The important part of my process — the part that separates this obsessiveness with the pathological variety — is that when my interval is done, I stop. Inevitably, I’m still well short of an ideal output, but what matters to me is not this specific outcome, but instead the striving for perfection and the deliberate practice this generates. In other words, I want to keep getting better, not necessarily make this particular project the best thing ever.

What are you noticing? Here are some of the things I notice I see the impact that our current grading systems have on students’ feelings of self-worth I see how children use shifts in (math) identity as a mechanisms for maintaining self-worth. I see how school reinforces a view in which your worth as human being can be mapped to your linear hierarchy I see how school reinforces the view that you intelligence and smarts are fixed attributes I see how one of the primary activities of school children is to avoid looking stupid and to maintain one’s standing in the hiearchy