All posts tagged: Paul Tough

BookS on MondaY: Paul Tough talks about his new book, HELPING CHILDREN SUCCEED, grit, self-c0ntrol, the environment to keep kids motivated for success, & much more

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By Leslie Lindsay   One of my very favorite parts of my job is to get acquainted with authors and their amazing new books before they become available. Just recently, I received this lovely little gem of a book from the folks at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and just had to share. HELPING CHILDREN SUCCEED: What Works and Why by Paul Tough (releasing tomorrow, May 24, 2016). Did you happen to read his first…er, helping,  the bestselling HOW CHILDREN SUCCEED (2012) about grit, curiosity, and character? Grit. I love grit. And curiosity. And how those two qualities merge to develop character…I’m all over that. Today, I am honored to sit down and have a little chat with Paul on his latest book, a slim, jam-packed, how-to (in a sense) on creating environments, both at home and school which sharpen those very qualities to help our kids flourish. This is excellent reading for teachers and parents alike. Leslie Lindsay: What is HELPING CHILDREN SUCCEED about? Paul Tough: It’s about what children need in order to thrive – especially …

The Teacher is Talking: What if the Best Success is Failure?

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By Leslie Lindsay A little over a year ago, an article was penned by Paul Tough in the NYTimes Magazine.  It was entitled, “What if the Secret to Success is Failure?”  Read that again.  The best success might very well be failure?  It caused quite a stir and resulted in many letters to the editor.  (You can read the article yourself here http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/magazine/what-if-the-secret-to-success-is-failure.html?_r=1).  Now, I am not going to bother analyzing the article or offering my own editorial opinions, but I will say there is a little something to this.  (image source: http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/soundoff-was-world-cup-2010-a-success-or-failure.html) Even Ben Franklin thought so, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”  Ring a bell?  (Oh, wait…that’s Pavlov).  Oh, but digress… From personal experience, I can say that they things I have done in my life that leave me with the most sense of self pride have been things I have tried to do–and wanted to do badly–but first failed.  Even a little bit.  Successful folks get that way because they won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.  Successful people keep trying; …