Times Tables (Part 1 of 5)

When I started first grade, my dad told me it was the most important year of school I would ever have: I would learn to read and write and do math. While that is true to some extent I must say that the two subjects I learned in third grade were of major importance, too. One of them was learning how to write in cursive, the other was learning the multiplication tables or as I sometimes affectionately -- sometimes hatefully -- called them, the times tables.

My third grade teacher, Mrs. Church, had an ingenious way to motivate us to learn the times tables. She bribed us! After teaching multiplication by zero, one, and two -- the easy ones -- she explained the goal and the reward for reaching it. "Every one of you that learns your multiplication tables all the way up to twelve will receive an Eversharp pencil."
Now, as you may know, an Eversharp pencil -- one that you twist the top and more lead would come out -- was about the neatest invention in 1970, at least to a bunch of third graders. That was certainly a goal worth working for. The best way to learn the times tables is to memorize them. In fact, as far as I know, that's the only way. Well that's what we set out to do. We were to proceed at our own pace, with the help of our parents, and also Mrs. Church's professional training in teaching the multiplication tables.