One of the items that I have to become cautious of is telling students they are smart. I know at home, I tell my children they are smart and I thought this would encourage success. However, I realize now that if they do poorly on a quiz, they may feel that they are not smart. Furthermore, they may attempt easier tasks in the future to continue to be labeled as smart. The author states that a better method is stating your student/child is working hard at a task.
