This may sound very basic, but it is always good to start with an introduction. Who are you? Who are they? If you have time, we recommend using one of the icebreaker activities below. During the introduction session, you can also give the attendees an overview of TOP. What is it exactly? Why are you holding a TOP workshop for them?

Discuss the Study Tour

The next step we recommend is getting into the details of the study tour itself. If you’ve never traveled with TOP This is where you can go over the logistics of the tour and what participants can expect to experience. All of this information can be found on our Study Tour website. Basic items to cover are eligibility, cost, intensity, itinerary, responsibilities of those accepted, number on tour, length of tour. If you’ve traveled with TOP before Not only the logistics of the tour and what participants will experience, but this is the time to let them know what YOU experienced if you have traveled with TOP before. What were your expectations and preconceptions of Germany? Be honest with the attendees. When most people think of Germany, they think of beer, pretzel, and lederhosen (and that's ok!). Is this what you thought of? What were your highlights from the trip? Pick some of the visits from your trip that were particularly impactful to you and discuss them with the attendees. What did you learn? Let them know all the new things you learned about in Germany. You can even discuss your preconceptions again and discuss topics you may have thought you knew about but learned a lot more about once you were in Germany. What surprised you? Talk to the attendees about the things that surprised you about your visit. This could be from how the school system was set up, to how the train system runs, to cultural norms at formal meetings. This is a moment where you can really tell your attendees how impactful the TOP study tour was for you as an educator or as a global citizen.

TOP Instructional Materials

There are two different ways you can discuss the instructional materials provided by TOP 1. Make it personal. Tell the attendees about the instructional unit you created as part of your application or post tour requirements. Why did you choose a particular topic for your unit? If you've had a chance to teach it, you can also discuss how students responded to it. This gives you a chance to discuss the direct impact your study tour had on you and most importantly, your students. What is it from your experience that you are able to share with your students and how is it enhancing their learning? 2. Discussing TOP teaching materials more generally. Demonstrate a lesson from "Let's Explore Modern Germany", "Germany in Focus", and/or "Exploring STEM in Germany". You can choose any lesson from these materials to demonstrate for your attendees. "Let's Explore Modern Germany" (Middle School) and "Germany in Focus" (High School) are both available in hard copy format for you to order for you and your attendes from our online ordering system. "Exploring STEM in Germany" is housed on our website. All digital access links are provided below. This approach allows you to showcase the materials that TOP offers teachers and how they can already begin incorporating contemporary Germany into their classrooms. Let's Explore Modern Germany (Middle School) Germany in Focus (High School) Exploring STEM in Germany

Maybe the most important part: Let your attendees know how to apply for a TOP Study Tour. If you have not applied / are applying currently Please reference our Study Tour page for information. Let them know the application will require personal and professional contact information, travel availability, topic of interest selection, resume, employment verification (your direct supervisor must upload a letter), a professional statement of purpose (3,000 characters), essay on your contribution to the group (1,500 characters), and a lesson plan (4,500 characters). The application takes from 5-10 hours to complete excluding the time to obtain the employment verification letter If you have applied before You can talk to them about the process when you applied and the things you did. You can also discuss if you submitted multiple applications and anything you may have done to better your application from one year to the next. If the application is live when you give your workshop, please share the application link with your attendees. You can also direct them to the Study Tour page of our website where most of the essential information will be located. If not, please still share the link to the Study Tour information page. When attendees provide their name, email address, and consent to contact after the workshop, TOP will email them when the applications go live for the following year.

Another important part! Allow for plenty of time for Q&A from your attendees. If there is a question you are unsure of, you can always direct attendees to our email top@goethe.de for follow up questions. We are here to help and support you and your colleagues.

Workshop Attendance Form

At the end of each workshop, we ask that you share the link to our Workshop Attendance form. This allows for a number of things. 1) We get to share with our Board how wonderful all of you are for sharing about TOP. 2) We are able to contact those who would like more information about TOP including the link to the next application. Please note that there is a consent question at the end of the form that we take very seriously. If an attendee marks "no" to receiving emails, we will simply record that person in the number of attendees but will not add them to our mailing list for study tour information. Workshop Attendee Form A document with the Attendance Form QR code and link can be found in the Materials section of this page.

Finally, once the workshop is completed, we ask that you as the Workshop Leader fill out the Workshop Leader Form linked below. This allows us to not only confirm the incoming submissions to the Attendee Form, but we also hope to gather information about how these workshops are being delivered and which materials you find most helpful. The more feedback we get, the better we can be! If you are completing the workshop as part of your post-tour requirements, you will need to submit both the Workshop Leader form and have attendees fill out the Workshop Attendee Form to have it recorded. Workshop Leader Form

TOP Workshop Agenda (PDF, 111 KB)

Workshop Leader Resources

TOP Workshops are at the core of getting the word out about TOP and growing our alumni base. Any educator can lead a TOP Workshop (alumni or not), but either way we know some help preparing can be nice. The Workshop Leader Page provides any North American educator with all the necessary tools to lead a TOP workshop. From agenda, to templates, to links to TOP resources, to an FAQ, educators can find all they need right here.

PLANNING YOUR WORKSHOP
WORKSHOP AGENDA
WORKSHOP MATERIALS
ORDER MATERIALS
ICEBREAKERS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

PLANNING YOUR WORKSHOP

WHERE TO BEGIN

As you start to plan your TOP workshop, you might be thinking where do I even start? In this section you will find the basic items to get started including a suggested agenda as well as a PowerPoint template for you to use.

If you would like to make the workshop more your own, you are of course more than welcome to, but we ask that you use the official TOP logo and showcase our funders which can be found in the later section of the page. Below you will also find a link to order TOP materials and some Icebreaker activities.

WORKSHOP AGENDA

Below you will find a full workshop agenda broken down by section. In the final drop down, we have provided a downloadable PDF of the agenda.

CONFERENCE PROPOSALS

Interested in leading a conference session discussing TOP? The link below will lead you to sample conference proposals to aid the submission process.

Sample Conference Proposals(PDF, 107 KB)

WORKSHOP MATERIALS

Wiki Commons

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook
Instagram
X

Social Media QR Codes(PDF, 122 KB)

ORDER MATERIALS

HOW TO REQUEST TOP MATERIALS

We encourage you to use our free TOP materials during your workshop. These can be available for teachers in need or used as prizes for activities. You will need to order them from our warehouse through the HBP Portal Pro website. Instructions are below.

When:

Request materials at least 2-3 weeks BEFORE the scheduled date of your workshop.

What:

Request materials based on your target audience (Elementary, Middle, Secondary Educators)

How Many:

Estimate quantity as best as you can (usually 15-25).

How:

Use your Internet Browser: https://top.portalpro.com/
Create an account and log in.
Add either digital or hard copy materials to your cart. Add maps.
Check out.
We will approve your order, confirm shipment, and send you links for the attendance and workshop leader forms!

ICEBREAKERS

Each drop down menu contains a different Icebreaker activity. A PDF version of each activity is available for download at the end of each description. If printed materials are needed, handouts are also available to download.

These essential questions, modified from Let’s Explore Modern Germany and Germany In Focus, are universal.

Purposes:

Serve as seat cards and discussion starters.
Demonstrate examples of questions posed in a variety of lessons.

Directions:
Options:
1. Post a question/quote. Ask participants to discuss with a partner.
2. Use as a starter for a broader discussion of the question/quote.
3. Use as a short strategy to preface a specific modified strategy.

Questions/ Quotes

What makes someone famous?
What things in your life would you refuse to give up even if your life was threatened?
Are there circumstances when it is all right to back out on a promise that one has made?
In what ways have geographic features made a difference in history and people’s lives?
Can Europe be compared in any way to the United States?
How might a country such as Germany benefit from being in the European Union? What might the drawbacks be?
How does knowing something about a language help us learn a culture?
What does possessing citizenship mean to an individual?
What does it mean to be German? An American?
How might buildings and other public sites in a community reflect the values and history of the community?
What do the memorials and monuments in our capital say about our values and history?
What criteria are/should be used to designate a national day?
In what ways do individuals influence the times in which they live?
How has avid disobedience been used throughout history to effect change?
How do our past experiences shape our personalities?
How does a flag come to represent a nation?
How does this statement “ring a bell” for you?
A person is only forgotten if his name is forgotten. (Gunter Demnig)
Tolerance should be a temporary attitude: it must lead to recognition. To tolerate means to offend. (Goethe)
He who doesn’t know foreign languages doesn’t know his own. (Goethe)
Every choice has a second-best option which must be given up, and that’s the opportunity lost. (not provided)

AND THE QUESTION IS(PDF, 107 KB)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Below are answers to frequently asked questions about leading TOP Workshops

THANK YOU FROM TOP

From all of us at TOP, we want to thank you for spreading the word about TOP and helping more people get started on the path to being a wonderful TOP Alum. We know we could not spread the word so far without all of you. The map below shows all the wonderful places we have been able to reach because of the work you have done and continue to do! THANK YOU TEACHERS!

Alumni Map

BACK TO THE TOP MAIN PAGE

Workshop Leader Resources

PLANNING YOUR WORKSHOP

WHERE TO BEGIN

WORKSHOP AGENDA

Introduction

Discuss the Study Tour

TOP Instructional Materials

How to Apply

Q&A

Workshop Attendance Form

Workshop Leader Form

WORKSHOP AGENDA PDF

CONFERENCE PROPOSALS

WORKSHOP MATERIALS

Workshop Forms

TOP WEBSITE RESOURCES

PRESENTATION TEMPLATE

INFORMATIONAL FLIERS

OFFICIAL LOGOS

SOCIAL MEDIA

ORDER MATERIALS

HOW TO REQUEST TOP MATERIALS

ICEBREAKERS

AND THE QUESTION IS

COMMON CHALLENGES

GERMANY BINGO

WHEN A WORD IS ENOUGH

BERLIN LANDMARKS GAME

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

HOW LONG SHOULD YOUR WORKSHOP PRESENTATION BE?

WHAT ARE THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF A TOP PRESENTATION?

IS THERE A PRESENTATION TEMPLATE I CAN USE?

HOW DO I BUILD MY PRESENTATION AROUND A TOP LESSON PLAN OR SPECIFIC RESOURCE?

I'M DOING MY PRESENTATION ON ZOOM. HOW DO I KEEP MY PARTICIPANTS ENGAGED?

HOW DO I COLLECT PARTICIPANT INFORMATION?

HOW DO I LET TOP KNOW THE WORKSHOP TOOK PLACE? AND DO I NEED TO LET TOP KNOW?

SHOULD I FOLLOW UP WITH MY PARTICIPANTS?

DO YOU HAVE A LIVE SAMPLE PRESENTATION WE CAN SEE?

THANK YOU FROM TOP

Alumni Map