Government of Ontario

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Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery




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About our PD sessions:

  • All Archives of Ontario workshops are offered free of charge!

  • Workshops for educators are directly linked to the Ontario curriculum.

  • Your session can include a behind-the-scenes tour of the Archives facility.

  • Session length is flexible, and can run from 30 minutes up to 2 hours.


graphic depicting virtual workshop




Curriculum connections:

Materials featured in our PD workshops, from the Archives of Ontario’s archival, library, and art collections, have strong connections to the Ontario history curriculum — but educators teaching any subject are welcome and encouraged to book a session! Please contact our team to discuss how we can connect our collections to your area of teaching practice.

Engaging Socials/History Students Full Day Workshop

Our full-day professional development workshop is designed to provide educators with practical strategies, inquiry-based activities, and resources that can enrich the classroom and engage students.  Join us as we delve into exciting ways to ignite curiosity, critical thinking, and connection to history with your students.

Workshop Highlights:

  1. Behind-the-Scenes Archive Tour:  Take part in a journey through the Archives in this exclusive behind-the-scenes tour. 

  2. Opinionnaires: Explore a dynamic activity that encourages students to connect with history on a personal level.  Learn how to use this tool to engage students around significant historical themes, where students can express their opinion and relate historical events to their own lives.

  3. Inquiry Based Learning:  Explore how to draw on student curiosity to get them asking deep and meaningful questions around the history and in turn get excited to learn more throughout the term.

  4. Creating to Understand: Engage students in a hands-on historical reconstruction as an example of how to bring history to life.  Discuss other approaches that students can do in the classroom to deepen their understanding of historical events, figures, and contexts.

Date:  Friday Oct 6, 2023 from 10 am – 4 pm
Cost: Free
Register Here
Max # of Participants: 20

Please Note: Workshops are currently only being offered in English

Lights, Camera, History: Full Day Workshop on Using Film and Audio in the History Classroom

Draw on the power of storytelling for teaching history in this hands-on workshop aimed at getting students to deepen their historical understanding.  Through interactive sessions and practical activities, you’ll learn how to get students to create talking head documentaries, craft historical documentaries and produce captivating historical commercials.  Join us as we guide you through the process of bringing documentaries into the classroom and archival resources to support in their creation.

Workshop Highlights:

  1. Talking Heads Documentary:  This interview style documentary is perfect to fit within 1-2 class periods and provides students the opportunity to share their thoughts or take on the role of historical figures.

  2. Heritage Minute:  Go through the process of creating a more in-depth documentary as a possible summative.  For the purposes of this workshop, we will focus on planning out a heritage minute.

  3. Historical Commercial: Creative and concise this approach allows students to express their understanding and knowledge of concepts covered in class.

Date:  Thursday, Feb 1, 2024 from 10 am – 4 pm
Cost: Free
Register Here
Max # of Participants: 20

Please Note: Workshops are currently only being offered in English

Game Based Learning Full Day Workshop

Interested in incorporating game-based learning into your teaching?  In this full day workshop, we will explore the difference between gamification and game-based learning and how these can contribute to meaningful learning experiences.  Teachers will get the chance to try different kinds of games before going through the process of creating their own board game.

Workshop Highlights:

  1. Learn 3 Approaches to Incorporating Games:  Explore the different degrees of incorporating games into your teaching, from using existing games, modifying existing games, and creating your own game.

  2. Board Game Creation:  Take part in a collaborative game jam where you will work alongside fellow educators to design and prototype your own board game. 

Date:  Friday Feb 16, 2024 from 10 am – 4 pm
Cost: Free
Register Here Fully Booked !
Max # of Participants: 20

Please Note: Workshops are currently only being offered in English

Classroom Curation and Exhibition Full Day Workshop

Step into the world of the curator in this immersive full-day workshop. As teachers you already curate learning for your students. In this workshop we will discuss the role of the teacher as curator and ways in which to have students become curators as well, including creating a classroom exhibition.

Workshop Highlights:

  1. Object Based Learning:  Discover how everyday objects can be used in the classroom to unlock insights into history, culture and context.

  2. Classroom Curation: Take part in an activity that can be incorporated into the classroom where students need to apply historical thinking skills.

  3. Classroom Exhibition: Walk through the process involved in creating an exhibition and discuss how this could be done in the classroom.

Date:  Friday April 19, 2024 from 10 am – 4 pm
Cost: Free
Register Here
Max # of Participants: 20

Please Note: Workshops are currently only being offered in English

 

Summer Teacher Institute 2024


This 5-day Institute will focus on exploring various ways to engage in historical thinking, skills, and empathy drawing from the Archives of Ontario’s collection and resources. The Institute is organized around themes, with each day covering a particular topic. The sessions themselves are designed to be interactive and practical in nature. The focus will be around various pedagogies and their application into the history/socials classroom. The Institute takes a dialogical and constructivist approach with sessions providing opportunities for participants to discuss, debate, create and question the material and its relation to the history classroom. Opportunities to co-construct learning have been embedded into the sessions.


Day 1: Engaging Socials/History Students
Day 2: Lights, Camera, History – Using Film and Audio in the History Classroom
Day 3: Game Based Learning
Day 4: Field Trip Downtown Toronto
Day 5: Classroom Curation and Exhibition

Date:  July 8 – 12, 2024 from 10 am – 4 pm
Cost: Free
Register Here
Max # of Participants: 16

Please Note: Workshops are currently only being offered in English

Booking a session:

Please send your e-mail at refrence@ontario.ca for more information or to book a session.

Please note:

  • Virtual professional development sessions are offered wherever your team meets; our educators will join your class, meeting, or gathering on whatever platform you already use.
  • If necessary, the Archives of Ontario can set up a virtual session using Microsoft Teams.
  • Due to time and resource limitations, we are currently only able to offer these experiences for groups (not individuals).
  • Minimum number of attendees is five, and maximum number of attendees is 100.
  • Reservations must be made at least 1 week (7 days) before your preferred date and is subject to availability.