St. John Lutheran School Students Enjoy Math Extravaganza

The event was sponsored by the Dearborn County Retired Teachers Foundation.

Photo provided.

(Aurora, Ind.) - Math is often not a subject which students enjoy, but teacher Karla Patton believes it can be so much fun.  Therefore, Patton wishes to hold a Math Extravaganza event at her school.  This would be a fun-filled afternoon for K-8 students. 

At the Extravaganza students would have the opportunity to play several different math games.  Patton’s plan is to purchase math games, materials, and supplies to use during the Extravaganza and throughout the school year.  Her purchases would introduce a new event and would require equipment and supplies not available through the school budget.

Patton’s hope is that the Extravaganza would change attitudes towards math and help them pay better attention and have better understanidng throughout the school year.  She bases her thoughts on a study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute of Health which have done millions of dollars of research to improve the retention of medical education.  Though this research is related particularly to health care, it is applicable to other areas of student.

During the Extravaganza, students will rotate from station to station, thus having the opportunity to experience several different types of math-related games.

Patton used her grant from the Dearborn County Retired Teachers Foundation to buy math games for the Math Extravaganza and for use in all  the K-8 classrooms. She hosted the Math Extravaganza on Wednesday, August 9th at St. John Lutheran School. According to Patton, “It was a tremendous success.”

Patton set up 20 different game stations for the school and asked for several volunteers, so there would be an adult at each station running each game. Each student participated in 4 different math games that were relevant for their grade level. “It was amazing!” All of the students were engaged during the entire afternoon playing the various math games. Several of the students said the Math Extravaganza was fun. One student, in particular, named Betsy, said that the Math Extravaganza encouraged her to keep going and showed her that she can have fun in the process. She also said that it changed her math attitude by making it seem more fun than what she thought it was.

The students are excited to play the Math games in the classrooms too. Patton commented, “As a teacher, it is very exciting to see students want to play a math game! One student even asked the administrator when we were going to have another Math Extravaganza! That was wonderful to hear! I am very proud of how the event went, and it would not have been possible without receiving the grant from the Dearborn County Retired Teachers Foundation. I am very thankful that I had the opportunity to host such an exciting and educational event and that we can continue to benefit from this grant by having all of the math games to play throughout the year and for many years to come! Thank you again!”