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The Mr. Smith Papers

Warren came to help the kids with multiplication and asked for a multiplication table. You know, the basic multiplication table. This guy:

Most of the kids had never seen one before, so they didn't know it was called a multiplication table. They just knew that Mr. Smith gave it to them to help them with their word problems. So the next day, when they were trying to do multiplication, they came and asked me for a "Mr. Smith Paper."

That's what they're called now, in my class. It's the accepted name for them. I'm a little worried that one day I'll be talking to other teachers and they'll ask me how I help the kids learn their multiplication facts, and I'll say, "Well, I let them use the Mr. Smith papers until they memorize them..."
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JulieBee said…
funny... I can't even remember not knowing how to multiply. I can't remember what it's like not to just "know" that 9x6 is 54. This often kicks me in the butt when I'm tutoring and can't figure out how to explain something to my 6th grader because I can't remember what it's like not to just know how to do it.
10:16 AM
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