For Universities
Professional development for university faculty and math instructors. Specialized student workshops designed to alleviate developmental math anxiety, increase STEM engagement, and decrease course attrition.
Born in Giza Egypt, and raised in Queens, NY, Dr. Geillan Aly, the Founder of Compassionate Math, is a math educator who centers the socioemotional factors that contribute to success in mathematics. She holds the fundamental assumption that learning math is both an emotional and cognitive endeavor.
A former award-winning Assistant Professor who has taught for almost fifteen years, Dr. Aly transforms math classrooms through engaging professional development and student-focused workshops that center emotions while establishing a culture of engaging with rigorous mathematics. She has spoken across the United States and internationally and has worked with several school districts to support math teachers.
Geillan received her PhD in Teaching and Teacher Education and Master’s in Mathematics from the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on the emotional side of learning mathematics and includes how computer-centered learning has affected students’ abilities to control their learning environment and how meditation may reduce mathematics anxiety. Underlying Dr. Aly’s work is a dedication to equity and social justice.
Her dedication to math education stems from the belief that mathematics is one of the closest ways that we humans can talk to God because it helps us understand the world and the universe around us. She enjoys traveling and seeing live music and is an avid chef, wife, and mother to a beautiful boy. They live near Hartford, CT.
I’ve been where you are. I took classes where I was afraid to ask and answer questions. I’ve had instructors who were brutal and questioned my intelligence. I took classes where my palms got sweaty. I almost walked away from my career because of it. I spent a lot of time trying to understand why suddenly math became impossible, even if I thought math was beautiful and enjoyable. It wasn’t about how smart I was, or how much effort I put in, there was so much more.
It took a long time to overcome these challenges. Now I want to help you so you don’t experience what I did. Using research-based techniques, you and I will work together to ensure that you are comfortable and successful in math. My methods and techniques help you understand the emotional side of learning mathematics to remove any emotional blocks you may have to help you better understand your content. There is a strong emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion in this work because there are explicit and well-documented reasons why women and people of color are not successful in math – none of them having to do with how smart someone is or how hard they work. I will also help you to understand the content so you are not left to struggle on your own.
Compassionate Math will help you take control of the emotions that overwhelm you when you’re thinking about math. You’ll be able to focus on the math without your emotions getting into the way and eliminate your negative feelings towards math. Understanding the material will then ensure your success as a doer of mathematics.
“When students avoid math, they’re not just avoiding a subject — they’re being locked out of social mobility.”
Your audience has heard that math is important. They haven’t heard why their students are failing to engage with it — and what to actually do about it.
Dr. Geillan Aly brings the research on math trauma to conferences, institutions, and professional development events. She delivers engaging talks that shift how educators understand the problems we have in math class and leaves them with frameworks to foster real change.
Professional development for university faculty and math instructors. Specialized student workshops designed to alleviate developmental math anxiety, increase STEM engagement, and decrease course attrition.
Job-embedded professional development, instructional coaching, and SEL-integrated math pedagogy for district administrators, teachers, and school communities. Designed to overcome math trauma and raise student achievement without sacrificing rigor in Title I and standards-based environments .
Targeted 1-on-1 coaching to heal personal math trauma, rebuild mathematical confidence, and equip parents to support their children's math learning journey at home.
Compassionate Math: Book One of the Compassionate Math Series, is half compassion (work through math trauma), and half math (conceptually understand arithmetic).
Written for the adult reader in a friendly, yet rigorous tone.
