Comments on: “What’s 6 x 8?” and Calculator Dependency

By: Rob Shirley

Rob Shirley — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 00:49:42 +0000

It drives me nuts that the curriculum has eliminated the memorization of times tables. We spent hours in school learning them so now I make my kids write them every night.

By: Kyle Webb

Kyle Webb — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:21:08 +0000

The question that pops into my head as I read your comment is: When does this mental math practice disappear for our students?

It seems to me like somewhere in middle school, the emphasis on the use of mental math just disappears. Is it when calculators get added to the school supply list?

By the time they get to high school, many students seem to have lost that mental math skill. Maybe they just don’t want to think anymore by the time they get to high school.

By: Kyle Webb

Kyle Webb — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:15:14 +0000

I think those extra tricks are important to bring into the classroom. What I’ve tried to do in the past is show or help one of my stronger students realize it. Once they see how much easier things can be with it, I try to get them to teach the rest of the class with the extra time they always seem to have. It’s worked wonders. The students take ownership of it and like to learn from each other a lot more than they do from me.

By: Kyle Webb

Kyle Webb — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:13:46 +0000

I haven’t read that article, but I am going to look it up right away. Those five components were topics that we always discussed as I went through my Education degree the last four years. They are things I’m always considering when I try to come up with my plans. However, I’m not sure mad minutes really hit as many of those components as I’d like.

If I were to bring these mad minutes in, I had imagined them being random, addressing a basic operation with each one. For example, one would be on addition, then one on multiplication, etc. Then we’d track progress in each specific operation.

I’m not sure that would count as being purposefully chosen, since all that’s being chosen is an operation. I think you’d have to go a different route with this if you wanted to hit some of the other components. Mad minutes are extremely far from the adaptive reasoning you mentioned. As soon as I try to bring in justification and explanation, it’s going to take the same amount of time as it would to do something that would create deeper understanding, like the manipulatives or applets I mentioned in the post.

Thanks for pushing my thinking.

By: Kyle Webb

Kyle Webb — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:59:22 +0000

I feel that I can’t afford the extra time because I’m a first year teacher. If I fall behind the veteran teachers who are more focused on getting through the curriculum, I worry about the backlash. But, I think you’re right. If it’s best for the students, it should be just fine, right?

The emphasis on speed with accuracy is my biggest hesitation with this. It’s an extra stress on my students, when I really just want my students to be better learners.

I really like the idea of allowing learners to jump around. If I do ever decide to try to this out, I think that’s what I’ll do.

I want my students to be successful. Thanks for sharing your input, these are things I need to consider before I move forward!

By: Kyle Webb

Kyle Webb — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:48:49 +0000

In my high school classes, I want to try to stay away from the extra points as much as I can. I have found that the students that need the extra practice typically aren’t motivated by the extra points since they’re struggling already. And the stronger students who jump at the extra point opportunities, don’t need the extra help and are only doing it because it’s an easier way to keep their grade high than to really challenge themselves. Obviously, this doesn’t apply to every student, but I think there must be a better way to gain these skills.