2024 Conference Sessions

Presenter: Alyssa Fenix

In education, we learn how to support diverse learning needs in and provide supports for struggling learners, but we rarely have the chance to understand what actually stands in the way of success. Join Fenix for an engaging session about Neurodiversity in the Arts, including how to use Neurodivergent Affirming Practices and a Strengths based approach in teaching to support your Neurodivergent students.

Presenter: Candy Alexandra González of Bartol Foundation

Led by Candy Alexandra González, lead facilitator in trauma-informed arts education practices for the Bartol Foundation, this session will offer a brief introduction to systemic trauma, its presence and impact in arts education, and the potentiality of trauma-informed frameworks as a step towards addressing systemic harm. The session will offer participants the opportunity to reflect on the structures they encounter in their workplaces that can perpetuate trauma, and brainstorm on alternative structures through a trauma-informed lens.

Presenters: Dan and Claudia Zanes

We live in a society that often values music consumption over music creation and yet the possibilities for capturing the uplifting spirit of social music making are most alive where young people gather: the classroom! In this relaxed and freewheeling workshop Grammy Award winning musician Dan Zanes and music therapist / jazz vocalist Claudia Zanes will talk about how anyone – regardless of experience and confidence – can integrate music making into daily life with their students.

Presenter: Dana Carr of The Creative Impact Group

Arts integration is naturally aligned to culturally responsive classrooms. There are many strategies, like storytelling, that provide rich experiences for students. This experience equips educators with the tools to infuse cultural relevance into their teaching practices. Through engaging activities and insightful discussions, participants will discover how to create inclusive learning environments that celebrate diversity. By embracing the power of arts integration, we pave the way for meaningful connections and holistic student engagement. We will dare to envision a future where every student feels seen, heard, and valued-all while honoring who they are and where they come from.

Presenter: Dr. Renee Tengella, Peaceful Warriors

Participants will learn about the importance of self care and finding home and work life balance. Participants will be involved in deep breathing exercises, gentle yoga, mindfulness and meditation activities that foster release of tension/stress, decrease burn out, instills a sense of calm and relaxation, allowing the mind to reset and the body to connect. Participants will be provided journals to record thoughts, feelings, and reflections.

Presenter: Elizabeth Miller, Mural Art Tours Baltimore

The session will delve into the nuances of street art’s impact on civic responsibility, fostering a sense of community and social awareness. Practical skills such as mural planning, execution, and safety considerations will be imparted.

Presenter: Elizabeth Miller, Mural Art Tours Baltimore

In this empowering workshop, “Setting Yourself Up for Success with All Learners,” participants will delve into strategies tailored to cultivating inclusive learning environments. From understanding diverse learning styles and preferences to implementing inclusive teaching methodologies, attendees will gain practical insights and tools to effectively engage learners of all backgrounds and abilities.

Presenter: Emily Fleming, Yoga In Classrooms And Schools Consulting

In this session, participants will explore how they can use yoga and mindfulness in their arts integrated lessons to support students in developing strong and compelling characters! Participants will learn short mindfulness practices and yoga sequences like a body scan meditation they can use with students to help them draw on their own emotions and experiences when developing and embodying characters for written or theatre pieces. Participants will also review examples of rubrics, and how they can tie arts standards, content standards, and health standards together to support students in creating compelling works of art.

Presenter: Hannah Cohen, City Neighbors Hamilton

The visual arts classroom is an excellent place for students to experiment, investigate, create and become better writers! Join us for a hands-on workshop where artistic practices will inform and build competency with text structures and writing.

Presenters: Katie Gill-Harvey and Genie Arnot, Social Studio

People often think of the creative process as something that happens in the art classroom but the creative process is a framework that can be used in any space to help students become creative problem solvers. Teaching students creative problem solving skills is one of the core components of any arts integrated lesson, making the Creative Process Framework the perfect tool for planning and preparing arts integrated lessons. The 6 phases of the Creative Process Framework: Explore, Engage, Express, Expand, Exchange & Empower, facilitate and support idea development, creative problem solving, communication, and personal expression. Participants in this workshop will explore the 6 phases of Creative Process Framework and learn how they can use this framework with their students to empower them to become creative problem solvers.

Presenters: Khaleshia Thorpe-Price, Dramatic Play LLC

Participants will explore and experience multiple theater-based strategies that will differentiate the pre-writing activities and the overall narrative writing process as they create, refine, and perform original monologues.

Presenters: Kira Levitzky, Baltimore International Academy East

This session will focus on how to take lesson plans that already exist and find ways to transform them into Arts Integrated lesson plans.

Presenters: Lynne Streeter Childress, Building Better People Productions

Participants will take part in an interactive workshop where they learn drama based-storytelling games that can be used to help students in any subject. They work for any subject where there is sequencing, including ELA, history and math, and are also great for writing exercises.

Presenters: Michelle Faulkner-Forson, Baltimore Improv Group

All fun and games: Bringing improv games into your lessons is a workshop that gives k-12 teachers access to practical and fun theater games that can be integrated into core curriculum subject matters.

Presenters: Mitch Harris

Teachers are often hesitant to utiilize theatre, dance, or music in their classrooms because they don’t necessarily identify as actors, dancers, or musicians. In this session teachers will learn that those labels are overhyped. Teachers already have the skills to successfully integrate the arts and may already be doing so without even realizing it. In this session we will break down the anxiety of being “good enough” to teach through the arts and provide simple and effective strategies accessible to any teacher. By focusing on theatre, dance, and music individually, teachers will leave feeling capable and confident in their arts integration to any subject area.

Presenters: Murray Piper, Passionate Drumming & Music Lessons / JHU Peabody

A Musical Journey Exploring Rhythm In The Classroom is a wonderful and fun experience for attendees. My motto: Building Community One Beat At A Time. This happends through music, movement, rhythm and mindfulness relaxation. This sessions will engage attendees within a drum circle setting exploring many different percussion instruments, styles and patterns to be used in a classroom setting. Attendees will also have the opportunity to explore different musical cultures from around the world. There will be some body percussion activites, music making activites and movement activites.

Presenters: Rachael Barillari

This session will provide participants with an overview of what the Baltimore Arts Integration Project (BAIP) is and how teachers can access the project’s free resource library. Through BAIP, artists and educators have been collaboratively creating arts integrated lesson resources tied directly to Baltimore City School’s curriculum that can be accessed for free virtually through Arts Every Day’s website. Current resources include ELA and science integrated lessons, with social studies coming in SY25/26, followed by math.

Presenters: Rebecca Shulman, Museum Questions Consulting

How and why might you incorporate looking at art into your classroom? This workshop briefly shares 2006 research that demonstrated that specific methodologies for looking at art with students improved third-grade students’ critical thinking skills related to literacy. It will then model inquiry with a work of art, engaging participants in a facilitated, thematic conversation around a work of art exploring a social-studies-related topic. The rest of the time will take participants through the work of creating their own inquiry – selecting an object that supports their learning goals for students, crafting questions that teach both content and critical thinking skills, and considering when and how to weave in information. Before the 80 minutes is up a few participants will have the opportunity to try their lesson with the group, and we will co-create a list of effective practices in using this methodology in their classrooms.