Annotate PDFs with Snap & Read

Snap & Read just added a new feature - PDF annotation. Are you familiar with Kami? The Snap & Read annotation feature is similar. It is free with unlimited use for all Walled Lake Consolidated Schools students and staff and it works with Google Drive. 

This can come in handy for students to write responses directly on PDFs and  highlight important phrases. 

How do you use it? See written instructions and/or the video below. 

Step 1: If you haven’t already done so, install Snap & Read from the Chrome store. Accept the user agreement and then sign in with your WL Google Account.

Step 2: Go to Google Drive.

Step 3: Click on the Snap & Read extension (it will turn blue when active and the black toolbar will appear on the right).

Step 4: Click on the research button at the bottom of the toolbar.

Step 5: Click the three dots in the upper right corner.

Step 6: Open PDF from > Google Drive (or “My Device,” depending on where it is).

Step 7: Now you are ready to write on it. To do so, click the pencil in the upper left corner.  The buttons to write or highlight will appear.

Step 8: When finished, SAVE!

See one minute how-to video below (for best results, view full-screen).

Hour of Code

by guest blogger, Amy Stasak, middle school instructional technology coach at Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, @abstasak

What is the Hour of Code?

The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code", to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science, starting with 1-hour coding activities but expanding to all sorts of community efforts.

Geisler Middle School Student Coding Experience

This year I had the opportunity to bring a local company, AccelerateKid, to Geisler Middle School for a one-day Hour of Code event. 70+ students voluntarily signed up to attend an hour session in the Media Center, led by the owner and several of his instructors. They began by introducing the students to coding and where/why they might use it in their lives. Then, they connected the kids to a “broken” version of a Star Wars Jedi game on Scratch, a site where users program their own interactive stories, animations, and games. The AccelerateKid instructors walked participants through adding/editing/adjusting various coding steps, to essentially “fix” the game. They discussed important programming vocabulary and the various components to be used in the Scratch website. They posed challenges that students had to figure out how to complete successfully.

My Reflections

Several details struck me this morning as I observed the two sessions unfold. First, I was amazed by the diverse group of students that attended. Not only did this attract the stereotypical “computer geeks,” but we had almost half girls, over a quarter African Americans, quite a few English Language Learners and several Special Ed students. An interest in computer science is obviously growing to all populations. It was super cool to see the excitement on so many different faces. Second, it was refreshing to see young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. Their brains were spinning and when they solved each challenge, the light bulb smiles spread throughout the room. Participants were all so willing to assist one another, applaud the successes, and even jokingly commiserate when their game spit out the “Game Over” sound bite. When asked at the end of each session who learned something new and who enjoyed themselves, the room erupted in “me, me me!” Overall, I would say this was a huge success and I am thrilled to have been a part of offering this experience to my students. 

Creating Animated GIFs

I often listen to The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast with Matt Miller and Kasey Bell. This is a weekly podcast that lasts 30-40 minutes. I like the structure and always pick up a tip or idea that I can use as I support teachers in my district. It's a great way to keep up with GSuite updates. Sometimes there is a guest who talks about a topic related to educational technology. 

The topic of this week's episode was Supporting GSuite Learning with GIFs. The guest, Jake Miller, discussed why he decided to get started, which made me chuckle. He was on Facebook and saw a GIF of how to make a tater tot casserole; he liked that it was quick to view and kept his attention. He then reflected on some of his longer how-to video tutorials that hardly anyone opens and decided to try creating animated GIFs to see if more people would use them. OK, now I'm interested.

Jake creates his GIFs using Camtasia, a program that I have. (Thank you, TechSmith for providing this awesome program to Google Certified Trainers!) So, I decided that maybe I should at least figure out how to do it. I first went to Techsmith's video tutorials, but I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. I then did some searching and found a blog that was super helpful: How to Create a GIF Image with a Progress Bar by Jon Acampora. 

One reason why I haven't especially cared for animated GIFs is that sometimes it is difficult to tell when the video begins (due to looping), and often they are too quick for me to process multiple steps. Using Camtasia allows me to easily adjust speed and add a slider bar so that viewers can tell when the video begins and ends. Thank you Jon, for sharing how to do it!  

Here is my first attempt: Inserting Emojis into a Word Doc.

I still need to experiment with the publishing settings to figure out what works best. I first published with the highest HD settings, figuring it would be the clearest image possible. However, when I went to open it, it took awhile, and I know that each second is precious. I reduced the video size settings, but still don't know if it is the best. If anyone has suggestions for me, please let me know! 

I do maintain a Google Learning Site for teachers in my district (and anyone else who wishes to use it) where I post video tutorials and handouts to demonstrate how to use each of the tools in the Google Suite. My self imposed guideline is 2-5 min per video, trying to keep them at 2-3 minutes. I recently published some tutorials that can be found on my Google Forms page. Examples include Reasons for Use, Inserting YouTube videos, Sending out a Form to Others, Creating a Self-grading Quiz, and How to View the Data. I really do not think that I could use animated GIFs for these types of videos, as the verbal explanations are important. However, I could perhaps add some animated GIFs to my written handout. Maybe I'll try that next!  I'll also start building a library of GIFs as people ask me questions.