Paperless Mission #7: Annotating Rubrics with GoodReader (iPad)

This is the seventh post in my Go Paperless! Challenge Series. If you haven't completed the previous missions, be sure to complete those first.

• Mission #1: Gather Your Tools
• Mission #2: Build Evernote Notebooks
• Mission #3: Email Notes to Evernote
• Mission #4: Create Checklists in Evernote
• Mission #5: Organize Your Files in Dropbox
• Mission #6: Setting Up GoodReader (iPad)

Also be sure to link up at the Go Paperless! Linky.

Mission #7: Annotating Rubrics with GoodReader (iPad)

I try to give my students high-quality feedback whenever possible, especially on their writing assignments. In the past, it would take me days to grade all of their papers and write hand-write comments on their rubrics. So when I passed those papers and rubrics back to students, it would kill me to see students stuff them into the abyss of their backpacks, or worse -- toss them into the recycling bin. I wanted them to take it home and share it with their parents, and I wanted them to be able to refer back to that feedback. Eventually I learned to photocopy the rubrics before I passed them back, but that still wasn't ideal. It created more paper clutter and one more thing for me to work on organizing.

When I say that GoodReader has become one of my all-time favorite apps, I mean it. I now use GoodReader to fill out rubrics and other student feedback. To start, make sure that you have the rubric saved as .pdf in Dropbox. While GoodReader can read any type of document, it will only annotate a .pdf. Then open up the .pdf of the rubric in GoodReader (see previous tutorial).

Choose the highlighter tool to highlight the appropriate categories on the rubric. The first time that you go to annotate a document, it will ask you if you want to save to this file or create an annotated copy. If it's a document that I'm only planning to use once or student work, I typically select "Save to this file." When I'm planning to use the document over and over again, though, I'll create an annotated copy. That's what I'd choose when using a rubric to grade student work.

Once I've made my selection, I'll be able to annotate all over the document. Once you're in the highlighter tool, you can drag your finger over the text that you want to highlight. You can change the color of your highlighter, and you can also delete highlights by tapping on the highlighted area.

At the end of the rubric, I like to type specific comments for my students. To do that, choose the typewriter tool. A little window will pop up for you to type your comments, and then it will save them to the document. If it saves it in the wrong spot, simply tap on the text and a new menu of options will appear.

You can drag and drop the text into the correct space and re-size the text area to get it formatted the way you'd like.

 When you're done annotating the rubric, tap the center of your screen to see the "My Documents" option.

From there, you'll want to rename your file. To do this, select "Manage Files," then tap on the annotated copy of your rubric and select "rename."

Once you've renamed your document, you'll have some options for moving it. First, I send a copy to the student's notebook in Evernote. To do this, tap "Manage Files" again, select your newly renamed document, and select "Open In." A new window will pop up asking how you'll want to save the file. Select "Flatten annotations" because that will preserve your edits and merge it into the document so that you don't lose your work.

Once you've chosen that, another window will open showing which of your installed programs you can open it in. As you can see, I've get several options available. You could also upload it directly to Dropbox if you would like to back up your work there rather than in your student notebook. This might be a good option if you have a folder shared with the student for passing back work.

When I'm ready to hand back the rubric to students, I open it in Edmodo and attach it as a direct message to the individual student. This allows the student and his or her parents to see it. They could also download a copy if they're using a computer. (I've had mixed results with document downloads through Edmodo on the iPad.)

This system has been incredibly helpful for me. It's easy to manage because I don't have to keep track of paper or make sure that I've made enough copies of the grading rubric before I start grading. Just one more step in the quest to curb paper clutter.

What are some other ways you can imagine using GoodReader in the classroom? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments section!