Interested in having Tim Topham present in your area?Piano Workshop

One of the best ways to get Tim Topham to speak in your area is to host a Piano PD day for teachers. It can be very expensive paying for speakers to visit your local association, school or group to engage and motivate teachers, so Tim is offering a way to make this happen with minimal effort from the hosts.

Basically, you provide the venue and tea/coffee and Tim does the rest! The best location for these workshops is schools, so if you’re a teacher at a school in your area, you’d like Tim to visit and you think you can find a minim of 10 people to attend, read on to see how it works…

Workshop date

The workshop date will be agreed by the host school and Tim Topham. As Tim works full time, his time during term time is limited, so workshops will generally need to be held on weekends or during Melbourne school holidays. Holidays are most often the best time for teacher training in any case.

Workshop length and format

Full-day workshops are 6 hours in length, including break times.  The normal format starts at 9am and looks like this:

  • Session 1 – 1.5 hours
  • Morning tea – 30 mins
  • Session 2 – 1.5 hours
  • Lunch – 1 hour
  • Session 3 – 1.5 hours

What would the content look like?

This is up for discussion depending on the needs of the attendees, however the most popular topics tend to be:

  • Using technology in the teaching studio – with some step-by-step instruction
  • How to teach improv and composing
  • How to get the most out of teaching pop music
  • Motivating and inspiring teens and boys and especially teen beginner students
  • The most effective approach to teaching reading

For more ideas, please check out my piano workshops page.

tim topham speakingTim Topham is a genius! His presentations have the perfect balance between relevant teaching points (which every teacher desires) and being so entertaining that you almost forget that you’re there to learn in the first place! We loved having him present in Western Australia and can’t wait to have him back!! Thanks Tim for the passion you have for your teaching and being prepared to share your knowledge with us so openly. Demelza Bursill – WAPPC convenor 2014.

Free workshop attendance for host school teachers

The host school may have up to two teachers attend the workshop at no cost.

Additional teachers from the host school may attend for the regular workshop fee.

Workshop cost for all other teachers

Full-day workshop: $250 per teacher (no GST)

Early-bird price for the first 5 registrations: $180 per teacher (no GST)

Teachers bring/buy their own lunch/snacks. As most schools these days provide some kind of PD budget for their staff, many school-based teachers will be able to claim this cost against this annual allocation or at least put in a submission for funding. If participants are independent teachers, they can write it all off on tax.

Minimum attendees

A minimum number of 10 paying attendees is required to run the workshop.

What do attendees need?

Workshop attendees should bring laptop/iPad/notebook, pens, etc. – the usual equipment required for a conference. As one of the discussions will likely be on technology, it’s great if all teachers bring their iPad with WIFI access (see below). Lists of apps (if required) will be given prior to the workshop.

What are teachers saying about Tim?

Fantastic ideas Tim. You are such an inspiration and I find it so exciting that you are willing to share your knowledge with others and the encouragement we can gain from all your efforts. Thank you – Narelle USA

First, I’d like to compliment you and tell you that discovering your website and more recently, your podcast, have done much to inspire me in my teaching and have revved up my energy to try new things with my students. PLEASE keep the podcast going because some of my best opportunities to learn are via podcast during a city commute. I also appreciate the technology component, your focus on energizing kids and giving us some relevant tips on current hits the younger students like, etc. Also, thankfully you are a good writer as well, making it a pleasure to read and hear you speak articulately. – Carla USA

I just discovered your work, and in such a short time it has had a huge impact on my studio. So I’m very excited about your offerings and I hope we get to meet someday! – Danielle USA

Host school responsibilities

The host school will:

  • Provide a go-to person who will act as liaison for the day and who has good knowledge of the school. It’s preferably that this person is one of the attendees so that they are there all day
  • Survey the attendees/school/local association members and discuss the required content with Tim
  • Provide a classroom/lecture theatre of suitable size with data projector and speakers for the presenter and access to power for the presenter and workshop attendees
  • Arrange for a school IT person to be contactable during the session time should the need arise
  • Arrange for WIFI access for the presenter and all other attendees of the workshop (this is dependent on the sessions chosen)
  • Provide morning tea facilities (urn, milk, coffee/tea, cups). Some schools like to go all-out on real coffee and being a total coffee-snob, I’m cool with that!
  • Publicise the workshop event through your local music education networks (ie. emails to colleagues and/or teacher networks, posting in relevant Facebook groups and school newsletter if applicable, and so on)

Tim Topham’s responsibilities

Tim Topham will:

  • Handle all workshop bookings, payments and enquiries
  • Maintain contact with workshop attendees regarding details and other requirements leading up to the event
  • Liaise with the host school to ensure smooth running of the event
  • Prepare training notes and other resources for all attendees
  • Provide each attendee with a professional development certificate of attendance
  • Publicise the event through the mailing lists, website and social media

Ready to host a workshop?

Please contact me – I generally respond within 24 hours.