TOPSS Mentor Network

High school psychology teachers are often the only psychology teacher at any given school. The TOPSS Mentor Network was initiated to link new high school psychology teachers with a mentor teacher for help with planning, activities, and other classroom-related advice. The mentorship teams will vary depending on the needs of the individuals who have been paired.

Below are general suggenstions of some of the resources that mentors may want to provide to support those new teachers requesting help. This list in not all-inclusive but is meant merely to provide some ideas of what a new teacher might need.

Suggested list of resources (from a mentor to a new teacher):

• Provide a syllabus for mentor’s own course
• Discuss pacing and why you spend more or less time on given chapters
• Share activities
• Share places to get more resources (i.e. TOPSS lesson plans, APA website, APA activity guides, etc.)
• Discuss upcoming conferences in the area
• Techniques for student comprehension of material (note taking, lecture, vs. discussion, etc.)
• Textbooks suggestions)
• Outside readings in the field of psychology (novels, case studies, etc)
• Potential partnerships between schools
• Potential meetings to swap ideas with one another
• Experience with good test banks, study guides, and other assessment tools
• New AP Teachers may be interested in College Board information