Sunday E Workshops 9:00 am - 10:30 am

Presented by   Jenna Spiers and  Bradley Spiers 

Type of Session:  Active Workshop (90 minutes) 

Target:     Elementary (Grades 4-8), Beginner or pre-service teachers, Experienced Arts Educators 

This workshop explores how AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, can serve as tools for examining genre theories in the classroom. AI’s results-driven nature offers students a unique opportunity to test their hypotheses on how different genres—like Romantic Comedy, Screwball Comedy, and Film Noir—shape dramatic works. By generating multiple variations of a single scene in different genres, students can critically analyze genre-defining elements and assess their effectiveness.

As a test case, this workshop will use the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet (“Do you bite your thumb at me, sir?”). In small groups, participants will learn to create and stage AI-assisted adaptations of this scene in various genres. By experiencing the same scene through the lens of different genres, participants will not only learn how to craft effective AI prompts for the drama classroom, but explore how genre shapes dramatic meaning and tone. Finally, the project concludes with a reflective component, prompting participants to consider AI’s possible role in the drama classroom, acknowledging its potential as a learning tool while considering the nuances of human creativity that AI cannot fully replicate.

 Delegates will leave this presentation with practical strategies for integrating AI into drama education, gaining hands-on experience in using AI-generated scripts as a pedagogical tool. They will learn how AI can be leveraged to explore genre conventions, enhance student engagement, and develop critical thinking skills in the drama classroom. Participants will also gain insight into the broader implications of AI in creative work, including ethical considerations and its impact on authorship. Additionally, they will receive curated resources, including sample AI-generated scripts, lesson plan templates, and recommendations for AI tools that can support drama instruction. By the end of the session, delegates will be equipped to implement AI-driven activities in their classrooms, fostering interdisciplinary connections between technology and the arts.  

Jenna Spiers is a teacher in the WRDSB, having taught recently at Howard Robertson Public School and St. Jacobs Public School. Prior to teaching in Canada, Jenna worked in theater education in the USA. Jenna was the Education Associate at the Children’s Theater of Madison (Wisconsin) for five years. Jenna has freelanced as a teaching artist, teaching drama in the United States at institutions such as the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, Portland Stage Company (Maine), and the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey among others. Jenna has presented twice at the American Alliance for Theater Education conference. Jenna has a Masters in Theater Education from Emerson College (Boston), a BA in Drama from Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY), and a BEd from Wilfrid Laurier University. Jenna is passionate about arts integration in education and using the arts as a means to stimulate communication and develop understanding. 

Bradley Spiers is an educator and researcher whose work bridges music history, theory, and artificial intelligence. He teaches in the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University as a contract instructor while pursuing his Bachelor of Education in the Junior Intermediate division. He earned his Ph.D. in Music History and Theory from the University of Chicago in 2020, where he later served as a postdoctoral teaching fellow in the Music, History, and Media Arts and Design (MADD) departments. His research explores how evolving conceptions of AI have shaped artistic and musical thought since the Enlightenment. Prior to his doctoral studies, he earned an M.A. in Musicology from Tufts University and an Honours B.Mus from Wilfrid Laurier University. 

 Presented by    Michelle Gram Giesen 

Type of Session:   Active Workshop (90 minutes) 

Target:   Drama - Elementary (Grades 4-8) 

 In this workshop, educators will participate in a story drama session, exactly as their students would, using the book “The Lost Drop” by Grégoire Laforce to explore the journey a single drop of water takes when traveling through the water cycle. Drama and Dance exercises will be embedded throughout the storytelling to create an immersive experience for the audience, rather than engage as passive observers. Exercises such as hot seating, soundscape, group in role, future scenarios, town council, teacher in role, moving to music, writing in role, verb chains, and more will help educators recognize ways the arts can be a vehicle for their students to synthesize and consolidate their understanding of the water cycle, water protection, interdependence of living and non-living things, and long-term human impact on the Earth and sustainability. Opportunities will be provided for professional dialogue to identify how and when certain exercises would be beneficial and effective to implement across the curriculum.

Attendees will actively participate in this hands-on workshop, getting the full practical experience of how a story drama might be led.  They will  be provided a collection of 15+ Story Drama exercises that elevate and activate storytelling and cross-curricular teaching using rich picture books, the Story Drama Suite-created unit plan for "The Lost Drop" with Ontario Curriculum connections, music suggestions, and various assessment templates evaluating both science and arts strands. Attendees will learn how drama and dance can be integrated with core subjects to help support students' understanding of scientific teachings, as well as gain an appreciation for how the arts provide endless opportunities to differentiate instruction and provide a universal design for learning in the classroom, and develop the confidence and ability to embed drama and dance into their storytelling to provide an active and engaging experience for their audience. 

 Michelle Gram Giesen has worked at the Toronto District School Board in Canada for 18 years, as an elementary teacher, drama specialist, integrated arts teacher, librarian, and presently as an Arts Teacher Mentor with the board. She is an actor, puppeteer, voice actor, and the founder of Story Drama Suite, providing drama education workshops, consulting, presentations, classes, and parties for educators, children, and theatre practitioners. Michelle holds a BFA Honours from York University’s Creative Ensemble/ Devised Theatre Program, and a B.Ed. from OISE/UofT. She has studied various drama techniques and teaching styles and facilitated conference sessions centered on using Story Drama to explore themes such as mental health, social justice, environmental stewardship, bullying, Indigenous education, and more in Canada, the USA, Europe, and New Zealand. 

 Presented by  Allen Kaeja 

Type of Session:  Active Workshop (90 minutes)

Target:   Dance - Secondary (9-12) 

Kaeja Elevations® uses inspiration from various dance, martial arts and sports techniques. Using momentum, anchoring, and the architectural structure of the body, students safely “take flight”! This immersive, hands-on workshop allows students to experience and experiment with force, work, and torque, and realize artistic applications of physics concepts.  

From our workshop presentation, delegates will learn and execute the basic mechanics of Kaeja Elevations, and watch more advanced variations of the technique. Through this exploration, they will learn how concepts in physics can be applied to mediums like dance, and how its practical application can allow for more dynamic and efficient movements. The workshop will provide an insight into physics outside of the classroom, and how Art and STEM intersect. 

The participants will receive both video demonstrations and written descriptions of the particular Elevations they learn.

 llen Kaeja (Choreographer, Film Director, Educator, MA YorkU)) is an internationally recognized and award-winning Choreographer and DanceFilm Director. The child of a refugee and Holocaust survivor, he has created over 30 years of Holocaust informed stage and film works. Co-Artistic Director of Kaeja d’Dance with Karen Kaeja, his Kaeja Elevation focused works have been featured in commercials, films and festivals around the world.  Karen and Allen received the DanceOntario Lifetime Achievement Award. The Kaeja’s are touring to the USA and Canada. Allen’s memoir “I Found My Dance in a Bomb Shelter” was recently published by DCD. Allen and Bruce Barton’s “I am the Child of…”, in collaboration with Ian Garrett, the first production in Canada to integrate Augmented Reality into a live stage show, inviting the audience to bring their devices into the theatre as part of the overall choreographic experience.  

Presented by   Amy Tepperman  

Type of Session: Active Workshop (90 minutes)

Target:   Elementary (Grades 1-4), Elementary (Grades 4-8) 

Make math come alive by exploring Patterns, Fractions, Geometry, Coding and more up on our feet Moving to Music! In this fun and interactive workshop, you'll discover how to engage students in a different way where our bodies and classroom community become the manipulatives. A perfect integration of the 5 Elements of Dance and various Math Concepts. Walk away with a new perspective and lots of ideas/activities you can use right away! 

Delegates will…

• Step outside the box and experience the positive impacts of integrating Dance and Math while building community and connecting with other likeminded educators.
• Learn hands on activities that they can use right away with their students exploring various concepts across the elementary math curriculum through dancing.
• Receive free resource material of the content covered in the session including video tutorials and music. 

 With a passion for sharing and creating holistic teaching practices that engage the entire self (body, brain and being) Amy is a dancer, educator, resource author and movement-based learning specialist working with over 900 schools and thousand of students and teachers across Canada since 2010.  She's proudly presented at industry leading conferences including The Ontario Physical Literacy Summit, Ontario Principals Conference, Ontario Math Educators and SXSW EDU. She was especially thrilled to share her ideas on the TEDx stage in 2017 and can't wait to join the other amazing presenters and educators at CODE 2025