[katyseagull]

Giving kids the label of “smart” does not prevent them from underperforming. It might actually be causing it.


Whoa. That's kind of startling. Thank you for sharing that. I think there might be something to this. Whenever my mom would tell me that I was smart I felt like a fraud. Even now at my job, when my boss tells me I'm smart, I feel like a fraud. I'm just waiting for everyone to realize it.



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Needleman has learned to say, “I like how you keep trying.” She tries to keep her praise specific, rather than general, so that a child knows exactly what she did to earn the praise (and thus can get more). She will occasionally tell a child, “You’re good at math,” but she’ll never tell a child he’s bad at math.



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I think this is actually excellent advice.