Millennial Mom Thoughts

Helen made a rule that when you have your own podcast and it’s your birthday, you get to celebrate with an episode being asked a variety of questions. And because we are rule-followers (usually…see: Scattergories), we are sharing the second Millennial Mom Thoughts birthday tradition episode. Before we got into Helen’s thoughtful questions, Jordan insisted on a sharing a recent not-so-neighborly po...

This week we share an interview with Jill Anderson, a mom, an educator, the founder of Mindful Tech Lessons, and, to many in her community, “the book lady.” Jill is a veteran K–6 teacher, and when she is not in the classroom with her third graders, she is often leading workshops that help parents and educators navigate the digital world with young people. Jill tells us about her journey through te...

We reflect on our last episode with Emily Cherkin, and Jordan shares her not-so-conspiracy theory about why there was low engagement on the posts we shared on social media. Helen details her new video essay adventure: GenAI on GenAI. Listeners can find this on her Substack,  Resonances . Helen aims to answer the question: What does it mean to be a teacher in a world with generative AI? Naturally,...

We are thrilled to share our conversation with Emily Cherkin, a.k.a. The Screentime Consultant. Emily shares her journey from being a middle school educator to now a fierce advocate for families and schools to be more tech-intentional. Emily started to notice a shift in education when, as a teacher, she was expected to use an online portal to communicate with students more than having in-person di...

We reflect on the important conversation we had on our last episode with Mike McLeod and the positive feedback we’ve received from listeners so far. We look forward to having Mike join us again on a future episode! Helen shares how she is trying out a new routine via her Substack to help cultivate a space for educators to connect with one another. Jordan realizes during the conversation that her s...

We are so excited to share our conversation with our very first Millennial dad guest: Mike McLeod! Mike is a professional speaker, ADHD and executive function expert, and the founder and CEO of GrowNOW ADHD who recently released his first book, The Executive Function Playbook . We start the episode reflecting on Helen’s daughter’s first birthday party and how adorably fabulous it was! Then we kick...

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we are talking all about the sometimes successful, oftentimes completely terrifying world of online dating. But first, Jordan discusses her latest local news interview experience talking about OFF February as well as speaking at a school board meeting for the first time. Jordan then shares about PhoneFreeSchoolsReport.org, which tracks which states have put legisl...

We cover some heavy, but necessary, topics in this episode in order to answer the question: What does advocacy look like? Helen opens the episode by reading a statement made by Alex Pretti’s parents. We then debrief on our conversation with Becca Bramwell, including Helen’s realization that they, in fact, knew each other at EIU. Helen shares about her trip to Milwaukee for the Writing Innovation S...

We are excited to add another perspective and voice to episode 26 with Becca Bramwell, current Principal of Prairie Grove Middle School in Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Becca and Jordan met in 2017 during new staff orientation at East Peoria Community High School and have been friends ever since. Becca shares her journey through education from a high school math teacher, to technology integration speci...

We (attempt to) discuss the purpose and history of education. Jordan starts off the episode giving some book club updates and a recap of the latest Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing held about kids and screens. Helen and Jordan discuss the funny differences in their approach to “doing things.” Jordan often dives in immediately, and Helen takes more time to think it thr...

Jordan shares about her local TV news interview experience and how the segment disappointingly did not end up airing. ( At the time of this episode release, the segment has aired. ) Our conversation about a new global initiative called OFF February leads to the mutual agreement that Jordan writes emails that are far too long. Jordan shares about her first book club meeting reading Jean Twenge’s 10...

We are so excited to be back for SEASON TWO of Millennial Mom Thoughts! Our holiday breaks were filled with travel, thoughtful gifts from our husbands, goal setting, and even a podcast retreat held at the former home of the Awesome Blossom aka Chili’s. And in case you haven’t been to Chili’s in a while, spoiler alert: they no longer have any fried onion appetizers. But don’t fret-- Helen can attes...

We kick off the final episode of Season 1 by discussing the recent social media restriction that Australia enacted for kids under the age of 16. We draw parallels from the social media age restriction to how the U.S. has driving, drinking, and voting ages. Prompted by a a school drop-off line conversation Jordan had with a mom listener, we then reflect on the range of topics we have discussed over...

Helen couldn’t hear out of one ear and Jordan lost her voice, so ‘tis the season to talk about gifts (while doing our best to hold back coughs)! We start off by reflecting on the meaningful discussion that happened after the latest community film screening of Can’t Look Away. Jordan then shared a concerning discovery in her segment called: Social media is terrible and here is the evidence . After...

For our TWENTIETH episode we are excited to be bringing on our very first guest, Kaitlan Finn! Sadly poor Helen was absent for this one thanks to a bummer winter illness. Kaitlan is a former Speech-Language Pathologist who lives in Palatine, IL, and has taken on the role of Illinois team lead for the Distraction Free Schools Project. The Distraction Free Schools Project is an initiative jointly le...

We’re kicking off the holiday season by sharing memories from our childhood travel experiences as well as sharing current travel strategies with our own kids. And thanks to our talented podcast music director (aka Brian Spicklemire) we have a new holiday twist to our theme song! Helen starts by sharing some updates and corrections from earlier episodes. Jordan introduces her new segment called:  S...

When you have your own podcast, you can make your own rules -- and Helen decided to make a rule that when it’s your birthday, you get to celebrate by being asked a bunch of questions. So that’s exactly what we’re doing for episode 18! We kick things off with Helen sharing about her latest running endeavors. Jordan (while filled with rage) then shares an update (or lack thereof) to the apparently n...

Helen shares some exciting professional news to start off this episode: being included in an upcoming book and leading a workshop at a writing symposium. Jordan shares about her next screening of the Can’t Look Away film and an opportunity to speak with a parent group about executive function skills. We then dive into some difficult topics, including what sextortion is, who the “Yahoo Boys” are, a...

Jordan opens the episode with the great success of the Spooklemire Haunted House. Many attended (including Helen) and fun was had by all. Helen and Jordan then dive into their earliest childhood memories with reading and some of their favorite books. Helen discusses a literacy narrative assignment she often gives to students to reflect on their journeys with reading, and she notes how they often i...

In an effort to understand how we got here (here being our careers in education), we reflect back on all of the various job and volunteer experiences we have had along our journeys towards education. First, Jordan and Helen share about their latest Halloween activities as well as an accidental soup-in-the-pantry incident. Jordan then dives into listing off the many jobs she has had since high scho...

Millennial Mom disclaimer: Jordan used AI to come up with this episode’s title. And coincidentally enough, we are talking about AI in our jobs for this episode! Jordan and Helen start off sharing their recent Halloween activities, and Helen finally reveals her fun, coordinated family costume. Helen shares her thoughts after viewing the Can’t Look Away documentary as Jordan prepares to do her secon...

Helen starts out the episode blowing our minds (or at least Jordan’s) by sharing about the wild world of ultramarathoning. Jordan shares about her first experience with the community screening of the documentary, Can’t Look Away , and wrestling with feelings of disappointment, appreciation, frustration, and pride. But despite the low turnout for the first screening, a second screening has already...

The internet used to be a place that you physically went to, and now it’s accessible 24/7, often located in your very own pocket. Jordan starts out the episode by sharing an update on her first scheduled film screening of Can’t Look Away, and Helen cracks us all up with a joke. NSYNC fans will appreciate this episode because Jordan takes us back to her days sending out a weekly email newsletter on...

In episode 11, we dive into the world of algorithms to try our best to understand them. Jordan shares an update on her documentary viewing event that is scheduled for October 6th. Helen and Jordan both share their how they use WhatsApp for communication. We go over the rules of the latest recess craze sweeping Morton aka gaga ball, and Helen tells us how she made a trip back to the apple orchard....

In our tenth episode, it’s time for us to reflect on our goals, accomplishments, concerns, and future plans for this podcast. We start off by diving into the wild world of the multitude of Facebook groups in our town and their eccentricities. Helen gives her hot tip of spreading peanut butter with a spoon - NOT a knife - and we then give a brief preview to our upcoming Halloween plans. We each sha...