GRIT“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard,

anyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.” A League of Their Own

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndL7y0MIRE4

What is grit?

Impulse control, motivation, perseverance

Marshmallow Test—delay of gratification

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX_oy9614HQ

Why are marshmallows important?

• How do you cope with that uncomfortable feeling?

• Can impulse control be taught? What about motivation and perseverance?

• Researchers agree that grit is important but how do we (and our kids) get grittier?

Mindset by Carol Dweck

We all know that this message is harmful, but what about the opposite message?

“Effort is for those who don’t have ability.”

Telling kids they’re smart makes them more likely to avoid a challenge

Growth Mindset Grit

• Grit is natural practice of someone who has a growth mindset: “If I work hard I can get better at x, y or z so let’s get to work.”

• “This is too hard” v. “I love a challenge!”• Kids who view a challenge as a test of

their worth aren’t able to relish a challenge.

But isn’t it more complicated than being gritty or gritless?

Turn to someone near you and share:

• An area of your life you feel really “gritty” at• An area of your life that makes you feel

“gritless”

Is Grit related to success in life?

What you focus on, you get more of

Shifting the way we look at problems

So many parents have said to me, “I can’t stand to see my child

unhappy.” If you can’t stand to see your child unhappy, you are

in the wrong business. The small challenges that start in

infancy (the first whimper that doesn’t bring you running)

present the opportunity for “successful failures,” that is,

failures your child can live with and grow from. To rush in too

quickly, to shield them, to deprive them of those challenges is

to deprive them of the tools they will need to handle the

inevitable, difficult, challenging and sometimes devastating

demands of life. --NY Times article: “Raising Successful Children”

You’re building character!

Valuing hard work: “Shoot for the good feeling” (Good and tired)

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPMbo-WyiEM

Delmar: a dog without much grit

Fixed mindset in adolescence: one test after another. Am I a loser? Don’t judge me!

Growth mindset in sports: repairing failures

Fixed mindset: repairing self-esteem

Business

Relationships

How Conscious Discipline aligns with a growth mindset

How do parents and teachers encourage growth mindset?

• Ask kids: when do you feel smart—when it’s easy or when you’re learning?

• Praise effort and work habits, not ability or grades

• Remember that valuing speed and perfection can hinder difficult learning

• Model a growth mindset in our own lives

Before and after a 5-day art course

How can our community promote a growth mindset?

• High standards and nurturing environment• It feels safe to explore and fail• Kids are encouraged to hear criticism and

learn from it• Losing well and winning well are valued• Not “judge-and-be-judged” but “learn-and-

help-learn”

Gritty stuff kids need help with

• Learning to enjoy something they don’t want to do—capitalize on their strengths to help with this

• Understanding how to break things down into manageable chunks so they can learn to do it for themselves

• Remembering that we “keep on keeping on” even when it doesn’t feel great

How parents see the 1-4 scale

4=A

3=B

2=C

1=D/F

How parents should see the 1-4 scale

3 (you did it!)

2(you did it with support)

1(below benchmarks)

4

Additional Resources• Mindset by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.• Grit Ted Talk by Angela Lee Duckworth

http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit• “Raising Successful Children” by Madeline Levine, The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/opinion/sunday/raising-successful-children.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

• “Opting out of the Rug Rat Race” by Paul Tough, Wall Street Journalhttp://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390443819404577635352783638934• Fostering a growth mindset in the classroom:http://www.fivetowns.net/crms/images/documents/tuesdaytimes/12412/growthfeedbackandquestioning.pdf• www.brainology.us