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"Mark was fantastic and very helpful!"
"Mark was very knowledgable and provided a great session with lots of amazing ideas and activities" "I feel so much more confident... I am looking forward to improving my scores with my kids next year." - 2024 participants |
MARK MINICK
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Mark’s goal for this APSI is for everyone to come away with concrete ideas that they can use to improve their classes and their instruction. Whether you are teaching in-person or online, year-long or semester, mixed AP/IB/Concurrent credit, you will come away with activities and materials that you could immediately put in practice into your course and see positive results for your students.
MARK MINICK has been teaching for 31 years and has been privileged to teach AP Psychology for the past 20. His AP scores are consistently among the highest at his school and he usually has the highest number of 5’s of any subject. He currently teaches and chairs the Social Studies Department at Southside High School in Fort Smith, Arkansas, but has also taught in Oklahoma and Missouri. He holds a B.A.in History and Educational Studies from Washington University in St. Louis, a M.A.T. from Webster University and has done additional graduate work in Education and Psychology at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. In addition to a full-time teaching schedule, Mark has also coached basketball, robotics, mock trial, and sponsored the Psychology club.
For the past 16 years, Mark has participated in the AP Psychology Reading as a Reader, Table Leader, and Early Table Leader. During these years, he has been involved with scoring, sample selection, rubric creation, and training of how to use rubrics. In 2020 and 2021, Mark was honored to be asked to be part of the very first set of AP Daily videos. He created 16 videos for the Motivation, Emotion, Personality, and Stress Unit and the Clinical Psychology unit. These videos are available to all AP Psychology students and teachers on the AP Classroom website.
Mark has been a guest presenter at multiple workshops, including APSI’s, College Board workshops, and Mandy Rice’s web series. He has also written content for Albert.io, including both multiple choice and free response questions and is going to be part of the realignment of the Albert.io content for the new CED, when it officially takes effect. Mark is a member of APA, TOPSS, and NCSS - Psychology. He is also an organizer of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Teachers of Psychology and has facilitated workshops for that group.
Mark is a recipient of the Yale University Educator Award for 2022 and the ArcBest Excellence Award for Teaching in 2021.
Away from work, Mark has two children - Jack who is a junior at the University of Arkansas double majoring in music performance and mechanical engineering and Jess who is a freshmen at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith and is considering a career in music therapy or social work. His wife, Autumn is a 5th grade teacher and part-time geologist for an oil and gas company. They like to travel, hike, camp, and always seem to have a home improvement project going on.
Mark can be contacted at [email protected]
For the past 16 years, Mark has participated in the AP Psychology Reading as a Reader, Table Leader, and Early Table Leader. During these years, he has been involved with scoring, sample selection, rubric creation, and training of how to use rubrics. In 2020 and 2021, Mark was honored to be asked to be part of the very first set of AP Daily videos. He created 16 videos for the Motivation, Emotion, Personality, and Stress Unit and the Clinical Psychology unit. These videos are available to all AP Psychology students and teachers on the AP Classroom website.
Mark has been a guest presenter at multiple workshops, including APSI’s, College Board workshops, and Mandy Rice’s web series. He has also written content for Albert.io, including both multiple choice and free response questions and is going to be part of the realignment of the Albert.io content for the new CED, when it officially takes effect. Mark is a member of APA, TOPSS, and NCSS - Psychology. He is also an organizer of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Teachers of Psychology and has facilitated workshops for that group.
Mark is a recipient of the Yale University Educator Award for 2022 and the ArcBest Excellence Award for Teaching in 2021.
Away from work, Mark has two children - Jack who is a junior at the University of Arkansas double majoring in music performance and mechanical engineering and Jess who is a freshmen at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith and is considering a career in music therapy or social work. His wife, Autumn is a 5th grade teacher and part-time geologist for an oil and gas company. They like to travel, hike, camp, and always seem to have a home improvement project going on.
Mark can be contacted at [email protected]
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to help both new and experienced teachers build a successful AP Psychology program with motivated, engaged students. As much as possible, the course will attempt to be individualized to meet the needs of each individual, while still covering broad topics for the benefit of all involved. The course will include basic logistical considerations like exams and homework, preparing for the AP Exam in terms of multiple choice and free response questions, understanding the curriculum framework, pacing the course, and a significant amount of content activities and instructional assistance. Topics that are often challenging to students (and instructors!) will be emphasized, to improve comprehension. We will examine the NEW Course and Exam Description (CED), College Board resources, and the AP exam in detail, with considerable time devoted to helping students succeed with qualifying scores. Whether someone is new to teaching AP Psychology or a veteran with years of experience, everyone should come away with something new and useful to put into practice in their classrooms right away.
Necessary Materials
Goals
APSI Agenda - 2024
Note - This agenda may be subject to change, basd on the needs and preferences of the registered participants and possible changes to the Course and Exam Description from College Board. It will still meet the requirements of 30 contact hours and the guidelines of the APSI, regardless of any possible changes.
Day 1
Day 2
This course is designed to help both new and experienced teachers build a successful AP Psychology program with motivated, engaged students. As much as possible, the course will attempt to be individualized to meet the needs of each individual, while still covering broad topics for the benefit of all involved. The course will include basic logistical considerations like exams and homework, preparing for the AP Exam in terms of multiple choice and free response questions, understanding the curriculum framework, pacing the course, and a significant amount of content activities and instructional assistance. Topics that are often challenging to students (and instructors!) will be emphasized, to improve comprehension. We will examine the NEW Course and Exam Description (CED), College Board resources, and the AP exam in detail, with considerable time devoted to helping students succeed with qualifying scores. Whether someone is new to teaching AP Psychology or a veteran with years of experience, everyone should come away with something new and useful to put into practice in their classrooms right away.
Necessary Materials
- Computer (phones and tablets will likely be insufficient for some tasks).
- Access to Google Drive (having a personal or professional account should not matter but resources will be shared through Google Drive)
- If possible, a copy of the textbook that you are likely to use. If you have supplemental materials that you already know about and find useful, those would be helpful as well.
- Access to AP Central and AP Classroom (if possible - contact your school’s AP coordinator)
- Access to College Board materials which are provided by the institute.
- If applicable (more for veteran teachers), please bring a favorite lesson, activity, or demonstration that you have found engaging and useful for your students. We will share as many of these as we can.
- Finally, please bring a thirst for learning, a strong desire to improve your instruction, and a willingness to reflect on your current practices. Collectively, we want to find the best practices and utilize them in all AP classrooms.
Goals
- You will be familiar with the CED/AP Classroom and will have practical ways to make use of them in your course.
- You will be able to align your curriculum to the unit structure of the NEW AP Course and Exam Description in a way that is practical for you and your students.
- You will be able to create a year-long or semester pacing guide for your course, with what to teach and how long to teach it.
- You will learn about how to interleave content and skills throughout the course to increase student learning and mastery
- You will understand the assessments for AP Psychology -THE NEW layout of Multiple Choice questions and FRQs - creating, writing, and scoring.
- You will learn about and be able to implement a variety of different demonstrations and activities that may help to keep the course interesting, challenging, and engaging.
- You will develop a network of other AP Psychology instructors, for instructional support and collaboration moving forward.
APSI Agenda - 2024
Note - This agenda may be subject to change, basd on the needs and preferences of the registered participants and possible changes to the Course and Exam Description from College Board. It will still meet the requirements of 30 contact hours and the guidelines of the APSI, regardless of any possible changes.
Day 1
- Introductions and Ice Breakers
- Goals of APSI
- Reinforcing the Need for Daily Reflections and Collaboration
- Resources and Materials
- Examining the Course and Exam Description (CED) and Beginning Course Planning
- Designing a syllabus and a year-long (or semester) pacing calendar
- Activities and Instructional Practices for the Biological Bases of Behavior unit
- First look at the AP Exam
- FRQ Prep - Question types and samples
- Time for Questions/Planning/Etc.
- Reflections and Feedback
Day 2
- Respond to Feedback and Reflections
- More Course Design and Planning - Classwork and Homework
- Activities and Instructional Practices for the Cognition unit
- Returning to the Pacing Calendar
- Making effective use of AP Classroom and AP Daily
- Using AP Exams as practice - more exposure is more effective
- FRQ Prep - training students to write more effectively and efficiently
- Time for Questions/Planning/Etc.
- Reflections and Feedback
- Respond to Feedback and Reflections
- Activities and Instructional Practices for the Development and Learning unit
- Assessing and Reflecting using AP Classroom and the Instructional Planning Reports
- Revisiting the AP Exam - building comprehension and predicting question types
- Activities and Instructional Practices for the Social and Personality unit
- Course Design - Daily practices (building consistency while keeping students engaged)
- Time for Questions/Planning/Etc.
- Reflections and Feedback
- Respond to Feedback and Reflections
- Promoting Diversity and Inclusion & Equity and Access in AP
- Class Testing Procedures - designing assessment for increased student mastery and performance
- Activities and Instructional Practices for the Mental and Physical Health unit
- AP Exam Review Strategies
- Finalizing the Planning Calendar
- Become an AP Reader!
- Time for Questions/Planning/Etc.
- Keeping Connected
- Evaluation and Comments