Ohio Teachers - a great PD for you!

 THE OHIO STATE OPTC 2019

The 2nd Ohio Psychology Teaching Conference (https://www.focusonpsych.org/) will be held on July 10, 2019 at the Psychology Building at the Ohio State University.  The conference is targeted to high school, community college and university teachers and professors of introductory psychology.  This conference will allow teachers to enhance their contemporary disciplinary knowledge, see how cutting-edge research is conducted, discuss effective pedagogy, acquire vetted activities to enhance their individual classrooms, and leave with a stronger network of professional educators. This year our keynote speaker will be Dr. Jane Halonen from the University of West Florida.  Halonen is a psychologist who has dedicated her academic career to the scholarship of teaching and learning. Her academic interests include improving student learning, assessing undergraduate programs, helping good departments become great ones, and helping the public understand the discipline of psychology.

Throughout the course of the day, we will also have presentations from Dr. Ruchika Prakash (Ohio State University, neuroplasticity), Dr. Barbara Andersen (Ohio State University, biobehavioral aspects of cancer), Dr. Brad Bushman (Ohio State University, aggression and violence), Dr. Betsy Fox (Wright State University, sensation and perception), Dr. Vince Granito (Lorain Community College, Open Education Resources), and Dr. Melissa Beers (Ohio State University, the APA Intro Psych Initiative).  Attendees will have the opportunity to take a tour through the Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging, as well as experience artifacts and engage in a talk on the history of psychology by the archivists from The University of Akron's The National Museum of Psychology. Participants will  share quality lesson activities and discuss topical issues in the Teaching of Psychology.  For information and registration, go to https://www.focusonpsych.org/.  

--- Written by Stephanie Franks, Posted by Amy Ramponi 

Iowa Teachers of Psychology Conference April 5, 2019

The Iowa Teachers of Psychology will be holding their annual teaching conference on April 5, 2019 at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo. The legendary Sue Frantz will be their keynote speaker.

For more information, go to their website.

Professional Development Options for High School Psychology Teachers Part 2

One of the best experiences for professional development is the APA/Clark Workshop. Ask any of the hundreds of "graduates" from the workshop and they will tell you it was one of the most professionally rewarding experiences they have had.

This year, Amy Ramponi and Brad Wray will be the primary Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools TOPSS presenters. Below is the photo from 2018.

I encourage anyone who is the sole psychology teacher in their school to apply. This is especially true if you are from a traditionally underrepresented community. One of the goals for the APA in general, and TOPSS more specifically is to bring in more people to increase ethnic, socioeconomic, gender, age, geographic, disability/ability, sexual orientation, and belief system diversity.

Professional Development Options for High School Psychology Teachers

The American Psychological Association (APA) and Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) has some excellent professional development for teachers. Here are but a few:

The stars on the map represents the various regional and state conferences that are held regularly. Grants from the APA are available to apply for to underwrite the costs of the conference and/or speakers. Personally, I have been to both the Northern California, Arizona, Indiana, and Chicagoland conferences in my career. They have all been excellent and I came away with multiple activities and resources from all of them. Best of all, I gained friends and a professional learning network.