Praise the Effort
Saul Khan of Khan Academy wrote this great article about encouraging learning. The big point I got out of it was Process Praise.
He writes, “For instance, praising someone’s process (“I really like how you struggled with that problem”) versus praising an innate trait or talent (“You’re so clever!”) is one way to reinforce a growth mindset with someone. Process praise acknowledges the effort; talent praise reinforces the notion that one only succeeds (or doesn’t) based on a fixed trait.”
Sal Khan is amazing. He teaches math the way it SHOULD be taught. Decent math teachers are very rare!