New OTF Connects webinars for 2026
OTF is pleased to announce their newest series of excellent OTF Connects webinars. Over the coming weeks and months, OTF’s newest series of webinars will feature tips and tools to support you on your teaching and learning journey, across divisions and subject areas.
Their easy-to-use webinar platform provides you with free, effective professional learning accessible–from a distance–across multiple types of devices. You will leave each session with strategies and tools you can transfer to your own learning context. Registration for each webinar is limited, so sign up early to avoid disappointment.
January
Elementary Money Math Made Simple
(en anglais seulement)
Date: January 22, 2026
Time: 4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
Explore the world of money through some practical approaches that align with the financial literary strand in Mathematics. Join the Bank of Canada Museum for this informative presentation and learn all about saving and spending, budgeting and investing and calculating and converting change. You’ll be provided with multiple entry points into financial literacy and money for Grades K-6, including interactive lesson plans, activities, and even an escape room!
Meet your Presenter
Heather Montgomery is a long-time museum educator who has a passion for inquiry-learning and making economics fun. She designed the Bank of Canada Museum’s successful on-site school programs and has worked on many lesson plans including learning about bank notes, money and math, and inflation.
It Starts with Words…Commemorating the Holocaust
(en anglais seulement)
Date: January 27, 2026
Time: 4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorates the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. In this webinar you will be guided through Liberation75’s new 3-module classroom-ready student program, Surviving the Holocaust, By Chance Alone: Max Eisen’s Story. Designed to support Holocaust curriculum in Ontario classrooms, this program can be integrated into a variety of grades and subject areas. Participants will be introduced to both student and teacher resources that are included in the program.
Meet your Presenter
Melissa Mikel recently earned her Doctoral Degree in Holocaust and Genocide Studies from Gratz College. She began her career as an elementary school teacher in rural Ontario, before serving as Director of Education with the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies in Toronto for sixteen years. In this capacity, Dr. Mikel created and implemented extensive programming on topics of the Holocaust, antisemitism, and racism for thousands of students, educators, law enforcement personnel, and other professionals from diverse sectors across Canada. She is currently the director of scholarships for the 30 Birds Foundation and works as a consultant with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre and Liberation75.
Favoriser les connaissances financières à tout âge : à la découverte du monde de l’argent, de la finance et de l’économie
(in French only)
Plongez au cœur de l’univers de l’argent et de la finance avec le Musée de la Banque du Canada – le seul musée au pays consacré entièrement à l’argent et à l’économie. Ce webinaire captivant destiné aux enseignantes et enseignants de la maternelle à la dernière année du secondaire vous aidera à établir des liens pertinents entre les concepts financiers et la prise de décisions au quotidien, de manière inclusive et respectueuse pour tous les élèves. Vous découvrirez des plans de leçons, des activités et des jeux pratiques et interdisciplinaires pour renforcer les connaissances financières – au sein et au-delà du programme de mathématiques – et aider les élèves à comprendre le rôle de l’argent dans notre monde.
Date: 29 janvier, 2026
Heure : 16 h 30 à 18 h
February
Financial Literacy for Grade 7 – 12
(en anglais seulement)
Date: February 3, 2026
Time: 4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
Stressed about teaching about money and finances? We’ve got you covered. In this webinar the Bank of Canada Museum will walk you through their free financial and economic literacy lesson plans, activities, quizzes and videos. Students will learn how to think like an economist, build budgets, investing in their future, and more. You’ll be provided with tools and strategies you can use right away in your financial and economic literacy units in math, or in social studies, business and economics classes.
Meet your Presenter
Adam Young works in education and evaluation at the Bank of Canada Museum where he creates new resources and partnerships to help educators teach about the world of finances and economics. A former classroom teacher and now part-time instructor at the University of Ottawa, his work looks at curriculum, assessment, and inclusion.
Turning the Page
Highlighting Key Resources from the Right to Read Writing Project
(en anglais seulement)
Date: February 10, 2026
Time: 4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
The literacy pendulum has often swung from science of reading to whole reading. The recent shift back to the science of reading is essential, but the OHRC’s Right to Read Literacy Report talks about more than just the building blocks of words – it talks about words as building blocks for identity, equity, and access to critical literacy. CODE developed Turning the Page resources to support educators to encompass both of these goals. This webinar will highlight the creative pedagogy used to create access to literacy and reading while engaging the whole human, and provides educators with tools to better meet the needs of students with diverse needs.
Train Your AI Brain: Customizing AI for Planning and Productivity
(en anglais seulement)
Date: February 24, 2026
Time: 4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
Discover how to make AI work for you. In this hands-on session, learn how to personalize AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini to match your teaching style, workflow, and curriculum needs. You’ll explore how to “train” your AI to anticipate your planning routines, resource preferences, and communication tone so it becomes your time-saving, thought-partnering, feedback-generating sidekick. Whether you’re a planner, creator, organizer, or dreamer, walk away with practical strategies and ready-to-use prompts to boost productivity.
Meet your Presenter
Lidia Fumo is an elementary teacher librarian passionate about inquiry-based learning, literacy, technology, AI, and STEAM. She is a published author and runs the website theartofinquiry.ca and Instagram @the.art.of.inquiry. Lidia brings a tech-savvy, curiosity-driven approach to teaching, using tools like AI, coding platforms, and digital media to spark student engagement. Her classroom is a space where questions lead the way, creativity is celebrated, and learning feels more like exploration than instruction. She empowers students to connect their learning to real-world issues through the UN Sustainable Development Goals, turning inquiry into action that matters.
