This specific course is geared toward higher level thinking.  Each literature circle role is directly connected to the 11 elements of critical thinking: big ideas, rules, trends, patterns, language of the discipline, ethics, relationships over time, details, unanswered questions, across disciplines and multiple perspectives.  

My name is Carie Beth Russell.  I live in the Kansas City area with my husband, two daughters, two cats and new puppy.  I am a former elementary teacher and gifted education specialist.  I have been “home” since my second daughter was born, but have remained active in the field of education by teaching educational summer camps, tutoring and teaching at a homeschool enrichment program. 

My professional priorities center around student-led learning.  It’s my strong conviction that supporting children as they learn, rather than dictating how and what they learn, is the way to encourage their inborn patterns of curiosity, wonder and problem-solving that will serve them well in all stages of being human.  

While my own children attend public school, we very much view education as something we own and must take personal responsibility for.  We work hard at educational advocacy within the public school context.  I teach my daughters to communicate with their teachers, ask for what they need and request amended or extended: depth, duration and scope of projects, units, skills and personal areas of interest.  

Gifted Education services often provide these things for students who have been identified as such, but these standards and the definition of “giftedness” vary from state to state, based generally on funding, and doesn’t allow for many students to qualify.  This leaves an enormous group of students who have “need of different” but no access to a more open-ended and curiosity-led education.  Please understand that when I say enormous, I mean ALL.  

Out School, and other platforms like it, allow students to adapt their learning modalities and pursue interests and learning pathways that intrigue their own very unique minds.  Teaching students to participate in Student Led Learning, in its various formats, allows them to continue on in their own investigations of an amazing planet and human experience, studying past, present and future as they forge their own distinct path. 

Homework Offered
Q:  Is there any homework?  

A:  You will be asked to read approximately 3 to 4 chapters per week and complete your "job" in order to be ready to present to the group each week.  
1 - 2 hours per week outside of class
Assessments Offered
Q:  Am I going to be graded on this?  

A:  I will be taking notes each week on a rubric that allows me to assess your overall participation and the completion and depth of your assigned weekly role.  This can be shared with your parents upon request. 
Grades Offered