Title: Developing Grit: The Key to Success in Life and Learning

Angela Duckworth is an American psychologist who has been a public-school teacher In New York City, San Francisco, and Philadelphia and founded a summer school for underserved children. She has advised the World Bank, NBA and NFL teams, and Fortune500 CEOs. She is the co-founder, chief scientist, and board member of “Character Lab,” a nonprofit using scientific insights to help children thrive.  
Her TED Talk, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” has been viewed more than 28 million times and her book of the same title is a #1 New York Times best seller.  
Below is a summary of her TED Talk, as mentioned above:  
In her late twenties, Angela Duckworth became a seventh-grade math teacher in New York City public schools. While there, she realized that IQ was not the only difference, or even a major factor, in the success of her students. After several years of teaching and realizing that a better understanding of the connection between student learning and motivation was needed, she left the profession to attend graduate school to become a psychologist.  
She studied children and adults in different situations: classrooms, military training, and competitions. She studied people in many different professions, such as rookie teachers and salespeople. As she and her team studied more and more people, they began to realize that they could often predict which people would succeed at their goals. They each had a common goal: grit.  
What is grit? As defined by Duckworth,  
Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint. (Duckworth, 2013)
While admitting that she does not know all there is to know about how to build grit in kids, she continues to research and test theories because she does know that grit is something we all need.  
Answer the following questions
Consider this quote from the speaker, Angela Lee Duckworth: “What struck me was that IQ was not the only difference between my best and my worst students. Some of my strongest performers did not have stratospheric IQ scores. Some of my smartest kids weren’t doing so well.”Sometimes ability does not match with performance. Have you seen examples of this within your own life, be it at work, in the classroom, or in a personal setting? Explain. 
Ms. Duckworth says, “But what if doing well in school and in life depends on much more than your ability to learn quickly and easily?… one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. And it wasn’t social intelligence. It wasn’t good looks, physical health, and it wasn’t IQ. It was grit.” After listening to Ms. Duckworth describe grit, think about an example of this in yourself or within someone you know. Describe such things as this person’s challenges, efforts, growth mindset, and determination….their grit.  
What is one thing that you think you could focus on to make yourself a bit “grittier?” Do you think that it is possible to change your “grittiness?”