Tonight I watched my beautiful daughter at her archery class.  It’s rare that I ever talk about anything personal, but I was so moved by her tonight that I felt compelled to write something. It was only her third time attempting to shoot a bow and arrow and tonight she hit the target over and over again.  Why is this so special to me?

Well because the first time was awful. The first time was absolute chaos for her brain. She dropped the arrows over and over, never once hit the target and looked like she might cry the whole time. She was always the last one at the line struggling to get all 5 arrows off her bow.  But she never stopped.  The master archers teaching the class gently guided her, adjusting her arm, her stance and making small tweaks to her form.

The second class was a bit better, but not much.  She was hitting the target this time, but the arrows wouldn’t stick.  She didn’t give up, and as she listened to the instructors you could see her confidence growing.

And tonight? BAM. She nailed it. Over and over again, she hit that target, and the arrows stuck. Her smile when she turned to me was ear to ear. She was SO PROUD.

This reminds me not to be discouraged when I’m working with my students at school.  Every day, that small amount of feedback and gentle guidance is moving them forward. They really are learning, and sometimes it’s so small that I’m frustrated and wanting more. But I need to trust the process, and not stress about the data, the protocols, the progress monitoring, and the pressure from above.  I know they are learning, and they are PROUD of their learning. I know that I won’t stop finding new ways to teach them because they deserve to feel the same success that my daughter got to feel tonight.