Will teachers get laid off before the end of this year, 2009?

Will teachers get laid off before the end of this year, 2009?
LAUSD is starting the lay off process and other districts in Orange County will have to prepare to make cuts as well. Anyone looking at the state budget knows cuts will come.

There have to be special circumstances to start the lay off process early, and this budget crisis qualifies as a special circumstance.

I will address this topic in my column next week in the Orange County Register's Local section, page 2. Feel free to post comments or questions here or email me directly to goasktheteacher@yahoo.com

Cutting the school year 5 days short?!!?

What is up with this idea to cut the school year 5 days short? This is outrageous. I know, 'let's just let them out early, who cares, it's only the end of the year, they aren't doing anything then anyway.' What a better way to send the message, 'school really isn't that important to us in California, but please move here because it is so desirable.'

I am curious how this will play out. Cutting the school year will save a great amount of money. I was surprised how much it will save, $1.1 billion. If we are sure there will be cuts to schools, if the government really is about to run out of money, then cuts have to come some way. I get the impression that it is going to happen, but I doubt we will be posting it on any ads for our state. You have a good point.

Ask a question

If you have a question or would like help researching a topic, post it here. Many parents are often struggling with an issue that comes up at school or home. You can leave it anonymously or leave your name. You can also email me directly to goasktheteacher@yahoo.com

Measurement Song and Lesson for Conversions

My students are having such trouble with measurement. Particularly changing units, like feet to yards, etc. I teach fifth grade and it is my first year. I am stumped and all of the things I’ve tried aren’t working. Do you have any suggestions for a rookie?
My first suggestion is to make your question known to your staff. Do not be embarrassed to ask for help. Other teachers will not look down on you. Teachers love sharing ideas and teaching other teachers what they learned works for students.
When I taught fifth grade, I made up a song, sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy, to help the children with this very subject. The title is “The Mile Song.” You sing the song and write these words and numbers in a row on the board while the students write it on their paper as a key to help them answer the questions:
1760 (for the song, with the beats, we said “17” “60”)
Yards
3
Feet (and)
12
Inches
The song ends by the students adding “Going down you multiply, back up it is division” and some students drew arrows to remind them of that part of the key. Any time they had questions about conversion with these units, I had them sing and write this key at the top of their paper. Try it right now. Here are a couple of math problems and how to use the “key”:
1.Convert 15 yards to inches. The students look up at the key, and they see that in order to get from “yards” down to “inches” they will have to multiply (because “going down you multiply”) by 3, then by 12. So the children start with 15 x 3 = 45 (make sure to point out to them that this gets you to “feet” so they know how to use the chart), then 45 x 12 = 540. The answer is 540 inches.
2.How many yards is 72 inches? Again, use the key and remember the song so you know that when you go up the chart, it is division. In order to get from the word “inches” up to “yards” the kids know they have to divide by 12, then by 3. So you start with 72 ÷ 12 =6 and 6 ÷ 3 = 2. The answer is 2 yards.
3.How many inches are in 3 miles? Since it is “The Mile Song” you start at the top and go all the way down the chart. First you convert to yards, then feet, then you get inches. Try this on your own.

The students love creating their own “answer key” and it really works. Later, if they remember the song, they can always produce their own route to solving the problem. I used to have the children make up songs with me, sung to other favorite tunes, as a study method. I remember one of my student’s parents came to conferences that year saying their child absolutely loved “The Mile Song” and sung it all the time. In fact, when it was time for other tests, she would make up her own songs, sung to favorite tunes, to help her study. It is an excellent study tool. I used it a lot.

Soldiers Lose Benefits if They Go Into Teaching

I am retired military, and I continued working in a second career as a teacher. I retired from the State Teaching Retirement System (STRS). I believe that all should pass the competency tests in order to teach. As far as ex military personnel going into teaching they should remember that they will eventually collect their Social Security benefits since they paid into this system while in the military. However, in teaching they are not under Social Security and upon retirement from teaching and when applying for Social Security they will have their Social Security benefit reduced. This unfair practice is or was before Congress in the form of S 206 since 2007. Help is needed to get these bills in congress passed. For this Social Security offset see SSA's Publication # 05-10045.

This is unfair. We agree that soldiers need to pass the competency tests in order to teach, and we agree that their benefits should not be reduced for doing so. That is sometime worthy of change. If soldiers choose teaching and go through the steps to prepare themselves for this career, their benefits should not be touched. Once our soldiers earn something it is unfair to take it away later. This provision applies to any government agency position since these offer pension programs. The title of the provision is interesting. It is called the ‘windfall elimination provision.’ There is no windfall to be had when moving from military service to service in the classroom.

Stop Mid Year Budget Cuts

These are tough economic times and cuts are coming everywhere since there is less and less coming into the state budget. That does not change the fact that our children should suffer the least. Mid Year cuts will cause a disruption to the school year and to our classrooms.

WRITE OR CALL YOUR LEADERS
What should they do instead?
1. Stop mid year cuts.
2. Ease restrictions on funding for next year if cuts must come to free districts to be more creative with their funds since less money will be coming in to the schools.
3. Ask our state leaders to appeal more effectively to the Federal Government to fully fund the Special Education IDEA act. That would mean the districts and the state would have more money for all students. Right now the Federal Government says schools must provide very expensive services, and the Federal Government was supposed to fully fund this act and never has followed through with that promise. The Orange County Superintendent Bill Habermehl wisely points out that if the Federal Government even started an incremental pay-back program to start funding more and more each year, this would be money for the state and the schools. It would cost California NOTHING and it would mean a lot to our special education students as well as all students in our state.


Our leaders pile these letters in piles FOR and AGAINST to see what the electorate think. We all need to tell them. Here is all the contact information I have so far:

The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor (R)
State Capitol Building Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: (916) 445-2841; (213) 897-0322 Fax: (916) 445-4633

California Senate Districts Senator Dick Ackerman - Senate District 33 (R)
17821 E. 17th Street, Suite 180 Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 573-1853 • FAX (714) 573-1859
e-mail: senator.ackerman@sen.ca.gov

Sacramento Office—Room 4066 •
(916) 445-4264 • FAX (916) 445-9754

Find your representatives and assembly members here:
http://www.ocvote.com

or

Click “find my district” on this page http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/defaulttext.asp

Other Contacts

Senator Tom Torlakson
Senate Education Committee
7th Senate District State Capitol Building,
Room 5050 Sacramento, CA 95814 Fax:
(916) 445-2527

Assemblyman Fabian Nunez Speaker of the Assembly
California State Assembly State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249-0046
Fax: (916) 319-2146

Senator Don Perata
President Pro Tempore California
State Senate State Capitol Building, Room 205
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 327-1997

Assemblyman Michael N. Villines
Assembly Minority Leader
California State Assembly State Capitol, Room 3104
Sacramento, CA 94249-0029
Fax: (916) 319-2129

Special Education Funding Congressman John Campbell House of Representatives – District 48 610 Newport Center Drive, Suite 330 Newport Beach, CA 92660 Fax: (949) 251-309 Congressman Gary Miller House of Representatives – District 42 1800 E Lambert Road, Suite 150 Brea, CA 92821 Fax: (714) 257-9242

Lazy Failing High Schooler - What do we do?

What should I make my failing son do over the summer? He is in high school. He failed a lot of classes. He is not special ed. He is lazy.

First, he should attend summer school. If he is failing now, he is mapping a tough route for himself after high school. Focus on making him graduate. Before school is out, make an appointment with his high school counselor to see what he needs to do to graduate. At this point, you might need to explore the school district’s alternative high school. The kids that fail in high school sometimes need to go here to get the credits to graduate. Also, make him get a job, the tougher the better. If he can do any manual labor, hauling, loading, digging, outdoor physical work, sign him up. You need to show him that by failing classes, he is not destined for an office job. No one will hire a child to run an office if he cannot pass high school English or Math. Check to see if any grocery stores need cart retrievers. This is a tough job and it may open a door for a career for him later since grocery stores have positions he might be able to move into if he gets his act together.

Who Gets Called on More?Boys or Girls?

Dear Teacher, For our science experiment our question was do teachers call on boys or girls more. Our question to you is who do you think you call on more, boys or girls? Did you have any training at college that said you have to call on children in that way?

From, Two Students who are doing a science project.

This year, I think I call on boys more. There is a reason for this. I have 13 boys and 7 girls in my class, so if I am fair, I call on boys more often. I did have training on this in my teacher credentialing classes. We were alerted to the fact that you will tend to call on the same children unless you plan otherwise. I have a collection of names, either on the attendance cards or my jar with sticks, one with each child's name written on a stick. When I am asking a question to the whole group, I randomly pick a student to answer. I also have a child of the week each week and that child is asked to do all errands, office trips, attendance, line leader, etc. Everyone gets a turn. During lessons, when I am checking to see who is learning and who knows the answer to something I am in the process of teaching, I call from raised hands, and I try to call on different kids.

I think your science question is a good one. It would be really interesting to sit in different classrooms for an hour and tally who is called on more in each class. Try going to classrooms with female and male teachers in case that also impacts your findings. Remember to take into account the number of boys and girls in the class.

Teachers Should NOT be paid more

I am a compensation expert and you seem to be a nice well meaning person. But please stop the myth of teacher salaries in comparison to anything. I'm sure that you misspoke when you said salaries are less than the rate of inflation. The comp would be rates of increase and rates of inflation. I doubt your3.9 number for inflation and quoting an increase on the "average" pay hides too many issues. Compare the 5year step with someone in industry in their position for 5years and increase the teacher pay by 20% (number of days worked less than industry). In that case 70k becomes 84k, etc. Add to that a benefits package that no one in a profit making world could afford and a work day that is usually less than 8 hours and one sees a lucrative job. The real test of wages is supply and demand and it would seem that there are more people available for gov't jobs like teachers and firefighters than ever.

There are no teachers in OC quitting because of pay.

I'd be happy to continue the point if you wish

I am a nice, well meaning person. We just disagree. I said the average increase in teachers’ salaries was below the rate of inflation. That number was presented by the National Education Association. Our salaries are not increasing at an astronomical rate and other industries have seen much sharper increases in a 5 year period than the increases teachers have seen.

Even putting that point aside, your representation of what teachers are paid is unfair. Many people looking at the teaching profession from the outside use the argument that teachers should really consider their salary what they make plus 20% more since there is that much vacation time built into a regular school year. That makes no sense to me. If I decide to be a teacher, I understand that I am taking a salary that is less but that I also get vacation time as a benefit to consider. I cannot, however, consider my salary of $57,000 really a salary of $68,400. Would I pull that money out of thin air? How would I pay my rent with that figure I am not receiving?

Some have said that we should get additional jobs in our time off, and many teachers do work during vacations in order to support their families. These jobs do not pay the additional 20%. Again, if you decide to be a teacher you understand what you are accepting and looking for a summer job will more than likely not give you the additional $11,400. There are not many industries that will hire a teacher just for 2 months and pay them this type of salary. That would mean working your 8 weeks off, at 40 hours a week, earning over $35 an hour. If you know of such a job, tell me and I will let other teachers know because many seek summer employment.

Many male teachers are becoming unable to support a family on a teacher’s salary alone anymore, and I consider that a shame and a reason we are seeing less male teachers enter the teaching profession. On top of that, you might have an unrealistic view of the types of benefit packages teachers are now offered.

As for the age-old argument that teachers work less than an eight hour day, that is so untrue. We are with the children for 6-7 hours a day, depending on the school schedule. That is the time we are in front of the students. Let me take a moment to say that this is the most precious and important part of our day and the part I most enjoy. If I am in front of the children, I had better have spent my time outside of the school day preparing for what I will do with them. I have to have my materials prepared, my lessons planned, schoolwork corrected so I know who needs to review or move on, not to mention the time we spend thinking about the children and what they need or ways to adapt to their changing needs throughout the year. We spend hours, and much of our own income on preparing the day for the children. Go to any school 2-4 hours after the children have left and even on weekends and you will find countless teachers. Plus, ask our families how much work we bring home.

It may sound boastful, but I feel like I am a really good teacher. I have a good heart, great intentions, and I spend time creating meaningful lessons often tailored to 20 different little people’s needs. I will not say that teaching is not a rewarding and emotionally fulfilling career, it is. To say that we should not be paid more is silly. I cannot foresee a time when we will be paid more, districts don’t have the means and our government does not seem to agree with this sentiment, but if it is a question of ‘should,’ we definitely should be paid more.

Failing High School Students

Be careful when advising people to simply "blame" their kid’s problems on "learning problems". My kids is having much of the same issues [as the mom in your column last week], he's the same age and grade. But I see it as my lack of involvement is the real problem.

People have suggested that my son may have some learning problems, but I know this is nonsense due to his complete ability to do other things in life that "he wants to". He can operate a computer in the dark, if he needs to find the latest clothes or the latest skateboard, he has no "problem" then. My kid can do anything he wants when it is in "his" favor.

I suggest you tell that lady to be more active in the learning process, and not buy into the "learning problem” thing. Ask her if her kid gets things done when it's in the kid’s best interest? I bet you her kid has no problem then! Kids aren't dumb either. They pick up on this "learning problem" thing and use it as an excuse. One more sign that kids are "smart."

You make an excellent point and I thought I was clear last week. Last week, my words were, “If a child fails, it is an indication of either a learning problem or an active attempt to do nothing.” You have to rule out the learning problem because there are parents out there looking for excuses. Once you take away the excuse, you make more progress.

There are good parents out there with rules, expectations, and an understanding of their own children, yet their children are still failing. You sound like one of these parents. You have your child’s number, and you are not giving him wiggle room; yet he is not performing. There has to be a constant pursuit for change. Your child, and all children, cannot be allowed to fail. Failing an assignment is much different than failing a class. You cannot let a child flounder for whole semesters or years and still say they are learning from this method. I hope your child has no computer, fashionable clothes, or skateboards to turn to while he is turning away from books. Also (and this comes back to giving an excuse to kids, so you might not want to show him this comment), if your child excels at hands-on technical experiences but is not reading or writing on grade level, there can be learning deficits that should be explored. This does not mean that he should get away with it. His interests may have helped him build skills in one area while ignoring another, but he still needs to read and write. We all need that skill. If he needs remediation, find it for him while he is still in school.

ONLINE Translation site FREE for parents and teachers

There is a web site called babelfish that could be very helpful to anyone who needs to communicate with someone in a different language. It is very easy to use this site that translates your text into your choice of many different foreign languages. I hope this is helpful to you.

This is why I love writing this column. I am still in the classroom, and there are times I need things like this. I had never heard of this site, but it was incredible. Teachers, administrators, PTA, and room moms should keep this site in mind. We need to communicate with all of our families. Even small notes about upcoming field trips, classroom projects, behavior concerns, compliments on progress, etc. can all be passed along thanks to this site. You have no idea how often I plan to use it. Here is the web address I used to find it: http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com

Can you help me translate for my students' families?

Parent Teacher conferences. More than ever, I have parents requesting that I provide a translator for the conference. (I speak English only.) I've asked our school secretary what the provisions are for translators during conferences. She indicated that there is no money to pay translators. There are some school staff members who speak Spanish and Korean, however they will have gone home when school is out and when conferences begin. Is it the responsibility of the school or the responsibility of the parent to provide a translator? I feel like

I'm spending too much time addressing this problem, when I could be working on report cards!

The school and the principal should help you in this area, but that doesn’t always happen. Still, you need translators if you are going to have a valuable conference with the parents. We need all parents to be partners in education and communication with them needs to be clear.

My suggestion to you is to write a letter in English, Korean, and Spanish and send it home to your students explaining your dilemma. If you have school staff members who can speak these languages, just write the letter and give it to them to translate for you.

In the letter, tell the parents you need their help in finding translators. Perhaps some parents will volunteer for each other, you never know. Ask for volunteers to send you their name, time availability, and contact information. Encourage the families to bring their own translators. Suggest that they consider asking older children, relatives, teenagers, neighbors, co-workers, or friends. If you are all working together, as you should, translators will come forward.

Have a portion at the bottom of your letter for parents to indicate times they choose to come to conferences, and have a space for them to check if they need a translator, can bring a translator, or can volunteer to be a translator.

Once you come up with the letter this year, keep it and use it each conference time. Conferences are already upon us, and you are working on borrowed time here, so make sure to start this process earlier before the next set of conferences in Spring.

Why did you become a teacher and what is your experience?

I teach a "Careers in Education" class for high school students. It is an elective for them and they also receive college credit through a program at a local university. We discussed your column in class last week. In addition, for a class assignment I had my students write you a letter.

If you have space and time, we would love it if you could select one of these to answer in your column.
All you had to do was mention that your students wanted to learn, and I was hooked. I am happy to share some information about myself with your students. I chose the letters that asked about my experiences first. Later, I will answer more of their questions about becoming teachers themselves. I am excited that you are helping them become excited about a career in education. It is the field I know, and I highly recommend it.

What grades did you teach and what inspired you to become a teacher?
My mom was the office manager of my elementary school, St. Polycarp. This was a small private school, and I attended First through Eighth grades with the same small group of children. It was a unique experience that I loved. Since my mom worked at the school, she became friends with my teachers. I would stay after school and help them in their classrooms. From a very early age, my mom and my teachers inspired a love for school. At my wedding, my First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth grade teachers, along with several other women involved with the school, were all there to celebrate with me. When I got my first job as a full time Third Grade teacher in LA Unified School District, my third grade teacher helped me prepare.

I have taught Kindergarten, First, Second, Third, and Fifth Grades. When you become an elementary teacher, you need to be ready to step into any grade. My experience helped me understand the whole child and the importance of my child development classes.

What is the most rewarding thing about being a principal or teacher?
It is easiest to find the rewarding part in teaching. As a teacher, you see your students learn and grow each day. All different types of students teach you each day how lucky you are to be before them as their instructor. When you offer a positive influence and a professional commitment, you see them blossom and it changes you in the most positive ways.

As a principal, you need to develop programs and experiences to find the rewards. You are often dealing with the problems at a campus - behavior problems, management issues, parent complaints - so it can sometimes feel negative. On the other hand, when you solve these problems or resolve issues, it can feel very rewarding. When you stay focused on helping others - teachers, students, parents, and the school population - it helps offer a sense of purpose. A career in education is rewarding because it offers you this sense of purpose. You see that you are making a difference in the lives of children and there is no more important job than that.

Write to Government Leaders to Stop Budget Cuts

The most common question I keep getting is how to fight these cuts to education. My best suggestion is to stay involved with your school district to find out about events and forums occurring. Also, WRITE letters to your representatives telling them you what you think. In fact, if you can, CALL them too because the phone calls are supposed to be the most effective method of contact. Simply state if you are for or against the cuts. They pile these letters in FOR and AGAINST piles to see what the people think. We all need to tell them what we think.

Here is all the contact information I have so far:

The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor (R)
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: (916) 445-2841; (213) 897-0322
Fax: (916) 445-4633

California Senate Districts
Senator Dick Ackerman - Senate District 33 (R) 17821 E. 17th Street, Suite 180 Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 573-1853 • FAX (714) 573-1859
e-mail: senator.ackerman@sen.ca.gov
Sacramento Office—Room 4066 • (916) 445-4264 • FAX (916) 445-9754

Find your representatives and assembly members here:

http://www.ocvote.com

or

Click “find my district” on this page http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/defaulttext.asp

Other Contacts
Senator Tom Torlakson
Senate Education Committee
7th Senate District State Capitol Building, Room 5050 Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 445-2527

Assemblyman Fabian Nunez Speaker of the Assembly
California State Assembly State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0046
Fax: (916) 319-2146

Senator Don Perata President Pro Tempore
California State Senate State Capitol Building, Room 205 Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 327-1997

Assemblyman Michael N. Villines Assembly Minority Leader
California State Assembly State Capitol, Room 3104 Sacramento, CA 94249-0029
Fax: (916) 319-2129

Special Education Funding
Congressman John Campbell
House of Representatives – District 48
610 Newport Center Drive, Suite 330
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Fax: (949) 251-309

Congressman Gary Miller
House of Representatives – District 42
1800 E Lambert Road, Suite 150
Brea, CA 92821
Fax: (714) 257-9242

Write to Government Leaders to stop budget cuts to schools

The most common question I keep getting is how to fight these cuts to education. My best suggestion is to stay involved with your school district to find out about events and forums occurring. Also, WRITE letters to your representatives telling them you what you think. The letter does not have to be long. Simply state if you are for or against the cuts. They pile these letters in FOR and AGAINST piles to see what the people think. We all need to tell them what we think.

Here is all the contact information I have so far:

The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor (R)
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: (916) 445-2841; (213) 897-0322
Fax: (916) 445-4633

California Senate Districts
Senator Dick Ackerman - Senate District 33 (R) 17821 E. 17th Street, Suite 180 Tustin, CA 92780 (714) 573-1853 • FAX (714) 573-1859
e-mail: senator.ackerman@sen.ca.gov
Sacramento Office—Room 4066 • (916) 445-4264 • FAX (916) 445-9754

Find your representatives and assembly members here:

http://www.ocvote.com

or

Click “find my district” on this page http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/defaulttext.asp

Other Contacts
Senator Tom Torlakson
Senate Education Committee
7th Senate District State Capitol Building, Room 5050 Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 445-2527

Assemblyman Fabian Nunez Speaker of the Assembly
California State Assembly State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0046
Fax: (916) 319-2146

Senator Don Perata President Pro Tempore
California State Senate State Capitol Building, Room 205 Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: (916) 327-1997

Assemblyman Michael N. Villines Assembly Minority Leader
California State Assembly State Capitol, Room 3104 Sacramento, CA 94249-0029
Fax: (916) 319-2129

Special Education Funding
Congressman John Campbell
House of Representatives – District 48
610 Newport Center Drive, Suite 330
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Fax: (949) 251-309

Congressman Gary Miller
House of Representatives – District 42
1800 E Lambert Road, Suite 150
Brea, CA 92821
Fax: (714) 257-9242

HIV/AIDS prevention classes in K-12 schools

I have to write a letter to the school to get them not to teach my son about HIV and AIDS. How did we get to this immoral place?

The California Ed Code requires all schools to teach HIV/AIDS prevention at least once in junior high and at least once in high school. Ed Code also recognizes that parents have the right to excuse their children from this instruction. This is not a question of immorality, it is a question of making sure our children have all of the information and education we can give them to avoid this epidemic.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) finds that half of the new HIV/AIDS cases each year are found in young people under the age of 25. California Ed Code demands HIV/AIDS education just as the CDC recommends.

If you choose to teach your children at home about the dangers and significance of HIV/AIDS, you are making a perfectly acceptable choice. Simply notify the school of your wishes, and they will abide by them.

Schools imparting this information to our youth are not acting immorally. They are acting responsibly.

Comment on this Week's Column

Comment on this week's column. Mention the topic.

You can also email me directly to goasktheteacher@yahoo.com

Learning Multiplication Table Tricks for 9's

Question: My child cannot get his nine times tables down for the life of him. He needs to pass this last test and he is so hung up on this series that he has just freezes when the test comes. This cannot be unheard of with all of the pressure we place on kids to memorize things. We are almost to June and he wants to do this before school is out. How do you help a child give up a giant monkey he has placed on his back?

Answer:

Children often enjoy learning the secrets behind numbers and your son needs to relax a little and have some fun. Here are some fun tricks you can do with him:

First, have him make two columns of numbers right next to each other. Now have him write the numbers from 0-9 going down one column. In the adjoining column, have him write the numbers descending from 9-0 (making sure the two columns line up together). When he looks at the two columns now, he is looking at all of the answers in order to the nine times tables. Pretty cool, right? Now have him look at each of the answers in rows. Each row is not only an answer to the multiplication problem, each number in each row adds up to nine. 0+9=9, 1+8=9, 2+7=9, 3+6=9, etc. There is another fallback. Whenever you have a number multiplied by nine, the answer begins with one less than the number being multiplied. For instance, 9x5 will begin with 4 (45) and 9x6 will begin with 5 (54). Once the kids see this and then remember that each digit in the answer will add up to nine and can be found in the ascending and descending columns, it seems to fall into place.

Even if this sounds complicated in print, it is not difficult in practice. When I taught second and third grades I began with the 0 multiplication tables, then the 1’s, then the 9’s because they are fun and the students feel so accomplished in memorizing and understanding what is to them a large number for multiplication purposes. He’s done a lot of work in passing all of the other numbers, and nine is full of some of the fun and thinking that he will enjoy after all that rote memorization.

Do you have a question for me?

If you have an education question, post it here. You can post with your name or post anonymously.

Just click on the word "comment" next to the picture of an envelope at the bottom of this post, or click "post a comment," and follow the directions. I will try to help and our readers may post comments to help as well.

Your questions, without names, may be included in my OC Register column which runs every Wednesday on page 2 of the Local section.

You can also email me directly to goasktheteacher@yahoo.com or for South Orange County readers, you can email me at southocteacher@yahoo.com

Comment on this week's column

My column runs every Wednesday in the local section and on Thursdays and Fridays in the local South Orange County papers. Let me know what you think of my column this week and post comments (you can leave your name or post anonymously). Mention the topic.