Epics of India

Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!" Whoa, this is really pertinent, especially in today's culture of instant gratification. We want our effort to see immediate results, and be immediately praised for it. If not, then we lose interest, moving on to a new thing that will generate more praise from others. Ultimately, our life revolves, not around our own effort, but upon others' evaluation of us. If we continue relying on the easy, "Good job!" then we are raising up a generation that will be unspecialized, timid, and altogether useless as a future society. Be a Mirror This lines up exactly with the article above; in giving feedback, the one offering it must "be a mirror," that is, take themselves completely out of the feedback. Instead of saying, "I like.." it's more effective to start with "When you..." or some variation of it, that shifts the focus to the one putting in effort. This uplifts the process they went throu...

How to Praise Your Child I work with kids a lot through my church and it's so easy to slip into the "easy" praise, that is, rewarding the child for the end result, rather than the process. For example, one child brings me her drawing of a dog. There may be no way that I could have told you it was a dog, but I say, "Wow! That's a great drawing!" This will result in her putting in less and less effort as she realizes that anything she does will result in a positive result - praise from the teacher. I like how the article focuses on helping the child reflect on themselves, their effort, and their ability, rather than external praise from whoever. This gives them a self-motivation that will result in a better product, no matter what they are doing. As Calvin famously put it... ( Calvin and Hobbes, Jan. 27, 1994 ) 7 Questions to Ask After Feedback We're good at criticizing others, but what if we are criticized ourselves? I appreciate good feedback,...