Page 6 Excellence In Education Lincoln Daily News January 2024 Chester East-Lincoln School has recently launched a Math Intervention program aimed at redefining the way young students engage with mathematics. Mrs. Laura Irwin and Mrs. Ashley Aper, the school's administrators, envisioned a program that would bridge learning gaps and enhance students' confidence and fluency in the foundational concepts of mathematics. They brought Mrs. Callie Stanley on board to serve as the Math Interventionist and meet daily with small groups of students in grades K-4. Before joining Chester East, Mrs. Stanley spent ten years in education working as a middle school math teacher and then as an Instructional Specialist/Instructional Technology Coach. She also has two young children at the school and was a Chester East student herself. Her deep-seated passion lies in nurturing a love for mathematics and a zeal for learning among students. She believes that instilling these qualities early on sets students up for lifelong success. A significant aspect of Mrs. Stanley's approach is changing the prevailing narrative around math. She aims to challenge the notion that struggling with math is a standard experience. Her perspective is that society often accepts and even perpetuates this idea, leading to a general sense of math anxiety among students. New Math Intervention Program at Chester East-Lincoln School reduces math anxiety This issue is not just local but widespread, as evidenced by studies from the American Psychological Association, which suggest that math anxiety can begin as early as elementary school and affect about a quarter of children (https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/helpingkids-manage-math-anxiety). To combat this, Mrs. Stanley incorporates a variety of games and engaging activities into the math interventions. For younger students, games like "Which is Greater" are a hit, while older students enjoy a mathematically enhanced version of Go Fish, where they aim to collect cards that sum up to ten. These games not only make learning fun but also help students internalize mathematical concepts in an enjoyable and stress-free environment. Continued --
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