I grew up taking timed tests. As a child, my Daddy would sit at the kitchen table every Thursday night and quiz me on my multiplication facts in preparation for "Fact Fluency Friday." Decades later, I cringe at the thought. Was "Fact Fluency Friday" REALLY about fact fluency? Nope.
As a matter of fact, it could have been renamed, "Fake Fact Fluency Friday," or "Memorization Madness." You see, I had my facts memorized, and I made good grades on my timed tests. However, practices such as this came with a cost. In exchange for lots of memorized "times tables," and good grades, this is what I paid...
1. Wasted time! I spent hours doing rote recall when I could have been doing something else more worthwhile. The only time benefit I got from it was time with my Daddy.
2. Stress! There was a looming 5-minute test to answer 50 questions the next day.
3. Deficiency! I had complete memorization, but no strategy. Honestly, I did not develop true and usable strategies until later in my matriculation.
4. Counterproductivity! I had lots of "times tables" memorized, but I was unable to quickly and accurately apply a variety of strategies to solve problems in multiple ways.
5. Quality! In this case, as in many other situations, quantity trumped quality.
Teachers, parents, loved ones...please help our children to develop authentic number sense. They will thank you for it. Check out this article! Article: Timed Tests and Anxiety
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