Educators Connected: Advancement Courses teACh Team 2021

I’m thrilled to be partnering with Advancement Courses, a leader in K-12 professional development with over 280 online courses in 20 different subject areas. 

One of my favorite brand partnerships is with Advancement Courses. I not only feel this way because I would be a professional student if that was a job–but also because I wholeheartedly stand by this company.

I’ve worked closely with Advancement Courses for the past several years, and each year I become more and more enamored with the way that Advancement Courses:

• treats and values educators
• stays on top of the latest educational trends
• provides affordable–and even free!–professional development for educators
• really engages and connects with the educational community
• strives to be a leader in professional development
• provides expertly-crafted, classroom-applicable courses to thousands of teachers across the country.

I’m truly looking forward to what we have in store for the community this year. We have an amazing team!

Meet the 2021 Advancement Courses teACh Team 

I’ll be working with several of the best of the best educational influencers to shed some light on why we totally turn to Advancement Courses for our own professional development and continuing education. 

MEET Juan Edgar Gonzales, Jr., of Teaching 3rd With Mr. G

Juan Edgar Gonzalez Jr. is an elementary public school teacher in Dickinson, Texas. Since he was a kid, he knew teaching would be a future chapter in his life. If you were to rummage through old family photos, you’d quickly find pictures of Juan holding a book or attempting to teach his younger brothers something new. Juan pursued this dream and obtained a B.A. in interdisciplinary studies at the University of Houston. 

With over ten years of classroom experience in first, second, and third grade, he has learned that in order to create a nurturing classroom experience, educators must put students before everything else they do in the classroom. Juan believes that educators are most successful when we listen to what students need and who they are.

In the last few years, Juan has used social media to share ideas and his love for literacy with other educators. This platform has given Juan opportunities to travel around the world to visit schools, blog for publishing media giant Scholastic Inc., and speak at various education conferences. His mission through this work is to spotlight the great work all educators are doing in classrooms and to inspire everyone to read more books. 

You can connect with Juan on social:

• Instagram:  @Teaching3rdWithMrG
• Facebook: facebook.com/Teaching3rdWithMrG
• Camp Teach & Grow

MEET Kayla Dornfeld, of Top Dog Teaching

Kayla Dornfeld is the 2019 North Dakota Teacher of the Year, and Mrs. West Fargo International.  She has 13 years of teaching experience in second and third grade. Kayla holds her master’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of North Dakota. Her work with classroom redesign and flexible seating has become the standard worldwide. She is currently writing a book about classroom learning spaces and flexible seating, titled FlexED: Flexible Seating for Flexible Learners, set to be released later this year. Read more about Kayla here.

You can connect with Kayla on social:

• Instagram: @topdogteaching
• Twitter: @topdogteaching
• Facebook: @topdogteaching
• Kayla’s student-led social media accounts: @topdogkids

MEET Todd Nesloney, Tech Ninja Todd

Todd is passionate about education and innovation. Todd was a classroom teacher for 7 years before taking the leap straight from classroom teacher to campus principal in Navasota, Texas. Todd took over a struggling campus, brought in a brand new staff, and used his creative ideas to transform a campus.

Todd Nesloney is now the Director of Culture and Strategic Leadership at the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA). He is an award winning author for his work in co-authoring Kids Deserve It! and Sparks in the Dark. Read more about Todd here.

You can connect with Todd on social:

• Facebook: facebook.com/ToddNesloney
• Instagram:  @TechNinjaTodd
• Twitter: @TechNinjaTodd

Meet Amy Mascott, (me!)

Just head to my About Page if you really want to know anything about me!

Catch the teACh Team’s Next Event

We have a super busy spring planned, friends.

FACEBOOK Lives with our teACh Team: Join in our conversation!

• March 3 @ 8:30PM EST: Kayla, Todd, Juan, and Amy will be talking about the school year thus far and how educators are continuing to take care of themselves during the pandemic.
• April 22: @ 8PM EST: Kayla, Todd, Juan, and Amy will be talking about advancing anti-racist, anti-biased instruction in K-12 curriculum.
• May 19: @ 8PM EST: Kayla, Todd, Juan, and Amy will be talking about our experience taking a course Advancement Courses!

LIVE Conversations with the teACh Team!

• March 31: @8PM EST Todd & Leah Jurek of Advancement Courses GO LIVE on Facebook.
• April 14: @8PM EST Amy & Juan  GO LIVE on Instagram to talk about the importance of literacy in the home and classroom.
• May:  Amy & Kayla GO LIVE on Instagram to talk about work-life balance for educators.

And in the next few weeks, all of us will be taking over the Advancement Courses Instagram! Follow  along so you don’t miss out!

What questions do you have? I’d love to do what I can to help! 

Stay in touch with Advancement Courses: 

• Advancement Courses on instagram: @AdvancementCourses
• Advancement Courses on facebook: @AdvancementCourses
• Advancement Courses on twitter: @AdvanceTeaching
• Advancement Courses on pinterest: @AdvancementCour

Check out my other posts about Advancement Courses:

fyi: This post was written as part of a partnership with Advancement Courses, but as always, my opinions are all my own, influenced only by my experience as a parent and educator.