Kami Comment Tools

We’ve mentioned Kami before and now we’re back again. Kami is a digital annotation tool that helps students and teachers interact with pdf documents. All students have the Kami extension pre-installed on their Parkway-issued Chromebooks. Teachers need to install the Kami extension in Chrome. 

Similar to Google Docs, users can comment on pdf documents with Kami. Some additional comment features unique to Kami are:

	Voice comment - This comment type is handy if you need to record a raw video clip rather than typing. For example, you can practice or test for an elementary student’s reading fluency. Or you can give students the option to respond via audio rather than typing in Kami. If you’re interested in doing this with Google Docs, remember to check out Mote.
	Video comment - Users can record a video of themselves directly in Kami, rather than going to an additional external site such as FlipGrid or Loom. For example, students can record their facial expressions in different emotional states. Recording in video also allows for personalization.
	Screen Capture comment - My personal favorite! Users can video record their screen directly in Kami rather than going to an additional external site such as Screencastify or Loom. For example, students can show their mathematical thinking by drawing out their through process on the PDF. This would be similar to the Highlight the Image feature in Schoology.

To access these tools, click on the Comment tool and the different comment options will pop up. Keep in mind, when using these comment tools for the first time you will often be prompted to allow permissions.

Stay tuned for more Kami features in the future!

Create an ARCHIVE folder in Google Drive

Your preferred learning management system (Schoology and Google Classroom) has a folder for your courses in Google Drive. This folder allows your students to share their assignments with you. Simplify this digital storage by creating an Archive folder. Doing this will allow you to quickly find the materials with the current courses. To do this:

1. Go to your Google Drive and select for the folder associated with your preferred learning management system

1. If you use Schoology, the folder is called Schoology Google Drive Assignments and/or Assignments.

2. If you use Google Classroom, the folder is called Classroom.

2. Right-click and select New Folder

3. Name this folder ARCHIVE

4. Drag and drop all the previous courses taught into the ARCHIVE folder

Do this AFTER the course has completely ended, with the final grades submitted. DO NOT do this with a live course because it will mess up the communication between the learning management system and Google Drive.

For more ways to organize and personalize your folders in Google Drive, check out the Google Drive folder tips blog post.