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 led by the Becca Schmill Foundation and Smartphone Free Childhood US. We talk about the 3 proposed bills about cell phones, social media, and education technology in schools. And we share how we are both learning about the legislative process along the way! Understandably so, safety is often brought up when cell phone bans are talked about, and we discuss how the National Association of School Resource Officers have come out in support of school cell phone bans. Kaitlan also talks about her family’s technology use at home and shares how her high schooler goes to school *gasp* without any phone all day long and still has a social life! It was so fun to add a new voice into our show and we look forward to more guests in 2026!

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: Social media is terrible and here is the evidence. The evidence this week is thanks to a Time.com article detailing how Meta has a “’17x’ strike policy for accounts that reportedly engaged in the ‘trafficking of humans for sex.’” Helen & Jordan then reflect on some memorable (see also: harrowing) childhood travel experiences. We then talk road trip snacks, games to play in the car, dealing with boredom, some tips & tricks, and travel lessons we’ve learned along the way. We hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! PS, don’t buy AI toys—they are telling children how to light matches, where to find knives and having sexually explicit conversations with them.

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 never-ending deck project that has spanned longer than a marching band season. Jordan also shares the latest updates for the next Can’t Look Away film screening. Helen then gets asked an extremely random list of questions covering a wide range of topics: driving, music, food, education, marriage, reading, dodgeball, and more! It’s a silly, sometimes serious but an overall fun conversation. So enjoy getting to know Helen, the birthday girl, a little better for her birthday episode!

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, and how to help protect kids from this targeted, online harm. Jordan shares tips to have difficult, age-appropriate discussions about these sensitive topics with your kids and teens. One startling statistic we dicuss is that 1 in 5 teens have been the victim of sextortion. Jordan shares one tragic story of 17 year-old Jordan DeMay, featured in the Can’t Look Away film, who was the victim of sextortion and his devastating death. We then discuss our concerns with school staff, coaches, and church leaders communicating with teens on social media platforms and the problems that can arise.

Register for the Nov. 25 film screening.

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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 identify a moment in early elementary school their early love of reading changed into resentment . Helen shares six strategies to foster a love of literacy, and we talk about what strategies we do already and what ones we would like to do. And it seems Jordan has taken the sixth strategy of “filling your home with books” to the extreme because books are quite literally all over the house. We also talk about the impact that reading can have on imaginative play. And Helen is very excited to introduce the 25 books of Christmas tradition. More books, less screens.

Essay referenced: A Guide to Surviving the Age of Post-Literacy

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 school, which involved working with animals, kids, teen moms, and retail; she was even a tattoo artist (don’t worry, they weren’t permanent!). Helen also shares her work history that included umpiring softball, selling tickets in multiple box offices, leading activities at a nursing home, facilitating events at a state park, and leading tastings and tours at a winery. Jordan and Helen ultimately consider how the little choices led to big changes in their personal and professional lives.

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 second community screening. Helen then dives into a conversation on how AI is being utilized in education and how she connects with students through language, arts, and culture. She reflects on her teaching philosophy and shares thoughts on the book We Got This by Cornelius Minor, which discusses the trope of teachers being heroes. Jordan then shares her deep concerns after reading an article about a school counselor in Topeka, Kansas, who is creating AI chatbots for elementary school students dealing with “minor” social/emotional problems.

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 been scheduled for this month. The documentary is an intense look into the devastating impact that social media is having on young people and why reform is needed. We talk about the current flaws with safety features promised on Instagram teen accounts that don’t actually keep adolescents safe. Jordan shares about an experience giving her kindergartener a chance to do something entirely on his own out in the real world. We end with a story of gaga ball and “confronting” junior high teens who were saying some not-so-appropriate things on the playground.

Link to the film: https://www.jolt.film/watch/cantlookaway