Just Give Them Multiplication Charts, Already!

Every now and then, I see a post on a teacher facebook group regarding middle school students and their lack of automaticity with math facts. Teachers flood the comments with well-intentioned suggestions of math fact websites and games to play or share similar struggles from their own classrooms. 

I always comment the same thing, ‘give them a multiplication chart and move on’!

I understand why these posts happen so often. When I was growing up, math fact memorization was a huge deal. We had timed “math minutes”, which were timed races to determine who had memorized their facts. They caused everyone so much anxiety, and I still hear adults talk about how much they hated those! My teachers always told us that we needed to memorize everything because we wouldn’t “just be able to look it up” or we wouldn’t always “have a calculator in our pockets” as adults. Well, the joke’s on them, because we now have pocket-sized computers with us at all times! Obviously, there is no way my old teachers could have foreseen the huge technological development that is smartphones, but my point is that we no longer need to force our students to memorize math concepts! Instead, we can focus on teaching them to use reference materials accurately to help them solve more complex problems, which more closely mirrors what society will expect from them as adults.

In my classroom, I have laminated 20×20 multiplication charts, and I encourage my students to grab one as each class period begins. Over the years, I’ve convinced my general education co-teachers to give all students multiplication charts as well. We’ve seen several benefits to this, but the most important of which are:

1. It evens the playing field. Our classes have a wide range of abilities. We have advanced seventh-graders taking eighth-grade math mixed with special education students who are multiple grade levels behind, and everyone in between. Allowing all students access to supports removes the stigma behind using them, and allows everyone to be on an equal playing field.
2. Students are able to focus on the problem at hand. Middle school math concepts can have upwards of eight or nine steps, including solving each individual math fact. Our students don’t have enough working memory to solve each step! Giving them a multiplication chart or other reference tool helps take some of that stress away, allowing students to focus on solving a system of linear equations, for example,  instead of getting hung up on the math facts! 
3. It’s easier for me! Allowing students to use reference materials ensures that they have a method of helping themselves. We can move through examples faster without students needing to stop and draw a picture to figure out a math fact. 

The concept of giving students a reference chart isn’t only for multiplication charts. We give our students integer rule reference pages and let them use notes on tests and quizzes as well. I’d rather have all of my students have access to the information they need quickly than have a lot of failing students because they don’t have something memorized. In addition, by continuously looking up the correct information, I see students start to remember facts and math rules more easily over the course of the year! 

What are your thoughts? Does your school allow students to use reference materials in class?