Theme 3: Crossing Interprofessional, Intercultural, and Interpersonal Boundaries in Knowledge Building Shared Resources: Collaboration and New Technologies

Boundary crossing through a mutually beneficial partnership Sandra Harris, Jefferson County Public Schools, Kentucky, USA

Poster Abstract Teacher/mentors in graduate education classes at the University of Louisville, and Liberty High School alternative students will utilize a shared database on Knowledge Forum this year to support "boundary crossing" and forge a mutually beneficial partnership. Face-to-face mentorship will involve helping students to recognize when their process of making meaning from a text breaks down, and to coach them with strategies to continue navigating through a text. The shared database will provide an electronic arena for teachers and students to participate democratically in shared reading experiences through literature circles, info-circles, and reflective dialogue about a sometimes frustrating process. The goal is to give students support and agency over their own reading process, and to provide teacher mentors a hands-on opportunity to build or improve a model for reading instruction in their own classes.