents.

 
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: (All times listed are PST)
●      Start each day in the morning with all group video conference (8 to 11:30)
●      Break – 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
●      12:30 – 3:00 pm* – Divide time between small group work (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.
●      3:00-3:30 pm* – End of day check-in (all group, Zoom chat) 
  
Typical daily schedule (customized each day; times are approximate)*
• 8:00-9:00 am         Reconnect - discuss the “big important ending question” from the day before, discuss results of group work from the previous day, questions, etc.
• 9:00-10:00             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)
• 10:00-11:00           Content/Skills topic of the day (one of the units of the CED - demonstrations/activities tied to psych vocab, pedagogy advice)
• 11:00 – 11:30        Get ready for group work - establish your goal for the day, explain how to “turn it in”
• 11:30 – 12:30 pm   Break
•12:30 – 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)
•3:00 – 3:30       End of day check-in (all group, Zoom chat)

*Friday’s session will conclude at noon.
      
Topics:

Monday July 26:
• Welcome!  Introductions and orientation to our materials/resource
• What will our week look like?  Group work and your personal choice project
• Discussion:  Structuring your AP Psychology Course.  Tour of the CED & planning sheets.
• Unit 1 Scientific Foundations
• Group work: how will you use the CED for your course planning? Looking through the whole CED. Overall class organization.  How will you order your units?  Pacing/curriculum guides? What will your “workflow” be for your class?
• On your own:
 • do the released practice exam (100 multiple choice questions) - score your own exam complete the 2007 Topic Analysis, 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 27:
• Reconnect: results of group work. How will you use the CED? How will you organize your units? Share plans for personal choice project. How was the released practice exam? What did you learn?
• The AP Psychology test: what’s the Multiple-choice section all about?
• AP classroom: what it is and how can it be used
• Unit 2 Biological Bases of Behavior
•  Group work: how do you, or will you, use AP Classroom? What resources will you use to make assessments and get your students practice with multiple choice items?
• On your own: start work on your personal choice project. Update Kristin about any changes in your plans.

Wednesday, July 28:
•  Reconnect: Share results of group work - how will you use AP Classroom? Share tips. How will you help students practice for MCQ’s? 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:  How do you, or will you, teach students how to write FRQ’s? 
• On your own: work on your personal choice project.  Make sure to let Kristin know if you have any questions.
 
Thursday, July 29:
• Reconnect: share your group work – How do you/will you teach students how to write FRQ’s?
• Unit 3: Sensation & Perception
• Group work #1: by now you’ve seen many (many!) psychology activities/demonstrations. How do you plan on using activities and demonstrations in your class? What are some of your favorites? List on your slide & if possible, upload a copy into our Google drive (Great ideas from APSI participants! AP Seminars Silicon Valley).
• Group work #2: 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: finalize work on your personal choice project & add your slide to Day Four. 
 
Friday, July 30
• Reconnect: share your group work. what are your favorite activities, demonstrations, resources?   Time to share! How will you keep all of your stuff organized?
• Show off your stuff! Sharing your personal choice projects
• The exam is over…now what?
• Goodbyes! Final questions, tearful farewells!