Penzu

=[|Penzu] = is an online journaling resource that allows its users to privately or publicly journal for personal, professional, and/or academic purposes.

**__ Resources links and/or class examples __**
[|Journal Writing Every Day: Teachers Say It Really Works!]
 * [|Penzu] Main Page **
 * [|Uses and Benefits of Journal Writing] **
 * [|Benefits of Journal Writing for Kids] **

**// SWOT Analysis //**

 * __ Strengths __**


 * “  Penzu is a **free ** online diary and personal journal that is focused on **privacy ** . You can keep your thoughts and ideas to yourself and share only if you want to!” “**Privacy First **: Penzu was designed to focus on your privacy. Unlike blogging, your entries are private by default.”
 * **“Share if You Want To ** You can share your individual entries via email or create a public link and share.”
 * No pen and paper needed; individuals can journal from any computer or phone with internet connections.
 * All entries are saved at the user’s desired selected privacy level.
 * If the user wants, they can connect their Penzu to Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Digg, or Stumbleupon
 * Entries can be saved in any desired format. Entries can even be printed.
 * Entries are not deleted or lost.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Impressive reviews from C-Net and PCMag.com
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">VERY user friendly
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Photos can also be posted within each entry, even through Flikr.
 * "Green" no need for paper
 * Assessing paper journals can be a cumbersome task for teachers since journals bulky items to transport. Being able to assess journals from any location could motivate more in-depth comments from teachers as well as more timely feedback to and from students.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">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 computers and/or internet access is limited, then this tool is limited. May be too private for younger students.
 * If individuals are at a “writers block,” the site provides some good “starting points” for ideas for the writer.
 * __<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">Weaknesses __**


 * __<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">Opportunities __**


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">Great for uses with social/emotional accommodations tools for through guidance counselors, school psychologists, and/or ESE specialists
 * English and/or Creative Writing instructors can use this site as their students “tablet” to write their journal entries, reactions, creative writing, thoughts, poems, etc.
 * Good for parent-child communication.
 * Good for teacher-student communication
 * Students can peer edit and comment on each other's work.
 * Can be confidential between the two
 * Allows for students to see their growth

Threats __** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">None found
 * __<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">

**__<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; letter-spacing: 0.35pt;">Ideas for the classroom __**
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> “Many teachers are more comfortable providing a daily prompt for students than they are letting them write freely. A prompt might be a sentence to complete, a question to respond to, or a quote to explain.” This does not necessarily have to be used for writing but it can also be used for students to reflect on their classroom learnings. For example keep a file of what they have learned in Science and then be able to connect their learning. Can be used as a center so that students can either free write or write on a given prompt.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[|Writing Prompts/Journal Topics] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[|Journals in the Classroom]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> [|Daily Writing Ideas for Kids] **
 * <span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[|Journal Topics for Self Understanding] **