In-Person 2026 Workshops | Week 2 | July 13-17

Instructor: Aaron Mathieu

In this weeklong AP Biology Summer Institute, you’ll develop a practical toolkit of strategies and resources to strengthen your teaching. We’ll begin by unpacking the Course and Exam Description (CED), connecting course requirements to pacing guides, calendars, and—if needed—AP Audit approval. You’ll learn how to design lessons that integrate key content and science skills, using formative and summative assessments to reinforce these connections. Participants will explore inquiry-based labs aligned with the AP Biology Science Practices and Learning Objectives, gaining ready-to-use classroom ideas. We’ll also practice applying AP Exam scoring rubrics, analyze sample student responses, and discuss insights from the AP Reading experience. Throughout the week, you’ll engage with materials and activities that foster student exploration, share resources with colleagues, and build professional connections within the AP Biology community—leaving with strategies you can immediately apply in your classroom.

Instructor: Eliel Gonzalez 

In this institute, participants will experience a complete overview of the AP Calculus AB curriculum with emphasis on appropriate use of technology, content and pacing of all 8 Calculus AB Units, and global review for the AP exam. We will also review content and pedagogy in many topics including: related rates, implicit differentiation, area/volume, differential equations/slope fields, the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, and L’Hopital’s Rule. A special focus on assessment and motivation will help participants incorporate new strategies to build a successful AP Calculus program. We will review FRQ Exam questions, as well as supplementary materials and resources, both in print and online. Participants are asked to bring a graphing calculator and/or a laptop to use DESMOS.

Instructor: Stephen Pulliam

This workshop is geared toward but not limited to new AP Chemistry teachers. During the week, we will look at the unique features of AP Chemistry, review content, and explore the depth of content required by the course. Considerable time will be spent reviewing the syllabus required by the College Board for all AP courses as well as conducting labs throughout the workshop specifically designed for the course requirements. Topics to be covered include kinetics, equilibrium, thermodynamics, and electrochemistry. In order to create a culture of collaboration and community, experienced teachers will have the opportunity to share what has worked well in their course as well as brainstorm solutions for any challenges faced. In addition, we will examine past AP tests with the goal to develop strategies to enable students to perform well on the exam.

Instructor: Jennifer Garner

The AP Language & Composition workshop provides teachers with instruction in best practices, pedagogical tools and strategies, and AP resources. Beginning with a thorough dive into the Course and Exam Description, participants will gain a deep understanding of required course skills, pacing, broadening access, AP resources (with special emphasis on AP Classroom), as well as the exam structure and how course skills align to the exam. Using a backward design approach (identifying what students must be able to do first), the workshop will focus on the four big ideas (Rhetorical Situation, Claims and Evidence, Reasoning and Organization, and Style), the eight skill categories, and the free response essays (Rhetorical Analysis, Argument, and Synthesis). In each of these content areas, participants will explore and share lesson ideas and resources. Participants also will take a deep dive into the scoring rubrics for the free response questions and will score essays similar to the process at the AP Reading. The workshop will conclude with instructional design, data interpretation, and syllabus creation/revision. Participants will have opportunities throughout the week to collaborate, discuss, and apply strategies.

Instructor: Richard McCarthy

During this AP English Literature and Composition APSI, you’ll explore the course framework, the exam, and the new AP resources that will help you plan and focus instruction—and give you feedback throughout the year on the areas where individual students need additional focus. You’ll also learn about completing the digital activation process at the start of the school year that will give you immediate access to the new resources and will help ensure that your students can register for AP Exams by the new fall deadlines. By attending this APSI, you’ll gain deeper insight into the following key takeaways, among several others: Understand the Course; Plan the Course; Teach the Course; Assess Student Progress; and Engage as a Member of the AP Community. In addition, specific attention will be paid to the following AP Classroom resources: unit guides, personal progress checks, AP teacher community, and the AP question bank.

Instructor: Andy Milbauer

During this AP Environmental Science APSI, you’ll explore the course framework, the exam, and the new AP resources that will help you plan and focus instruction—and give you feedback throughout the year on the areas where individual students need additional focus. You’ll also learn about completing the digital activation process at the start of the school year that will give you immediate access to the new resources and will help ensure that your students can register for AP Exams by the new fall deadlines. By attending this APSI, you’ll gain deeper insight into the following key takeaways, among several others: Understand the Course; Plan the Course; Teach the Course; Assess Student Progress; and Engage as a Member of the AP Community. In addition, specific attention will be paid to the following AP Classroom resources: unit guides, personal progress checks, AP teacher community, and the AP question bank.

Instructor: Joe Mancino

This APSI is designed to help experienced teachers build on our collected wisdom and give us a space to share our most successful classroom insights. Certainly, we will reinforce our familiarity with the CED and explore how the re-designed test is scored. Because we care about our students, we will discuss ways to broaden access to AP Physics within our own schools and ways to support the students in front of us. However, the main focus of this week-long session will be on labs. I’ll bring the memorable, high impact labs my students and I love. I’ll also bring some activities and demos that help reinforce what we’re all doing in the classroom. Participants are encouraged to share their own favorites because none of us is as smart as all of us. We’ll also spend plenty of time on the more challenging parts of the AP Physics 1 course like Torque and Angular Momentum as well as Fluids. Most of all, this is an APSI about meeting your needs so please reach out as soon as possible if you have any specific outcomes you’d like to see from this session.

Instructor: Mark Littlefield

In this session, we will explore the AP Precalculus course from the College Board which builds on a traditional college prep Precalculus curriculum.  This is a modeling course with an emphasis on constructing, interpreting, and understanding the limitations of the various model types.

The focus of this course will be on the three units assessed on the AP exam, which include:

1. Polynomial and Rational Functions

2. Exponential and Logarithmic Functions

3. Trigonometric and Polar Functions

Unit 4 (Functions involving Parameters, Vectors, and Matrices) is in the Course and Exam Description but is not test on the AP Exam.  Unit 4 will be addressed based on the needs of the group.

We will review the various resources provided by the College Board including:  AP Classroom, AP Daily Videos, AP Central, and the Course and Exam Description (CED).  We will review the practice exams created for this course as well as the exam format and types of MCQ and FRQ questions.  Technology will be used to help participants understand the various concepts.

Instructor: Jonathan Henderson

This workshop is based on the philosophy that understanding the conceptual structure of the course and the interaction of its component parts is essential to creating effective lessons and assessments in the classroom.  After briefly outlining the “architecture” of AP World History, we will consider proven lesson plans and how they serve as models for creating quality activities in the classroom. The new sequence and periodization of the course will be addressed as well. Teachers will leave with ready-to-go classroom materials, tech tools, curriculum guides, and assessment items as well as the informed ability to develop these on their own. A significant part of the week will be devoted to teaching the skills necessary for the writing component of the exam with special attention to recent changes in the scope of the course.