I HAVE A CONFESSION

I never learned my times tables.

And despite trying, I only was able to do 2s, 5s, 9s, 10s and 11s.

As a consequence, I believed I was bad at maths. http://www.tes.com/magazine/article/whats-best-way-teach-times-tables">https://www.tes.com/magazine/...

Numbers don& #39;t mean anything to me. I struggle to remember the birthdays of family members. I don& #39;t know why I& #39;m so bad at it, but I really am.

So when @Helen_Amass asked if I wanted to write about how best to learn times tables, my interest was piqued. My time had come!

I expected to discover that it was simply a matter of memorisation. But through interviewing a number of experts and class teachers, I came to realise it was so much more than that.

@joboaler told me “Blind memorisation is the weakest form of memory"

And Lorna Earl broke down what we mean by "connected knowledge" when it comes to maths facts.

@MissSDoherty gets into the time pressure of the MTC, and explains why time isn& #39;t king. And Mahnaz Siddiqui from @LJMU calls for a balanced approach.

For anyone interested in maths and young people, this is worth a read. Times tables are incredibly important, so huge thank you to everyone who gave up their time to be interviewed for the @tes piece!

Let me know what you think! https://www.tes.com/magazine/article/whats-best-way-teach-times-tables">https://www.tes.com/magazine/...