In the collaborative model school where I used to teach, we read George Grant’s book Carry a Big Stick: the Uncommon Heroism of Theodore Roosevelt as part of the fifth grade curriculum. My first year of teaching, I took an invested interest in the project that accompanied our reading of that book.
I have found it good for my own sanctification to double down on projects, events, or holidays that cause me frustration.
I have decided that “the obstacle is the way” in this one area of my life. If I hate halloween because of finding costumes, then I should start sewing in September. If I hate the curriculum celebrations at my child’s school, I should volunteer to run them.
When my older son went through fifth grade and completed the project, it fell flat. He wasn't prepared to write the speech required of him and didn’t know if a costume was required or what to put on his poster.
In the collaborative model, nothing frustrates parents more than tight deadlines and unclear expectations.
I have truly found that most of the time, most of the parents are more than willing to carry a significant part of the teaching load if they know what’s expected of them in advance.
These moms usually have three or more children at home, and the delicate balance of the home day is thrown radically off if one child needs to run to Hobby Lobby for $50 of supplies, and mom needs to spend the rest of the day finding images to print off the Internet.
So, to make this project more meaningful and to improve collaboration with my parents, I created an entire flow chart for which parts of the book were going to be read in class and which parts were assigned for home. I modeled how to write each paragraph of a persuasive biographical essay in class and sent home checklists for parents to follow as their students wrote. I provided line edits each class day, one paragraph at a time, so that the paper came together quickly, and students could begin memorizing and practicing their elocution. It was intense and the results were astounding.
Seven years later, moms still pull out those checklists to help their students write essays, and my students still admire the tenacity and courage of Theodore Roosevelt. In Thoroughness & Charm, I tell the story of one dad’s reaction to those Teddy Roosevelt speeches, and what it taught me about the culture of my classroom.
My students admired Theodore Roosevelt because I did. They crafted sentences with “dress ups” and “openers” because that’s what I modeled. They stood tall and spoke with inflection because that’s how I spoke and how I expected them to speak.
Our students will become like us. We model for them what is worthy of love and how much we ought to love the right things. We must know how to live so that our students set their feet on the right path when they walk behind us.
From big projects to reading quizzes, make sure what you are doing with your students matters. Make sure it reflects what you think the point is of all that time you are spending together. And, maybe it’s time to double-down on something causing you frustration so that you can learn to love it, too.
Where Mrs. Gerth is speaking:
CiRCE National Conference, Charleston, SC, July 16-19, 2025
Christ the Savior Academy, Witchita, KS, August 1, 2025
Donum Dei Classical Academy, San Francisco, CA, August 5, 2025
Classical School of Dallas, Dallas, TX, August 7-8, 2025
CiRCE Regional Conference, Dallas, TX, October 9-10, 2025
Trinitas Classical School, Pensacola, FL, October 16-17, 2025
Great Hearts National Symposium, Tempe Mission Palms Hotel, AZ, February 25-27, 2026
What Mrs. Gerth is teaching:
The Thales College Certificate in Classical Education Philosophy Program(CCEP) consists of eight courses taken in any order culminating in a certificate. Courses cost just $300 each and are held through Google Meet once every other week. Fall session begins October 14.
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