Kagan in AP Psychology

I've recently started incorporating Kagan into my AP Psychology classes and have been happy with the results!  As this is a completely new class for me to teach, I found myself back in my first-year teacher shoes stressed about simply structuring the class and getting through the material.  My students were interested and paying attention for the most part, but I realized I'd missed the crucial element of checking for understanding.  Moreover, I often lost time when students wanted to share experiences related to that day's subject matter.  Once I stopped to think about how I could solve these issues, it seemed obvious - Kagan!  Using Kagan structures, I could ask students to apply the principals to their lives, thereby checking for understanding with frequent and active application (meeting course goals), and this way all students would have the opportunity to share in a short amount of time.  I've noticed my classes are now running smoother, students are more actively engaged, and I can listen to be sure that they are correctly applying the psychological principals, demonstrating that they under stand them.  Kagan for the win (again)!