Have you ever wondered who is considered smart and who is not? I have, but I also have wondered what qualifies as 'smart.' I have often said, "every one is normal according to their own definition of the word," but you can also replace the word 'normal' with the word 'intelligence' or 'smart'.
Now, in my amateur opinion, there are two kinds of smart: book smart, and street smart. Book smart is exactly what its name implies: the acquisition of knowledge from books (or in this day and age, from the internet). This is the kind of knowledge that the schools are teaching. Street smart however, isn't something that you can learn from books. In many (if not all) cases, street smart is something you can acquire only by experience, and that is something you have to earn for yourself (although you can often learn from the experiences of others).
Since I want to be a high school band teacher, my classroom will most likely be a band room. So how would I tell the 'smart' people from the 'not so smart' people? I won't worry about it too much. I will teach them some basic rules (never drop/throw your instrument, follow my rules/advice) and if they learn to follow these rules they will succeed in my classroom. So then the question becomes what do I do with them? That kind of depends on what I need. I might try experimenting and putting different instruments in their hands, or maybe I can do what other 20th century musicians have done and have them invent their own instruments from what we have available (that would be an interesting experience!), but either way, they will be encouraged to use the materials we have to make the most of learning, which would add to their experience, thus increasing their street smartness.
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