Random thoughts on multiplying large numbers. And stuff.
Back in elementary school I outright refused to put any effort into memorizing multiplication tables, on the grounds that calculators are a thing which exists. To this day I'm probably not as good at doing complicated calculations in my head as the average person.*
But my students are allowed to use their calculators in class. And they do. All the time. Even for things I do in my head because it seems like less effort than picking up a calculator. And all the calculations still take a looong time. Seriously, I'm not here to teach them to add up six-digit numbers (using a calculator!). They should be able to do it by now and I should be able to move on to something more interesting.
So maybe that's why I was taught to do all this without a calculator?
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* And you'd be surprised how few problems this causes for a mathematician.
But my students are allowed to use their calculators in class. And they do. All the time. Even for things I do in my head because it seems like less effort than picking up a calculator. And all the calculations still take a looong time. Seriously, I'm not here to teach them to add up six-digit numbers (using a calculator!). They should be able to do it by now and I should be able to move on to something more interesting.
So maybe that's why I was taught to do all this without a calculator?
____________________________
* And you'd be surprised how few problems this causes for a mathematician.