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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > January > 27 > Entry
What makes a person smart?
I saw this on the Carnival of Education and just thought it was really interesting. The teacher/blogger known as “Letters from Lisa” asked her class recently to anonymously answer the question: how do you know if a person is smart? Here’s some of what they said:
- A smart person reads fast.
- A smart person raises his hand a lot.
- A smart person answers a lot of questions.
- A smart person is a good speller.
- A smart person knows a lot about science.
- A smart person gets a lot of problems right in math.
- A smart person knows a lot of words.
- A smart person is nice.
- A smart person is funny.
- A smart person is brave.
Then Lisa asks, “what would adults say?”
So I ask, when you look around at the people in your life, how do you know if a person is smart? Post a response. I think this could be interesting.
Permalink | Comments (11) | Categories: Teaching and Learning
Comments
By Bob
January 27, 2006 6:02 PM | Link to this
Simplicity in Software Design “Simplicity is the soul of efficiency.” —-Austin Freeman in The Eye of Osiris “…it is simplicity that is difficult to make.” —-Bertholdt Brecht “The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.” —-Bertrand Russell “A charlatan makes obscure what is clear; a thinker makes clear what is obscure.” —-Hugh Kingsmill “Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute.” —-Abelson and Sussman “Out of intense complexities, intense simplicities emerge.” —-Winston ChurchillBy Buzz
January 27, 2006 5:13 PM | Link to this
Smart is willing to learn from others and passing it on to smart of the future.By Lea
January 27, 2006 3:45 PM | Link to this
A smart person may know how to use big words, but doesn’t do so all of the time; rather they can express their thoughts clearly and concisely to everyone, not just the people who know those “big words”. I mean, I know what obsequious means, but it’s useless in everyday conversation!By cathy
January 27, 2006 2:40 PM | Link to this
“Smart” is different from “wise.â€? A smart person has honed his/her intelligence with learning, and is able to think abstractly to solve problems. Being “smart” means having knowledge and understanding about a range (wide and/or deep) of information. However, simply having knowledge alone does not make one wise. Smart people might make myopic decisions if using intelligence alone. Wisdom entails having the awareness, willingness, and ability to use one’s intelligence in concert with experiences and principles. Wise people learn from their own and others’ experiences (failures as well as successes), and consider those with their knowledge as well as their values, to make decisions that are carefully weighed and reflect the bigger picture. Just my humble opinion, though.By Jack
January 27, 2006 2:14 PM | Link to this
If the person wants our country to once again be ruled by honor not by money.By Gina
January 27, 2006 1:51 PM | Link to this
A smart person is one who thinks before they speak or passes judgement.By Kid Cynic
January 27, 2006 12:06 PM | Link to this
A smart person uses big words such as “pedantic” and “abstruse”.By cc
January 27, 2006 10:54 AM | Link to this
A smart person is one who can make rational, evidence based arguments to support his/her stance on a topic.By jules
January 27, 2006 10:16 AM | Link to this
I think a good mixture of life experiences and education make for the “smartest” of people. For example, you can have all the “book smarts” in the world and no common sense or street smarts. Or you can be “from the streets” and know lots of little facts about life but not how to read or write. A good mixture of both is more full-filling and “smart”, in my opinion.By susan
January 27, 2006 10:08 AM | Link to this
a smart person listens more than they speak; a smart person can hold different bits of information in their mind and not be uncomfortable with the complexity; a smart person is open enough to understand others’ views but grounded enough to know what they believe and why they believe it; a smart person knows they don’t know everything; a smart person is courageous enough to risk trying new things, learning new things, and withstand the discomfort of not knowing everything everyone expects them to know; Bertrand Russell said ‘The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.’By Mary
January 27, 2006 8:02 AM | Link to this
Being smart is knowing you do not know everything. Being smart is knowing you can learn something from just about everyone. Being smart is learning from others but thinking for yourself.