Teachers Week Ontario - Faith Builders

August 11-14, 2026

Each August, Arthur Christian School in Arthur, Ontario hosts an event to promote the development of teachers.

Teachers Week Ontario is packed with main sessions, workshops, and breakouts for new and experienced teachers. Evening activities enable attendees to share ideas with each other or enjoy reprieve from the content of the day.

Workshops and breakouts discuss teaching, history, science, math, literature, spelling, Bible, and more. Teachers Week is scheduled a week or more before school usually starts in the fall to give teachers a place to generate ideas, energy, and vision for the coming year. Attendees have found this event to be a focused week of practical content and ideas sharing built on a foundation of biblical teaching and refreshment.

General Sessions Merle Burkholder

Inspiring the Development of Character

Inspiring Hope
Inspiring Compassion
Inspiring Courage
Inspiring Vision

Split sessions: Newer Teachers Zac Weaver

How Do I Teach?

Build the Foundation
Be Real
Start with Them
Get Out of the Way

Split Sessions: Experienced Teachers Joe Beiler

Sustainable Teaching Rhythms

Walking With God
Caring for Students and Staff
Dealing With Critics and Fans
Understanding the Value of Time

Workshops

New Teacher Orientation Esther Bean
Ready to teach? Effective teaching requires preparation, and this workshop is intended to help prepare you for your first year in the classroom. It will include such topics as motivation, a typical lesson, teaching methods, and the learning process. New teachers should also take a pertinent classroom management breakout session in conjunction with this workshop.

The Regimen of an Enthusiastic Literature Class Lois Bowman
Is literature class met with shining eyes or groans? Is it a chance to learn and do, or a chance for the pedagogue to catch up on grading? Broken into three segments: vocabulary, oral, and the written work, this workshop is designed to challenge and implement you with implements to ignite understanding and focus in your mid to upper grade classroom. Don’t be a pedant, be didactic!

From Sea to Sea to Sea Byron Dueck
Canada is a nation of remarkable diversity—from Prince Edward Island’s red potato fields to Alberta’s chinooks, and from Toronto’s streetcars to Tuktoyaktuk’s muktuk. This workshop will strengthen teachers’ content knowledge of Canadian geography, while offering strategies for engaging students. We will explore not only landforms and climate, but also Canada’s culture, communities, and economy.
Byron Dueck has ten years of social studies teaching experience in Manitoba and is currently developing Canadian curriculum for Christian Light.

Principles of Effective Teaching Matt Frey
During this workshop, we want to explore the fundamentals that are required to be an effective teacher for many years. As our two primary texts to build from, we will use The Seven Laws of Teaching by John Milton Gregory and The Seven Laws of The Learner by Bruce Wilkinson.

Engaged Students = Effective Learning Cherie Leis
How do our students learn most effectively? Does matching instructional methods to a student’s learning style prove beneficial? How can we engage multiple areas of the brain simultaneously? Come prepared to discuss ways of broadening your teaching methods, increasing student engagement, and bringing real-life into your classroom.
This class is taught by a teacher with eight years of experience in teaching Grades 3-6.

In Search of Truth: Analyzing Several Major Worldviews Joey Shantz
Everyone holds an opinion on the biggest questions of life – questions about God and man, about right and wrong, about the meaning of existence or the question of whether anything exists at all! In this workshop we will take a sweeping overview of what a worldview is, how one is formed, and what some of the major ones are. We will spend time engaging with other worldviews and identifying problems within them, and finally, we will wrestle with some of the biggest questions and critiques that followers of Christ get challenged on about the Christian worldview. I have enjoyed the opportunities I have had to read about and take classes on this topic and am privileged to teach a Worldviews course in the Grade 11-12 class at Countryside Christian School.

Questioning Techniques that Strengthen Learning in Grades 2-5 Anna Zehr
Teachers taking this workshop will experience, craft, and practice questioning techniques that build strong classroom rapport and student engagement while strengthening student learning in various subjects and learning scenarios. We will apply questioning techniques in the following areas: creating memorable encounters with and reviews of new learning; having one-on-one discussions with students to correct errors in math, phonics, and language; and building student comprehension and enjoyment of a story line through questioning. Offered by a Grades 3-4 teacher.

Breakouts

Helping the Emotionally Wounded Child Merle Burkholder
School Science Fairs Tanner Brubacher
Multigrade Classroom Management Hans Neufeld
Practical Lesson Planning Byron Dueck
Mastering Math Facts Michelle Gerber
The Power of Stories Matt Frey
Cool Liquid Nitrogen Demonstrations Keith Brubacher
Elementary Classroom Management Esther Bean
…and many more!

Teachers Week Ontario is planned and sponsored by Faith Builders Educational Programs Canada, a sister organization of Faith Builders Educational Programs (USA). Many speakers participate in both Teachers Week Ontario and Teachers Week PA.

Email for more information: teachersweekontario@gmail.com