Seven Norms of Collaboration

 Seven Norms of Collaboration

 These norms build group energy, commitment, and effectiveness.

  • Pausing.  Not all brains work at the same rate or use the same processes.  There are four types of pauses: 1) after a question, 2) after someone speaks, 3) personal reflection time, and 4) the collective pause (structured or spontaneous).  Pausing, then paraphrasing are two steps that set up deeper types of discussion.
  • Paraphrasing.  To help the group be as receptive as possible, avoid using “I” as you paraphrase.  Instead, try using the following openers:

You’re suggesting…  You’re proposing..  So, what you’re wondering is…  So, you are thinking that…

Choose a logical level for your response:  Acknowledge and clarify content and emotion, or structure or bring together a number of statements or issues expressed by the group, or change the level of logic by raising or lowering it.
  • Probing for Specificity.  Human brains form generalizations from diverse pieces of information as a matter of survival.  Therefore, a special effort is needed to gain specificity, a requirement for good group communication and understanding.  Clarify vague pronouns, such as the generalized “they.”  Use specific verbs.  Find out what specific rules are behind words such as “must” and “cannot.”  Avoid using absolute or universal words such as everyone, all, never, and always.
  • Putting Ideas on the Table.  To present ideas in the spirit of group sharing and collaboration, try using one or more of the following openers:
Here is an idea for consideration…  One possible approach…  This is not an advocacy, I’m just thinking out loud…

Also know when to withdraw an idea if it is getting in the way of moving forward.  Make sure, too, that the group works with data, not just impressions.  
  • Paying Attention to Self and Others.  People have differing learning styles, so interact with them by recognizing their language and physical cues.  Listen for whether group members use visual, auditory, or kinesthetic modes of thinking and expression:  I see, I hear, I feel….
  • Presuming Positive Intentions.  Phrase and frame issues and concerns in positive rather than negative language.  
  • Pursuing a Balance Between Advocacy and Inquiry.  Using both cognitive and emotional means, spend equal amounts of time “advocating for one’s own ideas and inquiring into the ideas of others.”

Google Forms

Google Forms is a great free service provided by Google.  It has a huge potential in education for both teachers and students.   Google Forms are very easy to use and create.  It is automatically built in Google Docs meaning it is completely web-based and does not require any software download.  (Unofficial Google Doc Guide on Amazon)

Teachers can use Google Forms and Docs  in EDMODO with students for collaboration and formative assessments.  Teachers can create Google Forms for parents as well for quick feed back, volunteer information, and sign-up lists.   For me, I love Google Forms for teacher evaluations/checklists and walk-throughs.  I love being able to send immediate feed-back to the teacher.

Check out this list of forms below and click on any title to access its corresponding form. The pictures you see below are only  half snapshots of each form:

1- Get to Know your Class

google forms
google forms


4- Comprehension Questions

google forms
google forms
google forms


7- Guided Reading Record

google forms
This is another awesome form to  record students reading assignments.
google forms
google forms


10- Learning Success

google forms






    1. Build a collaborative wall without logging in.
    2. Add images, video and links to the wall.
    6. Enjoy Wallwisher Yubi for the iPad.

Boom Writer

BoomWriter is a great tool for creating collaborative stories as a class. Students can also share  what they know about a specific topic or unit of study.  Each student can add a chapter about what has been learned.  Students can essentially create their own collaborative textbook.

BoomWriter is a great tool to help students understand writing with purpose and audience in mind.  It is also a helpful way to get students to think critically about their own writing and evaluating other’s writing.

Successful Collaboration

Six Keys to Successful Collaboration

Full Article can be found here




Clarity of Purpose






Individual Commitment










Understanding How to Collaborate and Communicate





Supportive Administrators


Freedom to Explore





Classroom Tweeting

One of the beautiful things about education is learning from one year and starting fresh with another.   Education lends itself to collaborating and sharing with others…..what better way to find experts and information than CLASSROOM TWEETING.  Students learn to express their thoughts and/or learning in 140 characters or less.  As the teacher, you are able to gauge their learning on a daily basis.  The longer they tweet… the more followers that follow and the more creative they will be with their mentions [@ mentions] and hashtags [#].  Daily “Tweet Outs” make students think about a meaningful statement that their GLOBAL audience will read, learn, and/or comment. 

Tweeting Tips:

  1. Create one classroom account (easy monitoring).
  2. Create an avatar that best describes your classroom (you can change your avatar and password from year to year with your class).
  3. Create hashtags for different content/subject areas…you want to be organized and have an archived list for students to go back to as needed.
  4. Check your hashtags at or by searching within Twitter.  You want to make sure it is not being used.
  5. Model good tweets in front of the class.
  6. Make time to read other tweets.
  7. Follow people you can collaborate with and LEARN from…ex. NASA
  8. Monitor your account
  9. Tweeting can be a great communication resource for parents….ask them to follow.  YOU do not have to FOLLOW them.
  10. EMBRACE IT….it is their world!