Wason's Rule Detection Task

Try out this fun problem-solving challenge! We will discuss this in class in relation to the scientific method. Once you've solved it, don't share the answer with your neighbor until we're ready to discuss it!

Vote on Psych Club T-Shirts!

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Psych Club...Assemble!

With school back in session, it's time to kick off the year in Psych Club. Our first meeting will be Friday, September 4th during Lunch B (in rm 136). Thereafter we'll continue to meet the first Friday of the month.

Of course, no respectable club should go without witty t-shirts, so our first order of business will be voting on t-shirt designs. Here are this year's options for you to preview!

Straight Outta Leipzig
An homage to the location of psychology's founding: Leipzig, Germany.

Welcome to Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood
A tribute to everyone's favorite humanistic psychotherapist.

Serotonin and Dopamine: Technically, the Only Two Things You Enjoy
It's about time your wardrobe included some neurotransmitter humor.

Tips for Success in AP Psychology

In class on Tuesday you will receive a sample of letters of advice from last year's AP Psychology students. Those students have much wisdom to share, given their outstanding performance on the AP Psychology Exam. Your task is to read through the information they are providing for you and generate a "Top Ten List" of tips for success in this class.

Of course, I only selected a small sample of student letters to print for you so I could avoid murdering entire forests. If you would like to review the entire pack of advice letters from 2014-15 AP Psych students, feel free to do so. They are sorted alphabetically by last name, so if you wish to find words of inspiration from a particular friend or acquaintance, just scroll to the appropriate point in the alphabet.

Getting Started on Your First Reading Assignment in AP Psych

Wheeee!!! It's time for your very first reading assignment in AP Psychology!

Even if you are not as thrilled as I am about this, you are likely to have the most energy and enthusiasm for digging into your textbook at this point in the year. Everything is fresh, you're not sleep deprived (yet), and the year seems to be full of possibility. I would strongly encourage you to take advantage of that peak motivation and use this opportunity to shine up your reading and note-taking strategies.

If you are like many of my students, you might not have had to read your textbooks very carefully in the past. The number of assigned pages was small, and the amount of detail you were expected to recall and use may have been limited. You may have even been provided a worksheet or guide that pointed you directly to all the important information, so you barely had to read at all!

You'll find things are different in AP Psychology. Your first reading quiz will cover pages 1-70 in your textbook! But that doesn't mean you need to freak out. If you are looking for tips on how to approach what feels like a massive task, look no further.

• First, check out this handout on tips for your first reading assignment. You should have received one of these when you picked up your textbook.
• Next, consider watching one or both of the videos I've embedded below. I really like Thomas Frank's YouTube channel, CollegeInfoGeek, as he provides great, well-researched tips for college students (like yourself!) who want to be successful in their courses. If you've never had to keep up with college-level reading and study schedules before, he provides concrete, usable advice (but no magic fixes, because there are none.)
• You may also find this video from your textbook author helpful, as it walks you through some basic, research-based tips for more efficient study. 
• Finally, don't forget that you have that Strive for a 5 to use as a resource. If you feel lost at sea without reading guides and worksheets to direct your reading, this is a great way to provide yourself with some supports. Sure, it takes a while, but READING YOUR TEXTBOOK CAREFULLY ALWAYS TAKES TIME! So, pace yourself, and dig in! 

How To Read Your Textbooks More Efficiently

5 Active Reading Strategies for Textbook Assignments

Back to School Shopping for AP Psych

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Greetings, AP Psych Students and Parents!

I hope this message finds you enjoying a pleasant Wisconsin summer. However, according to virtually every retail establishment I’ve visited during the past two weeks, it’s time for back-to-school shopping. Whether that thought excites you or makes you cringe, I figured I’d give you the heads up about what you’ll need for AP Psych. That way, we can streamline your shopping trip (whenever it happens).

Required:

• Be sure to pick up a 3-ring binder for use throughout the year in AP Psych. You’ll need this to keep your notes and handouts organized by topic area. Look for one 1.5 to 2.5 inches in width (3 in is usually too unwieldy to carry in a backpack daily). Note: I do have a number of free binders generously donated by the parent of a former student (her workplace was discarding them). I’ll have them available at textbook pick-up on a first-come, first-served basis. If you want to save some cash, you are welcome to take one at no cost!
• You’ll also want paper for note-taking (loose-leaf or notebook, your choice). Student preference is the key here: some folks like to use loose-leaf paper so they can insert notes into the binder by topic area, others like keeping their notes all in one notebook (post-it tabs to mark chapters/units can be helpful if going that route). If you like notebooks, be aware that many students fill up their notebooks by spring in AP Psych, so having more than one on hand will help. Also, some students prefer to keep their book notes and class notes separate (not a bad idea), so you’ll want to think about your “system” when shopping.
• Pens and pencils are going to be necessary. Perhaps this is obvious, but I thought I’d be thorough.

Optional:

Some students like to purchase these items to assist with their studying and test preparation throughout the year (and prior to the AP Psych Exam). However, they are not required. (Tip: Parents sometimes purchase these as very practical gifts at birthdays and holidays, so you may want to hang on to this for future reference).

Additional test-prep book(s). There are a lot of these on the market (and you can find them online or at large book stores in the test-prep section), and are not many differences from one brand to another. Cost is usually $17-20. Some students like using them (especially the practice tests usually found in them) as the AP Exam approaches in the spring, but this is completely a matter of personal preference. If purchasing one of these, be sure to look for the 2014-2015 version or later, since our curriculum changes slightly this year (and previous versions will not be up to date). I’ve got examples of these for viewing (or classroom use), so feel free to take a look at them when you come in for textbook pick-up if you want to see what they are like.
• Strive for a 5 Study Guide (cost $30; accompanies the textbook). This workbook helps students process what they read in the text and practice skills in preparation for unit tests and the AP Psych Exam. I’m very excited about this, because I think it’s a great resource for students! The district provides each student with a copy; HOWEVER (and this is a big drawback, I think), because the district’s copies will be reused from year-to-year, students cannot write in them. That is a bummer, because they are set up like workbooks and would be much easier to use if students could write in them. Because I think that students might be interested in purchasing their own copies (to be able to write in them), I’m happy to organize an order for those who wish to do so. Students will be getting the copies provided by the district at textbook pick-up in mid-August, so you are free to take a look at the item and decide if you’d like to buy your own instead. If you know you would like to order your own, payments will be accepted at that time (then I can hopefully get the order submitted in time for them to arrive for the start of the school year). Depending on interest, I may place a second order in September (if students would like to wait and see how the first unit goes before buying). Unfortunately, the publisher does not have a direct retail website, so all ordering will have to be organized through the school.
• Flash card sets. Like the test-prep books, it’s easy to find these online or at large book stores, and some students appreciate not having to print/make 1000+ flashcards on their own. (Note, however, that online flashcards are linked up to the class website for free;  this would be for folks who like having physical versions on hand for study.) However, if you wait until March or April to buy them, you may have trouble, since they tend to be in high demand as the AP Exam approaches (when, suddenly, 260,000 AP Psych students decide to simultaneously purchase them). Like the test-prep books, I’ve got sample sets for classroom use, so you can peruse them before deciding if it’s worth buying your own.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email (wellevk@chipfalls.org) or ask when you come in to pick-up your textbook in August. Enjoy the rest of your summer, and happy shopping!

Congrats, AP Psych Class of 2015!

Chi-Hi Students who took this year's AP Psychology Exam have a lot to be proud of! Score reports for students and teachers (in Wisconsin) were released yesterday, and much celebrating is in order for this group of students!

Note to Students: If you haven't logged in to check your own AP Exam results, you can do so here, depending on your location. Wisconsin was scheduled for Day 2 of a five-day staggered release, so if you are trying to access scores from a computer in another state, you may have to wait until that state's scheduled release date.

Before I detail some of the highlights from this year's results, I want to emphasize (as always) that students are more than a score. It is a strange thing to see a year's worth of work reduced down to a few pages of numbers, as it is both satisfying and incomplete at the same time. While I'm pleased with the group's performance, keep in mind that I see much more than numbers when I look at score reports.

I see hours and hours of hard work put in, during study sessions and late night readings.

I see students who grew A LOT in their study habits over the course of the year, students who are now much more ready for college-level work than when they started.

I see students who were, literally, reduced to tears over some unit tests, but who doubled-down and committed to mastering the material even when it wasn't easy.

And, I see students who, for their studies this year, now have a much better understanding of the psychology of their everyday lives.

So, regardless of your individual score, there is something to be celebrated in what you've accomplished! Please take the time to do so!

Some highlights from this year's results:

• 93.2% of Chi-Hi students who took the exam passed it (earned a 3 or above). That is quite an achievement in and of itself, as (according to my records) it is the second-highest pass rate for AP Psych in Chi-Hi's history, surpassed only by 2013's group, which saw a 95% pass rate. 
• This is also substantially higher than the national pass rate, which was 66.2%.
• The average score on this year's AP Psychology Exam was 4.23, the highest ever for Chi-Hi AP Psych students.
• That high average is in part the result of the huge chunk of students who earned 5's (the highest possible score) on the exam! 52% of Chi-Hi AP Psych students earned a 5 on this year's test! Wowsa!

The release of last spring's scores always signals to me that planning for next year must soon begin, so as much as I'd like to join in the celebrating, it's time for me to return to work. I'll be updating the course resources, lesson plans, pacing guides, and syllabi over the next several weeks, so prepare for a lot of messiness on this site.

The Class of 2015 set a high standard for others to follow, but I'm excited for the challenges ahead. In looking at my rosters, there is more history to be made next year in AP Psych, as we're expecting our largest-yet class of AP Psych students: 118 at the time of this writing. That means another potential milestone lies ahead in 2016: we're likely to have our first-ever group of test takers that numbers in the triple digits for a single subject!