Textbook Pick-up This Week - Get a Jump on AP Psychology Reading

An exciting year is ahead of us in AP Psychology! I am looking forward to meeting each one of my new students and beginning this exciting (if challenging) journey together.

In order to let you get a jump start on the reading for our first unit, I will be letting students pick up textbooks this week. I would strongly encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity, as there is a substantial amount of reading for this first unit (and the ones that follow, but I find students need some time to "ease in" to the reading load). Plus, I get to say hello to you before the school year starts!

Hours for Early Textbook Pick-Up

Monday 8/23 - 9AM - 3PM

Tuesday 8/24 - 9AM - 3 PM

Wednesday 8/25 - 1PM-4PM

Thursday 8/26 - 8AM-12PM

Friday 8/27 - 8AM-11 AM & 2PM-4PM

I should be in my room during most of the hours listed above. Keep in mind, official staff inservice/workdays begin on Wednesday, so there are fewer open hours thereafter. Also, there will likely be impromptu meetings and obligations that pop up during those days as well, so if I'm not in my room, I'm likely in the building somewhere (maybe the copy room?).

Once you pick up your textbook, you may want to begin reading the Prologue and Chapter 1 and taking notes in whatever format is comfortable and familiar to you. This is in preparation for a quiz on the reading that will take place the second week of classes (exact date TBD), on which you can use your notes.

One more thing you'll want to take care of before school starts is getting a 3-ring binder for this class (color doesn't matter, so make it as pretty as you like). Since this is a year-long class with a major cumulative test in May (the AP Exam!) you will need to keep all of your notes and handouts organized for the entire year. You will need them for studying in the spring. Ask any former AP Psych student, they will tell you how important this is!

Because it is so important, having that 3-ring binder will count for an assignment grade on Friday, September 3rd. So don't delay! Take advantage of the cheap prices on 3-ring binders because of all the back-to-school sales going on.

Okay, I hope this hasn't scared any of you away already. Don't be too nervous, we'll take this one step at a time. And AP Psych will be a fun and AMAZING experience for you. But it will take some hard work, so do yourself a favor and hit the ground running by getting a little ahead while you have the chance. Hope to see you soon!

Reading Ahead: Save Yourself Some Frustration

Let's say you're one of those organized, prepared-types and you're looking ahead to what we'll be doing once we get back from Thanksgiving Break. First, great job! Chance favors the prepared mind!

Our next unit is on Learning and Memory and will cover content from Chapter 8 and 9 in your textbook. Note: this means we are temporarily skipping Chapter 7. Don't worry, we'll come back to that at the end of December (who would want to skip States of Consciousness altogether?!).

However, be aware that if you just dive into the next chapter in our book (Chapter 7), you may be frustrated when you come to class and realize you still have 2 chapters to read before you are prepared for our next quiz. If you're starting your reading early, Read Chapter 8 (Learning) next!

So, I Have My Textbook....Now What Do I Do With It?

Sounds crazy, I know, but READING IT is my suggestion.

In all seriousness, the best thing you can do for yourself to get a good start in AP Psych is to start developing your reading strategy for the text. Your first quiz, which will cover the Prologue (yes, the part BEFORE the first chapter) and Chapter 1 of your text, will take place during the second week of the school year. I have yet to determine the exact date, as I'm currently in the process of hammering out our schedule for the year in order to get us ready for the AP Exam in May.

Some things you should know about that first quiz:

• You are allowed to use notes during quizzes (but not tests) in AP Psych. The point of this is to encourage you to carefully take notes while you read (which helps tremendously in retaining the information....which you will need for the test).
• The notes can be as detailed as you would like them to be, HOWEVER, you are not allowed to simply photocopy the book. As a practical matter, it would probably NOT be helpful to just copy passages of text verbatim, as there is too much and this will not help you commit it to memory as much as other methods.
• I would recommend using some sort of outline format (your choice) that helps you organize the information in a way that makes sense to you. I can help you with this if needed.
• Passively reading the text - without taking notes or using other deliberate strategies to commit the information to memory - is generally not enough to do well on the quizzes. If casually skimming or even giving it a simple "once-through" has been your approach to textbook readings to this point, it will probably not work for this class.
• Quizzes are multiple choice.
• Usually about 15 questions on each quiz.

You are incredibly lucky to have the text that you do. David Myers, the author of our book- who I will talk about more during class- has a very accessible writing style. Unlike other texts you sometimes find in the Social Sciences, this one doesn't sound like it was written by robots. He has a sense of humor, so enjoy it!