As a teacher and recent I’ve been told time and time again to steer kids away from memorization. I’ve been discouraged to use math flash cards and we don’t even have spelling tests in my district anymore. They give a spelling pattern test with like 5 words and 3 sentences.

I get it. It’s important to learn the patterns rote memory is incredibly important for freeing up mental space and there’s other benefits too. OR, am I a teacher thats just trying to rebel against the powers that be???

I think using memorization skills are very important. Multiplication is useful every day. Memorization is the best way to learn those skills. For some children that struggle with sounding out words, if it is in their memory bank they don’t get as discouraged.

You are one of the few teachers who get it. Rote memory of basic facts does free up the mind in math to combine numbers faster. Don’t doom kids to count on their fingers & rely on spell check or a dictionary the rest of their lives. Basic education! Longer attention span!

Do what works for the kids! Who are you teaching the kids or their parents? Figure out what works best for the kids, they are the ones that matter!! No one else! Just those kids.

Repetition and rote memory use two different parts of the brains. Rote goes straight to the subconscious think learning a song without realizing your leaners it because it was played so frequently “I don’t wanna grow up…” whereas repetition seeks to model (DI) build from that learning to make it the learners own knowledge. This is why flash cards and speeding tests are “frowned” upon. HOWEVER there is a place for such tools in the process of new knowledge becoming background knowledge. It’s the art and craft of teaching to know when and how to implement. I hope this helps. I have 15 years of classroom experience before getting into customer success.

Multiple studies have indicated that flash cards / memory games are still important. They help the brain learn those abilities and make connections. I use my multiplication tables almost every day.

I have been a classroom teacher for 32 years. Memorization and rote literally lay the foundation for higher levels of cognitive application. If you don't know the basics through memorization, repetition and rote you don't command the language necessary to perform higher functional synthesis.

I heard a political speaker yesterday (age late 40’s or 50’s) quote a passage (Gettysburg Address? Preamble?) that she had to memorize in elementary school. I memorized the 4th stanza of the “Star Spangled Banner” for extra credit in HS Government class 40 years ago and still remember it. I memorized my times tables in 4th grade and still use it daily a half century later. So yeah, call me a fan of memorization.

When an issue like this comes up, provide admin with what the respected research says. Go to https://ace.edu. Just one of many respected sources. Also, what do your state standards say?

I’ve been teaching math and training math teachers for over 40 years. Rote memorization is definitely important for automaticity. What is missing most often in the Learning process, however, is number sense! Understanding, numerical patterns, place value, and having a Strong understanding of numeracy develops a students ability to understand the “why” and be able to reason, estimate, and connect ideas. Yes, memorizing facts, but DON’t, neglect to show them … let them discover… the beauty and patterns of the power of mathematical concepts!

I agree with you about patterns and analytical thinking skills. These can be taught in different ways and not just in boring rote math. I found out that I'm an analytical thinker and that is thanks to my mother. She was always stopping and pointing to clouds and saying things like, look, look doesn't that look like an elephants trunk, or what does that one look like at? We'd be in an office and she'd be looking at the ceiling and counting the tiles and ask me how many there were. I'd stop and look at rocks, dirt, trees, anything and look to see what pattern I could find. What I'm trying to say is that as teachers we can show our students different ways to look at things and teach without them realizing they have been taught.