"Mindset"

(attempt at explaining a research finding in a freestyle poem format. would love to be able to get it to rhyme.)

don't tell your kids they're smart
don't praise them for their brilliance
praise them for their effort
the desire to dedicate
to inhibit all other impulses
to concentrate
on the task at hand
to employ strategies
and review them as the need may be
praise their use of skills
and strategy, to achieve

Dweck gave children
certain tasks to complete
then praised them for either
effort or intelligence.
On the second round of tests
that were harder than before
children praised for intelligence
did not do so well.
did not try as much.
children praised for effort
employed the use of effort
to solve the problem at hand
better than the children
praised for intelligence.

Don't ever praise your children
for their intelligence,
or their brilliance.
how-ever brilliant they might be.