

Praise with Substance
Randall was always told he was "smart." In math class, his teachers celebrated his correct answers, and he grew to expect this type of success. Then, in 4th grade, Randall started to encounter math problems that he couldn't figure out. He was angry. He felt foolish. His teacher said "You tried hard - that's okay." But it wasn't okay. Randall put down his pencil and closed his book. Randall gave up. Wait... How and what we praise matters. In a growth mindset approach, we want