I found both articles really interesting and the article by Alfie Kohn , criticizing praise, brought up an important issue that I never considered before when I praised others. Kohn's idea basically states that feedback, if given too much in our culture, can become superficial and is meant to bring elicit a certain response rather than train the mind. The author further extends that our culture indulges too much in praising for things that people should already do. Although I am a proponent of praising, I do see Kohn's point in superficiality. I realized that during the summer time Albert is in charge of giving feedback to other students based upon their nightly reports of how they did during the day. Based upon what I have witnessed, I think that praising people opens up their minds to feedback and is therefore effective when getting the message across.
The next article, preshoolers and praise, is really fascinating to me. I really like the idea of replacing 'generic praises' with more tailored phrases according to the individual. These concepts will serve me well during the summer time as I think about positive things to tell Albert on his attitude. I think that both articles are useful, and that to praise genuinely and tailored to the individual is the most effective form of feedback.
image taken from giphy
~pat
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