As she finishes coloring the last cell, the tutoring student is beaming as brightly as her multiplication fact chart. She has proven her mastery of multiplication facts through card games, dice rolls, verbal quizzing, and good old fashioned worksheets. She already knew her 1s, 2s, and 10s three weeks ago. Since then she has learned the rest with various strategies. Most of the time she built on what she knew, and a few facts she just had to memorize. She did it, and nobody can take that away from her. As her tutor, after I give her a crisp high five. Then I find myself reveling in the fact that the chart represents more than facts. Unlike a classroom teacher who needs to attend to many children at once, I was with her every step of the way in her journey to fluency. I was able to reinforce the underlying concepts of multiplication all along the way. I am confident that genuine understanding underlies her ability to recall these facts quickly and accurately. This will serve her well as ...
TLC: Teaching and Learning in Community