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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?”  

SRA 1 (short-reading assignment one)
eBook:  THEY SAY, I SAY, 5th edition
Read: “Choking the Oceans with Plastic,” by Charles J. Moore
-Write: a one-page paper (one page not including the space for your name and class and such information, if you provide this), double spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman, that summarizes the main ideas of Moore’s essay. 
Papers too short will be penalized proportionately.  At the same time, writing one full page is a challenge in itself.  Like an athletic contest that has only so much, time, in your summary you are allowed only so much space.
-This is not an opinion paper or a personal reflection paper about how you feel about the matter.
You must summarize the writer’s essay in one page or just a little over (1 ¼ ok).  Do not write one-and-a-half pages to two pages or you will lose points.
You can be straightforward and simple in this assignment, and you may start in this way, and don’t forget to tab in to start:
“Choking the Oceans with Plastic” was written by Charles J. Moore.  His essay is about…
or,
“Choking the Oceans with Plastic,” an essay by Charles J. Moore, is about…
-Then just tell me what it is about.  Say what Moore did, where he went.  Say what specific things he found out.  Talk about the specific problems he expresses with regard to plastics, recycling, and the government.  What are the consequences of the use of plastic?  How are various, different things in our world affected by plastic?  Is there any way to help the matter?
Do not quote the writer with quote marks.  You can say what he said by paraphrasing (He says that…), but do not use his words exactly, with or without quotes.  No quotes.  No exact, precise copies of his words.  This is because I need to see your writing in this summary.  
-You do not need a Works Cited or citations that say where you got your information.  For this assignment, I already know this.  This is not a research assignment per se.  It is a summary.  
But you can certainly write things such as: Moore says…   In Hawaii, he found…  He also suggess…  Biodegradeable plastic also…  Our rivers have been…  Oceans continue to have…  Another interesting thing is…  There is also the problem of…  A possible solution is…    The real challenge…  A focus has been…
-For this assignment, when you write it, I’m looking to see from your writing that you read the essay (of course you may have to read it more than once) and that you can tell me what it is about.  And when I say what it is about, I mean in your summary you must say what Moore’s message is or messages are (in summaries, we use the person’s last name and not the first name, Charles).  
To do this assignment you do not have to know every single thing about the plastics and oceans and do not use any outside, extra sources.  Just tell me what Moore is talking about, the problems he finds and what his meaning or message is.  Keep it simple.  Simplicity is excellent.  As usual, no fancy stuff.
-Finally, again, do not include your personal opinions and feeling and reflections in the part of the paper that is the assignment of one page.
You are not being graded for your feelings or impression of the essay or how you feel about it.  You may include your opinion after you have written the one-page summary, but your summary is not a personal opinion or reflection.  
In your summary, you will give me the facts of Moore’s essay and you will be graded on that in terms of content and, as always, your English.  When you are ready, submit it.