This session with Mary Jo Zell is offered ONLINE during Event 1: June 17-20 and again IN-PERSON Event 3: June 23-26
Meet your APSI Consultant for AP English Literature and Composition
Mary Jo Zell lives in Saint Augustine, FL. She received her B.A. from Villanova University, and her master’s degree from Georgia Southwestern University. She began her teaching career in Pennsylvania and Georgia and has served as the Department Chair of English at Keller High School, where she taught for 23 years. She was a classroom teacher for 30 years and has taught every level 9-12th. She has served as an adjunct instructor at Tarrant County College, and spends her time consulting and working on textbooks. She has served as an AP Language Reader and Table Leader for the College Board for over twenty years. She served on the College Board AP Literature Instructional Design Team and is an AP College Board Consultant who has conducted various workshops and summer institutes. Since 2010 she has worked with various state organizations conducting teacher training, leading mock readings, and presenting Saturday Sessions. She is currently the English Language Content Specialist for Mass Insight, Inc. Additionally, she is a co- author of Ideas In Argument (Bedford, 2022, 2025), and Ideas In LIterature (Bedford, 2022).
Walton APSI Course Description for AP English Literature and Composition
In this APSI, the week will offer teachers a wide range of highly effective strategies for inspiring students to develop their voice as writers and critical thinkers. Because students have an array of experiences and understandings, it is critical to take them “from what they know to what they don’t know” in a way that will help them create insightful understandings of literature. By grounding their literary experiences with some deep, universal tensions, the students can engage with complex poetry, drama, and fiction with a bit more confidence and understanding. In short, offering frames of understanding can help students “accelerate their insight” into meaningful works of literature. Teachers will be offered an array of approaches for assessing student writing and methods for assuring that students are held accountable for content/skills while also fostering a healthy work culture for both students and instructor.
As for exam-specific direction, we will work with strategies for both the FRQ and MC questions that are direct and profitable for the students. Furthermore, we will explore how to best utilize the CED and AP Classroom so that students can benefit from the content, and the instructors can make targeted adjustments to their lessons. And finally, your consultant will share decades’ worth of materials for teaching poetry, drama, and fiction. We hope the week will allow teachers to reconnect with the ideas and passions that drove them to be English Majors and inspired them to become teachers.