Sunday, November 1, 2026

Drawing and AI in the Classroom : Monroe Township

Drawing and AI in the Classroom

Monroe Township

with

Young Audiences of New Jersey/Eastern PA Teaching Artist and Visual Artist Triada Samaras

Senior Director of Education and Equity YANJ/EP Michelle Marigliano

Content Area Supervisor Monroe Township Public Schools Steven Carey

November 3, 2026

Overall Description (K-12)

This two-part workshop invites K-12 art teachers to draw by hand and then explore how AI tools, starting with Gemini, can support their teaching. Teachers will look for the bridges between hand-drawn work and AI that could be useful in their classrooms, and brainstorm ways to use AI for lesson planning, art materials, art history, techniques, and critiques, with the teacher guiding the technology and the drawing leading the way. No AI experience is needed. Teachers will leave with practical, age-appropriate strategies and a shared language for talking about art teaching and AI.

Teachers will learn

How hand drawing and AI can support each other in an art classroom
Practical, age-appropriate strategies for K-12 students
A shared language for talking about art teaching and AI

Teachers will do

Draw by hand as a way into the workshop
Experiment with AI platforms, starting with Gemini Standalone
Discuss the bridges between hand-drawn work and AI
Brainstorm uses of AI for lesson planning, materials, art history, techniques, and critiques
Create a lesson plan using AI

Drawing Resources

Roy Lichtenstein: Like New | Whitney Museum of American Art

Hoyt Sherman and Drawing by Seing

Tower Keith Haring: Decoding the Artist's Iconic Symbolism and Legacy – RedKalion

How to Draw Keith Haring’s Break Dancing Figures | Easy Art Tutorial - YouTube

Bettter Prompts

Better Prompts: Subject: what is in it
Medium and materials: oil on linen, charcoal on toned paper, gouache, linocut, watercolor on cold-press paper
Style or period: Impressionism, Ukiyo-e, Byzantine icon, German Expressionism, Bauhaus
Elements of art: line quality, value range, color palette, texture, shape, space
Principles of design: asymmetrical balance, strong contrast, repetition with variation, a clear focal point
Composition and viewpoint: bird’s-eye view, tight crop, low horizon line, foreground/middle ground/background
Mood and light: raking afternoon light, overcast and quiet, high-key, chiaroscuro

c. Triada Samaras 2026

Triada Samaras Art Education CV

NAEA Position Statement on Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-generated Imagery in Visual Arts Education

NAEA Position Statement on Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-generated Imagery in Visual Arts Education

NAEA Position Statement on Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-generated Imagery in Visual Arts Education

Adopted April 2024

NAEA believes that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-generated imagery offer both opportunities and challenges to the field of visual art education. Visual arts, design, and media arts educators must remain alert to the technological developments relating to AI, highlighting its potential as a valuable resource while acknowledging the challenges it may pose. AI-driven tools and machine-generated images should not overshadow traditional art forms, individual expression, and human-created art.

Since the use of AI has directly challenged the roles of artists and designers in society, a quality art media arts, and design education program should highlight the technical skill and use of formal qualities for producing conceptually rich content that trained artists and designers provide. AI should be used responsibly and ethically to generate imagery derived from public domain or creative commons licensing, rather than copyrighted works. Educators and students must understand that image generation without proper attribution is a breach of academic integrity akin to plagiarism. The emphasis should be on fostering creativity and innovation while respecting the intellectual property rights of creators and artists. This balanced approach ensures that the use of AI in image generation is both legally compliant and morally respectful of the rights and efforts of original content creators. By approaching AI-generated images with caution and thoughtful guidance, art educators can harness its benefits while preserving the unique aspects of human creativity.

AI can be a useful resource for visual arts educators and their students, augmenting their teaching methods and encouraging student experimentation, including, but not limited to the following::

AI software can assist students in generating initial concepts, ideation, enhancing digital design skills, and experimenting with different artistic elements.
AI can offer students a platform to explore their creativity, fostering innovation and critical thinking skills.
AI can support teachers in lesson and material development, and support differentiating curriculum through providing translations, closed captioning, and other resources.
AI can be a powerful tool to assist.all students of varying abilities.

AI poses potential challenges for visual arts educators and their students, including, but not limited to the following::

AI raises significant concerns about the authenticity of artistic expression and the ideation process.
AI algorithms, while capable of producing visually appealing artworks, can lack the human emotional and conceptual depth that is often found in traditional art forms.
Over-reliance on AI-generated images may lead to a diluted understanding of the creative process, stifling students’ ability to develop their artistic voices and practice the skill of ideation.
AI-generated imagery often prioritizes efficiency and speed, potentially overshadowing the importance of hands-on artistic practices and technical skills.
Efforts should be made to support informed interactions with AI. Ongoing digital literacy skill development is needed to comprehend what is taking place within these algorithms and datasets.

The quality of the data used and functioning of algorithms have been shown to perpetuate racism, sexism, and ableism through AI generations, frequently harming already vulnerable and marginalized communities. As such, AI generated content for ideation and art generation must be critically reviewed to ensure harmful content and biases are not perpetuated.

Art educators must recognize and embrace our role in addressing evolving issues of AI within educational settings. By integrating AI-generated imagery into the curriculum thoughtfully, responsibly, and ethically, educators can expand students’ artistic horizons, foster creativity, and encourage exploration. If AI tools and algorithms are used, it is crucial to balance their use with traditional art methodologies to ensure students develop a well-rounded skill set and a deeper appreciation for art as a form of human expression.

Resources/links:

Artificial Intelligence – Office of Educational Technology

Algorithmic Justice League Movement Towards Equitable and Accountable AI

Full article: Entanglement Art Education: Factoring ARTificial Intelligence and Nonhumans Into Future Art Curricula

EMERGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, ART AND PEDAGOGY: EXPLORING DISCUSSIONS OF CREATIVE ALGORITHMS AND MACHINES FOR ART EDUCATION

Post-Digital, Post-Internet Art and Education: The Future is All-Over | SpringerLink

A list of AI-generated Barbies from ‘every country’ gets blasted on Twitter for blatant racism and endless cultural inaccuracies

Generative AI Takes Stereotypes and Bias From Bad to Worse

Google’s Top Result for “Johannes Vermeer” Is an AI Knockoff

This is how AI Generators See the World: These Fake Images Reveal How AI Amplifies Our Worst Stereotypes

NAEA Webinar: Artificial Intelligence and Art Education Part I: A New Approach to Creativity

NAEA Webinar: Artificial Intelligence and Art Education Part II: Ethics and Impact

Saturday, October 31, 2026

Monroe Township: Responsible Use of AI Tools

Drawing and AI in the Classroom

Monroe Township

with

Young Audiences of New Jersey/Eastern PA Teaching Artist and Visual Artist Triada Samaras

Senior Director of Education and Equity YANJ/EP Michelle Marigliano

Content Area Supervisor Monroe Township Public Schools Steven Carey

District Policies & Regulations

Responsible Use of AI Tools

Summary of the Responsible Use section of the Monroe Township Public Schools AI Plan.

ELANOnline District Policies

What students can use: district-approved AI tools

The standalone Gemini app is not on the student list. Students may use Gemini only within Google Search AI Mode.

What teachers can use for their own planning

The district list above covers student use. Teacher planning is a separate question.

MagicSchool and SchoolAI are provided to teachers by the district at no cost.
Gemini works with a school Google account only if the district has turned it on for teacher accounts. To check, sign in at gemini.google.com with your school login.
Teachers who plan with AI still choose which approved tool students will use, and under what conditions, in each lesson.

What the district says

Responsible use of AI varies with the context, such as a classroom activity or assignment.
Use caution when asking students to use AI tools that are not district-approved.
Students in grades K-12 may use district-approved AI tools in assignments under the direction of a teacher.
Teachers clarify if, when, and how AI tools will be used, and must specify the conditions for AI use for each assignment.
Students use AI only under the conditions their teacher sets.
If a teacher requires students to use a third-party AI tool, the teacher is responsible for getting parental permission, including the terms of use and privacy policies for that specific tool.
Parent consent for student use of AI is granted at the beginning of each school year through the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).
All staff, students, and guests are bound by the standards of use in the district's existing AUP.

Putting it into lesson plans

Add this line to every AI lesson-planning prompt:

State whether students will use AI, which district-approved tool, and the conditions for its use.

Plan, then post

Step 1: Plan (teacher use)

Gemini: brainstorm ideas and test prompts, if it is turned on for your school account.
MagicSchool or SchoolAI (teacher side): turn the idea into a lesson plan, vocabulary, a rubric, and critique questions using the built-in forms.

Fill-in-the-blank prompt: Create a [grade] art lesson of [minutes] minutes on [artist], using [materials], with a warm-up, main activity, critique question, and differentiation. State whether students will use AI, which district-approved tool, and the conditions for its use.

Step 2: Post (student use)

SchoolAI: build a Space, an AI-guided activity students open from a link, such as questions about an artist or a reflection on their drawing.
MagicStudent: the student side of MagicSchool, where teachers set up rooms with their own instructions.
snorkl: students explain their thinking and get AI feedback. Try it yourself before assigning it for art.
Google Classroom: not an AI tool, but a place to post the lesson, the link to the approved AI tool, and the conditions for its use.

Whatever the tool, say what students may do with AI and what must stay their own work. For art lessons, that is usually: AI for background and questions, and the drawing is the student's own.

Quick guide to the tools

Gemini Standalone: open-ended brainstorming. Results depend on your prompt, and it works on a school account only if the district has turned it on.
Gemini within Google Classroom: educator planning and content creation
MagicSchool: the easiest start for planning, with 80+ teacher tools. Check what it generates before you use it.
SchoolAI: a deeper teacher chatbot, and Spaces for student questions inside rules you set
snorkl: students draw and talk, then get AI feedback. You write and review the feedback criteria. Try it with a drawing first.

Recommended for art teachers: MagicSchool to plan, snorkl for student reflection, and SchoolAI Spaces for questions about artists.

Which one works with Gemini? None of these connect directly to Gemini, since each runs its own AI. MagicSchool fits best with Google tools: you can sign in with Google, export to Google Docs, and share to Google Classroom. If Gemini is turned on in your school account, you can also use it inside Google Docs and Classroom.

A note on cost: Free versions of AI tools usually have limits, and plans change often. Use your district-provided accounts for school work, and check what your own account includes.

Keep student information out of AI tools

Do not enter student names, photos, or identifying work into AI tools.

Acceptable Use Policy links

Student AUP (PDF)

Source: Monroe Township Public Schools, AI Plan, Responsible Use section.ES

Monroe Township: Drawing and AI in the K-12 Art Classroom: Standards at a Glance

Drawing and AI in the Classroom

Monroe Township

with

Young Audiences of New Jersey/Eastern PA Teaching Artist and Visual Artist Triada Samaras

Senior Director of Education and Equity YANJ/EP Michelle Marigliano

Content Area Supervisor Monroe Township Public Schools Steven Carey

Standards at a Glance:

Use these standards to show where hand drawing, AI exploration, and critique fit into your lesson planning.

NJ Visual and Performing Arts (2020)

Codes follow 1.5.[grade band].[process][anchor #], for example 1.5.8.Cr3a.

Cr1-Cr3 (Creating): generating ideas, developing them, and refining work. Hand drawing, then revising after AI input.
Pr5 (Presenting): developing and refining techniques and steps. Art materials and techniques.
Re7-Re9 (Responding): perceiving, interpreting, and evaluating art. Critiques, and judging AI output against criteria.
Cn10-Cn11 (Connecting): personal meaning and cultural or historical context. Art history.

NJ Computer Science and Design Thinking (2020)

8.1 Impacts of Computing (8.1.2.IC, 8.1.5.IC, 8.1.8.IC, 8.1.12.IC): how technology affects people and society, including ethics and accessibility. At grade 12, 8.1.12.IC.3 asks students to predict the impacts of emerging technologies using evidence from credible sources. Discussing what AI can and cannot do for artists.
8.2 Design Thinking (for example 8.2.12.ED.1): using research to create something that addresses a problem, then modifying it. Treating the drawing and the AI as parts of a design process.
8.2 Ethics & Culture (8.2.2.EC.1, 8.2.5.EC.1): technology access and equity across communities. Who has access to these tools in our schools?
Related: Standard 9.4 (Life Literacies and Key Skills) covers digital citizenship and information literacy.

ISTE Standards for Students (2016)

1. Empowered Learner: students choose digital tools to meet their own goals.
2. Digital Citizen: responsible, ethical use of tools.
3. Knowledge Constructor (3b): evaluate the accuracy and credibility of information. Fact-checking AI on art history.
4. Innovative Designer (4a, 4b): use a design process and digital tools to plan it.
6. Creative Communicator: express ideas creatively with suitable tools and media.

Note on revisions

New Jersey is revising both the Visual and Performing Arts standards and the Computer Science and Design Thinking standards. The latter is being restructured as Computer Science, Innovation, and Society (8.1 Computer Science, 8.2 Engineering Design and Technology, 8.3 Digital Literacy), with added AI language. Check the links below for the version currently in force before citing codes.

Source links

c. Triada Samaras 2026

Triada Samaras Art Education CV

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Emotional Regulation Through Art Day 3

Professional Learning, Trenton, NJ

With Triada Samaras MA / MFA Master Level Teaching Artist

with Michelle Marigliano, Senior Director of Education and Equity

and Robert Keyes, Arts Supervisor, Trenton Board of Education

6/10/2026

Link to Blog: https://professorsamaras.blogspot.com

Web TRIADA SAMARAS - HOME PAGE

Web: Arts Educator - TRIADA SAMARAS

Blog: Professor Samaras

This interactive workshop introduces mindful visual arts practices that support emotional regulation and student/teacher well-being. Teachers will explore techniques such as breath drawing, slow drawing, mandala creation, mindful doodling, and collage, using hands-on materials to cultivate focus, reflection, expression, calm, and connection. Teachers will learn how to guide students in using these practices to reflect on their emotions and experiences, fostering self-regulation. Activities can be brief exercises to support focus before lessons or assessments, or they can form the basis for full art lessons, making the workshop suitable for K–12 art and other content-area teachers. Teachers will leave with practical strategies to foster creative agency, student voice, and responsible *engagement in any classroom.

Target Audience: K–12 Teachers

Aligned Standards: New Jersey Visual & Performing Arts Standards, Social-Emotional Learning Standards

Goals Of Mindful Art Practice

Students Will Learn

Mindful art practices offer students a safe, non-judgmental space for creative exploration where the focus is on process rather than perfection. Through simple artmaking and reflective exercises students will learn:

Students will learn they can calm their minds and bodies through simple reflective and artmaking exercises.

Students will learn tuning into their unique personal experiences and into the present moment enhances a feeling of wellness and creativity.

Students will learn emotional awareness adds to their focus, and to their expressive confidence.

Students will learn these art practices help support nervous system regulation, reduce stress, and contribute to a feeling of well-being.

Students will discover new ways to reflect inwardly, connect with their emotions, and cultivate insight, resilience, and self-acceptance.

Note: Mindful art practices are intended to support reflection, creative expression, self-awareness, and present-moment attention within an educational setting. They are not a substitute for therapy, counseling, or mental health treatment, and individual experiences will naturally vary from person to person.*

Students Will Do:

• Students are guided through mindful explorations using expressive art, reflection, and creative practices.

• Students develop tools that help support focus, emotional awareness, nervous system regulation, and creative expression.

• Students deepen self-awareness, self-compassion, confidence, and personal voice through the creative process.

• Students experience meaningful connections with peers, teachers, and the larger classroom community through shared creative experiences.

EMOTIONS LIST (alphabetically)

Adoration Affectionate Afraid Aggravated Agonized Alienated Amazed Amused Angry Anguish Annoyed Anxious Apprehensive Aroused Ashamed Attacked Attraction Betrayed Bitter Bliss Blue Brave Calm Caring Cautious Charmed Cheerful Compassion Competent Concerned Confident Confused Contemptuous Content Contrite Cranky Cruel Crushed Curious Damaged Dazed Defeated Defensive Dejection Delighted Depressed Desire Hopeless Horrified Hostility Humiliated Hurt Impatient Impulsive Inarticulate Incompetent Detached Despairing Determined Disappointed Disgusted Dislike Disoriented Displeased Distressed Doubtful Eagerness Ecstasy Elation Embarrassed Empty Enchantment Enjoyment Enraged Enthrallment Enthusiasm Envy Euphoric Exasperated Excited Exhilarated Fearful Fidgety Foggy Fondness Fragile Frazzled Frightened Frustrated Furious Gaiety Glad Glee Glum Grieving Grouchy Grumpy Guilty Happy Hateful Heartbroken Helpless Hopeful Indifferent Infatuated Insecure Insulted Interested Irritable Irritated Isolated Jealous Jolly Jovial Joyful Jubilation Judged Jumpy Kindness Lazy Lethargic Liking Loathing Lonely Longing Lost Love Mad Manipulated Miserable Misunderstood Mortified Nervous Nostalgic Optimism Outrage Overwhelmed Panicked Paralyzed Paranoid Passion Pleased Pleasure Powerful Proud Rage Regretful Rejected Relieved Resentment Revulsion Satisfaction Scornful Sentimental Shocked Shy Skeptical Sorrowful Spacy Spiteful Stressed Suicidal Surprised Suspicious Sympathy Tenderness Tense Terrified Threatened Thrilled Trapped Triumphant Troubled Trusting Uneasy Unhappy Unsure Vengeful Vigilant Vindictive Vulnerable Warm Weary Worried Wounded Zeal

Some Writing Prompts:

I am….

I feel most alive when….

My life was forever changed when..

I couldn't imagine living without..

What I need most in this moment is..

Some questions for mindful artworks

Notice five things that you can see.

Look around you and bring your attention to five things that you can see. Pick something that you don’t normally notice, like a shadow or a small crack in the concrete.

Notice four things that you can feel.

Bring awareness to four things that you are currently feeling, like the texture of your pants, the feeling of the breeze on your skin, or the smooth surface of a table you are resting your hands on.

Notice three things you can hear.

Take a moment to listen, and note three things that you hear in the background. This can be the chirp of a bird, the hum of the refrigerator, or the faint sounds of traffic from a nearby road.

Notice two things you can smell.

Bring your awareness to smells that you usually filter out, whether they’re pleasant or unpleasant. Perhaps the breeze is carrying a whiff of pine trees if you’re outside, or the smell of a fast-food restaurant across the street.

Notice one thing you can taste.

Focus on one thing that you can taste right now, at this moment. You can take a sip of a drink, chew a piece of gum, eat something, notice the current taste in your mouth, or even open your mouth to search the air for a taste.

This is a quick and relatively easy exercise to bring you to a mindful state quickly. If you only have a minute or two, or don’t have the time or tools to try a body scan or fill out a worksheet, the five senses exercise can help you or your clients bring awareness to the current moment in a short amount of time.

Some mindful art mandalas:

"I am...."

"I am aware of snowflakes falling all over my body bringing me relief for my clenched stomach."

Above: "I am split in half. I am heading for the blue side."

Humming

The Simple Sound That Literally Rewires Your Nervous System (Vagal Toning Explained) - YouTube Vagus Nerve Vocal Vibration Frequency

* Reference: Cynthia Hauk Mindful LINK

C. Triada Samaras June 2026

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nfjG-t1SBU2tONwUu95GMa7CEAradBiYm6WupIOEGrs/edit?usp=sharing

Monday, May 18, 2026

Triada Samaras: Emotional Regulation Through Art Number 2: Trenton Board of Education, Trenton, NJ

Emotional Regulation Through Art 2

Professional Learning, Trenton, NJ

With Triada Samaras MA / MFA Master Level Teaching Artist

with Michelle Marigliano, Senior Director of Education and Equity

and Robert Keyes, Arts Supervisor, Trenton Board of Education

5/20/2026

Web TRIADA SAMARAS - HOME PAGE

Web: Arts Educator - TRIADA SAMARAS

Blog: Professor Samaras

Target Audience: K–12 Teachers

Aligned Standards: New Jersey Visual & Performing Arts Standards, Social-Emotional Learning Standards

Mindfulness Art has 'cousins' in other well-known art movements:

Neo-Expressionism / Graffiti / Street Art

Below Artworks: Keith Haring American

Keith Haring - Wikipedia

Below Artworks: Jean Michel Basquiat American

Jean-Michel Basquiat - Wikipedia

Outsider Art

Below Artwork: Y.m.Lo Japanese b. 1982

Description of Workshop

In today’s workshop, Trenton High School art teachers revisited breath meditation drawings before diving into a new modality: body scan drawings.

The process began with a guided body scan meditation. From there, the group experimented with various black-and-white drawing tools and papers. During the session, the discussion covered the use of stencils versus freehand drawing, as well as the timing and selection of writing prompts for students. This included an explanation of how to use AI to generate these prompts and scripts for the classroom.

The teachers largely favored experiential, hands-on writing prompts over options that felt too analytical or cerebral—a preference that was especially emphasized by the special education art teacher. The group wrapped up with plans to experiment with these new techniques back in their own classrooms.

Photographs of Workshop:

Art Teachers in Action