Dr. Neely — The Bald Bearded Teacher
Eighteen years in the classroom taught me that the best tools give people their time, and their attention, back. That's what I help educators and leaders do now.
A practitioner, not a pundit.
I'm Anthony — Tony to most people, Dr. Neely at school. I've spent eighteen years in education, teaching at the middle school, high school, and college levels and serving as a teaching and learning consultant along the way. I still teach 7th grade social studies, because the classroom is where I learn what actually works before I ever say it out loud to anyone else.
I've come to believe good teaching is really an extension of good parenting. We stand in loco parentis — in the place of a parent — which means our calling is to love and serve the students in front of us the way we'd want someone to love and serve our own kids. My wife is the beautiful and brilliant Dr. Neely — Andy and I are raising two boys, building a company together, and figuring out the same things every working family does. That's the lens I bring to a classroom and to everyone I work with.
Most of what I do comes down to one idea: take the work that drains people, simplify the parts a machine does well, and give the time back to the parts that need a human in the room.
Two things I help people do.
Both come out of the same conviction: educators deserve tools and skills that give their time back — and a guide who's actually done the work, not just talked about it.
AI literacy & integration for teaching and learning
I help teachers and school leaders build real AI literacy — the kind that serves students, removes barriers, and gives time back, without the hype and without the fear.
- Led AI literacy professional development in schools from the USA to Australia
- Built an online course that's helped 1,000+ educators across nearly 100 countries streamline their classrooms with AI
- Wrote the book on it — Prompt Engineering for Non-Techie Teachers
- Consult one-on-one and with leadership teams on growing AI literacy across a building or district
Available for professional development workshops — in person or virtual, for schools, districts, and conferences.
Take the AI literacy courseTeacher side-hustle coaching
I believe every educator deserves at least one secondary income stream. I've built several of my own, and I help teachers do the same — practically, sustainably, on a teacher's schedule.
- Taught school and community workshops on building secondary income streams
- Hosted the After School Empire podcast on teacher entrepreneurship
- Lead coaching and masterclasses for teachers ready to earn after the last bell
- A dedicated course is in the works — get on the list below to hear first
A founder, several times over.
I hold it as a near-certainty that every person needs at least one secondary income stream. I've spent years living that out — some of these are running today, some taught me what I now teach others.
EvalScribe
Turning raw classroom observations into standards-aligned evaluations. evalscribe.com
Junk or Gem
An app I built for online resellers, live in the App Store. junkorgem.app
Bearded Saints
An organic beardcare company — yes, the beard came with a product line.
Livin' On A Sprayer
An exterior cleaning business, and a lesson in the economics of a side hustle done right.
Books I've written.
I write across genres because the through-line isn't a topic — it's a habit of turning lived experience into something that helps someone else.
Prompt Engineering for Non-Techie Teachers
A plain-English on-ramp to AI literacy for educators who never signed up to be technologists.
On Amazon →Kids As Mentors
A reverse-mentoring handbook — what happens when we let students teach us, on purpose.
On Amazon →Kids As Mentors — Workbook
The companion workbook: the reverse-mentoring model turned into something you can actually run.
On Amazon →Scales Off
Finding Jesus beyond politics and coercive religion — a personal book about seeing clearly.
On Amazon →
Twenty-five years on the low end.
I've been a gigging and session bassist for over two decades, and I think it's quietly shaped how I teach. A good setlist is a lesson plan. Improvisation is differentiation. And both of my boys are named after musicians — which tells you about where my head lives when no one's grading me.
Selected publications.
A sampling of the peer-reviewed work — the academic side of an eighteen-year habit of asking why teaching works the way it does.
Full list, including conference presentations and the 2015 dissertation, available on request.
EvalScribe
Classroom observation is the part of leadership worth doing. The paperwork afterward is the part that eats your evenings. EvalScribe takes raw walkthrough notes and turns them into formal, standards-aligned evaluations — so leaders can stay present for the work that matters.
It's the same idea that runs through everything I do: simplify the translation tax, give the time back.
See EvalScribe →reported by beta testers
Let's talk.
Whether it's AI literacy for your faculty, side-hustle coaching, a speaking date, or a question about a book — the door's open.
The fastest way to reach me is straight to my inbox:
[email protected]If you're a school or district leader, tell me a little about your building — it helps me come back with something useful instead of generic.