Day 4,044 —Tomorrow is the Berryman 50(2) and I am Proud of my Daughter!—

 

Tomorrow, I run 52 miles, and I am trying to remember the last time I did this. I know it was just last year, and I remember the run vividly. I ran with Joel; I picked him up in the morning. It was foggy that day, and he drove me home that night.

I don’t remember what time I got home, but it had to be close to 8 p.m. if not later. I know I will enjoy the run once I start, but I am not looking forward to the drive or packing up tonight. I have failed to get up that much earlier each morning, and last night I stayed up until after 10 p.m.

This run was fun because I had an excuse to only run around 2 miles. I was still thinking about how proud I am of my daughter. We got her progress from testing yesterday. Her progress in math put her in the 95 percentile for growth and overall, the 93rd percentile of her peers. In reading, her growth was in the 81 percentile and overall, 79 percentile.

I told her what I tell my students, which is that the main thing I care about is progress. Anyone can be good at something they’re already good at, but it takes hard work to make big improvements, and that’s what she did. I think she surprised her teachers too. I remember trying to explain to them at the beginning of the year that it might seem like she is at level .5 when everyone else is at level 1, but by the time the other kids get to level 2, she will be at level 3. That’s the way she has always learned, and that’s the way I learn too. It might seem like we’re slow learners at first, but we’re learning a lot more broadly early on, whereas everyone else is focused on more narrow skill sets. I am so proud of her.