Penzu Created by: Brette Consolo Michelle Douglas Julie Gustwiller Jaime Halka "I'm not kidding when I say Penzu is the most realistic re- creation of paper I've seen on the Web." CNET "Extremely intuitive and easy to use." TECHNOWORLD "Penzu offers exactly such a service. It's free, easy to use, has a clear interface and is accessible from anywhere in the world where you can access the internet." iAFRICA

What is Penzu? "Penzu is an online journaling resource that allows its users to privately or publicly journal for personal, professional, and/or academic purpose." (

Educational Objectives Journal writing can aide in the development of oral, speaking, and writing skills. Students will demonstrate writing, discussion, and creative abilities through the use of online journal tools, like Penzu. Through journal writing, students are encouraged to appraise their own learning and achievement as well as examine thier thoughts and feelings about what they are learning. These will serve as a means for students to review their learning, comprehend progress, and reflect on their personal work ethics, values, attitudes, beliefs, and motivations.

Educational Benefits Educators can review the journal writings to see if it meets specific goals or purposes. Students writing can be assessed for content, creativity, and even writing skills. "Students are able to express themselves through writing without the pressure they typically have when doing assignments" (Hopkins, 1999). Penzu allows for privacy or sharing, which allows students to feel safe about their own writing. Penzu can be used for many years as an excellent tool to show students progress and growth in grammar, writing, and spelling. This free tool can be accessed anywhere Internet is avaliable.

Positives of Penzu It is a free online diary and personal journal that doesn't cost any teacher, school or student money. It focuses on privacy. You can keep your thoughts and ideas to yourself and only share what you want to. Your ability to share is very user friendly through or any public link. No pen or paper needed; resulting in less paper to buy, and use. You can journal from any computer or phone with an internet connection. All entries are saved at your desired privacy level and format. You can connect Penzu to Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Digg, or Stumbleupon Entries can be printed and are not deleted or lost. Photos can be posted within each entry. ( sam

Negatives of Penzu "Depending on the privacy level, not all information can be seen. This may be a problem in the event a student may require intervention (i.e. bullying, etc.)." If you don't have access to a computer and/or internet, than this tool becomes very limited. ( Students could use it at home and write inappropriate material to friends and then it could be seen at school. Although you can insert images, you are unable to post videos or active links on entries.

Lesson Ideas and Use Teachers share at open house to see writing growth of child store anecdotal notes/observation notes share ideas and entries with other teachers in the district to collaborate reflect on their teaching use it at professional developments and seminars to take notes and share with colleagues record what they did in class and what to follow up on Students respond to a writing prompt Prompts can include: o write a story o answer a question o complete a sentence o figure out a math problem using words to reflect on their learning in other classes note-taking class editing tool (send your writing to a peer and have them put comments at the bottom)

Videos Demogirl Tutorial This video shows you how to create an entry, insert images, share, save and search for entries. It also provides ideas for using the journal. Penzu Pro has more customizable features.

Videos This video shows you how to make an entry, password to protect your entry, and emphasizes the importance of remembering your password. This video shows what a completed entry with an image might look like.

Michelle's Opinions/Ideas For inquiry and problem based learning: Educators: A tool to keep teaching ideas and resources organized. A way to reflect on how particular classes are going in order to help all learning styles to be met. Educators can use this to keep a log of class activities and upcoming events and then ask for feedback and participation from others who view the journal entries. For Students: Penzu is a great tool for students to record their thoughts, emotions, and inspirations. This tool can be used by students to record notes and information during lessons or projects. Penzu can be used collaboratively with others for creative writing activities. Students can create a summer journal and include pictures of what they did and share it in the fall.

Michelle's Illustration of Penzu in the classroom Example and product using Penzu: Please view my lesson plan by clicking on this link: After viewing the lesson plan please view the next slide to see an example entry on Penzu.

This is a sample Penzu entry that would be used with the lesson plan from previous screen.

Brette's Opinions and Idea s Penzu is free and anyone can access it from a computer with Internet access. This makes it an easily available tool for education. Students can practice their keyboarding skills and securely share their work with teachers, classmates, and family members. Classroom Activity Ideas Science Notebook Reading Log Daily Writing Journal Writing Workshop Stories Field Trip Journal Experiment Log Peer Editing Tool Assignment Book

Brette's Example Inquiry/Problem-Based Learning Lesson Plan

Julie's Opinion on Penzu Opinion- I think Penzu is a great program for both students and teachers. I like the fact that it is free and can be easily accessed by all. It was very easy for me to use and understand. It truley allows the user to be in control of their own ideas and opinions, and provides them with the ability to share when wanted. I plan on using this program with my second graders and their parents this upcoming school year.

Julie's Ideas for Penzu Ideas for student's use: 1.Create an ongoing book club by writing comments and reviews about books that were read in class. –Keep a journal about the changes students see and experience when growing plants for science. –Keep a journal with the teacher as a way to get to know each other. Ideas for teacher's use: 1.Journal with parents about a student's behavior, improvements, grades, ect. instead of keeping a paper journal. This will prevent the students from knowing as well. –Communicate back and forth with other teachers about a student in their classes that they may share and may be having troubles.

Julie's Sample Penzu Lesson I created a lesson plan for my second grade students that would require them to use Penzu to create and present a book report. Please click on this link to view my lesson plan: For a sample of what a Penzu journal entry looks like, please view the next slide.

Penzu Book Report Example

Jaime's Opinions and Ideas I teach third grade and this tool has many benefits that can enhance student learning and teach 21st century skills. Penzu will give students the chance to practice using Web 2.0, keyboarding skills, and creating their own products in writing. Students will be able to share their writings with peers, teachers, family, and friends. Ideas for a 3rd grade classroom that follow 3rd grade standards: writing a personal narrative journal writing letter writing w/ responses peer editing/revising brainstorming book reporting paragraph writing response to literature note-taking for reports self-reflections on learning creating a story with plot, characters, setting

Jaime's Example for Teachers As mentioned in the "Lesson Ideas and Use" slide, Penzu can be a great learning tool for students, but it can also be a great tool for teachers to use in their classroom. Teachers can use Penzu to take anecdotal notes on students for the following reasons: 1.Student is being referred to Intervention Assistance Team. –Student in on an IEP, so the teacher can show progress, strengths and weaknesses. –Teacher can take observation notes on the child in the following areas: o interactions with peers o learning styles o academic weaknesses/strengths **Go to the next page to see an example of an anecdotal record using Penzu

*The example below shows how a teacher can use Penzu to take anecdotal notes on students that are struggling or going to be referred to the Intervention Assistance Team. *

Resources Hopkins, G. (1999). Journal Writing Every Day: Teachers Say It Really Works. Retrieved July 22, 2010, from Marshalwoody. (2010, June 19). Penzu.mov [Video File] Video Posted to Molly Mcdonald. (2008, July 24). Screencast tour of Penzu [Video File] Video posted to of-Penzu/ Penzulc. (2010, February 2). Penzu Pro-Quiz Demo [Video File] Video posted to Survivorboi. (2009, July 30). Online Diary/Journal 100% Secure and Private! FREE to use! [Video File] Video posted to v=_tYxS0t6DZw&NR=1