Counting by 10s: Memorizing vs. Understanding

I have been thinking a great deal about the importance of gaining a true understanding of math concepts as opposed to the "old school" way of having students memorize facts and formulas.  While I believe there is a place for memorization (memorizing times tables, for example), I thought I had come to a comfortable place in terms of believing that conceptual understanding must come first.  Students should not be allowed to simply memorize something that they have no understanding of.

Celebrations and Expectations

In chapters 4 and 5 in Writing Essentials Routman discusses the importance of having high expectations of students.  I, for one, was happy that she was addressing expectations of neatness, spelling, grammar etc. as I believe those things are important.  At the same time, I wondered how it fit into the celebration of everything from making chicken scratches on paper to writing a novel that she describes as essential in the first few chapters.  Wasn't she contradicting herself?