GoodReader is probably my favorite app on the iPad and the one I get the most use out of.  This is a universal file reader and annotator.  It supports file formats: PDF, TXT,• MS Office – .doc, .ppt., .xls, iWork ’08/’09, HTML and Safari webarchives, High resolution images, Even audio and video!.  I use it mainly for PDFs.  The first thin I do is I take my lesson plans for the day and convert them to PDF in microsoft word.  I do this by the Send as PDF feature.  This coverts the file to PDF and put it as an attachment to an email.

Then I just save the file and delete the email.  If you have the plugin for Adobe Pro you can just do this directly by converting to PDF. I then use it all day to teach from.  I have my plans and pictures of my students so I can do attendance.  The best part about the app is I can write or type on the plans.  I just check off the students from their pictures and save it.  Later I press the sync button and the file syncs with dropbox which gives me access to my notes about the lesson and attendance for later review.  One of the professional standards I am working on this year is reflecting on my teaching after the class (Domain 4 of Danielson) .  Having the ability to write on my plans and then save them to my computer makes reflecting later so much easier.  I have a PDF record of everything I have done and all my note from the beginning of the year.  It is also very handy when a student who has been out comes up to you in the hall and says what did we do in class last Friday when he was out.  I teach 4 different subjects and 5 different class periods during the day.  I find it difficult to sometimes remember what I did three periods ago let alone what I did last week.  I just pull up the plans on the iPad and look to see what it was.  Very easy very fast.

The other major use I have for Goodreader is grading.  I take students quizzes and tests and scan them into the computer.  (We have a copy center that does this for me.  They just run it through the copier an it drops onto my desktop)  I then pull the assessments into my iPad.  The next day I can now return the assessments and go over them with the students whether I have had a chance to grade them or not.  Students get the immediate feedback they need and I have the time I need to grade.  When I sit down to grade, instead of having stacks of paper I just open my iPad and grade right on there.  I hit the sync button and I can have the graded assessment on my computer. I can grade anywhere without having to have stacks of paper with me.  Finding 5 min here and there through out the day to grade a a quiz or two would not be possible if I was using paper.  I would be carrying a bag of papers around with me all the time.  That inconvenience means I won’t do it.  However, with the iPad turning it on and just pickup where I left off even if I am standing in the caff waiting for the line to get smaller before I get a sandwich has given me a more efficient way of grading.

I also use this app to takes notes on agendas at meetings  and ppts at presentations if they are available digitally before hand (which they usually are)

I highly recommend investing the $4.99 and get this app.  Then start using it and you will see the efficiency you will gain.