On this episode, we speak with 23-year veteran high school Social Studies teacher, Dr. Samantha Serrano.

Samatha is a 23-year veteran high school social studies teacher in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. She has her bachelors in social science education from Illinois State University, her masters in geography and environmental studies from Northeastern Illinois University, and her PhD in Geographic Education from Texas State University. Samatha serves on the board of directors for the National Council for Geographic Education and is an active advocate for geography education in the K - 12 classroom, where she liaises for the American Association for Geographers. Her recent journal publications surround equity and access in education and critical GenAI literacies.

In this conversation, we talk about…

• Benefits and consequences of schools adopting devices and digital platforms

• How digital homework impacts homework completion

• What is AI literacy?

• The value of human input and evaluation

• How some teachers are going back to analog

• The impact on teachers when Google turns a feature on or off

Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

We start off talking about several interesting webinars happening the week we record this episode (more than one featuring author Natasha Singer) and thankfully Jordan’s massive Google Doc will house the links to the recordings. Jordan can’t handle the fact that her youngest is turning three, which prompts Helen to ask what age a baby monitor should stay in kids’ rooms. Helen attempts to get us a podcast sponsor by sharing how her daughter’s first three-syllable word was...Desitin! We then dive into the latest frustrating creation from Meta called Muse. Jordan’s social media feeds have been flooded with prompts to activate her personal AI Muse agent (she won’t be doing that), and though Helen had not seen it yet, something tells us she will after talking about it! Mark Zuckerberg recently debuted the “Muse Charm,” which is oddly (but also not surprisingly) reminiscent of the handheld millennial toy: Tamagotchi. We talk through the concerns of handing over access to all of your accounts. This leads us to talking about how our own relationships with social media have changed over time. Jordan shares how she feels conflicted with using social media for interacting with people she knows aka using the “like” button. And then we learn that even though Helen isn’t watching a dating show where people walk the plank (Jordan has never heard of it), she still knows all about it.

Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

As moms to daughters we are thrilled to share our conversation with Mary Flenner, the founder and creative director of Tween Magazine. Tween is an empowering print magazine for girls! Mary is a mom to three girls and wanted to create a magazine she felt good about them reading. The magazine is filled with stories about real-world girls, games, advice, fun facts and more.

Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

On this special episode, we interview the creative and passionate minds behind the new documentary Your Attention Please: Sara Robin (Director/Producer) and Jack LeMay (Editor/Writer).

Your Attention Please (available now on Apple TV, Amazon, and Doc+) explores how social media platforms are deliberately designed to be addictive, and what happens when families, educators, and young people fight back.

In this conversation, we talk about…

• the power of film to change political sentiment.

• the expertise of Gen Z and their potential to take power back.

• the global pervasiveness of social media harms.

• the throughline of engagement-based business models, through social media into AI.

• the evolution from the attention economy to the intimacy economy.

• the symbolic value of the Meta settlement and the necessity of stronger federal legislation.

• the possibility of algorithms towards positive social connection and empathy.

• the exploitation of surveillance capitalism.

• the intended impact of the film upon lawmakers, young people, and parents.

• the sacrifices and benefits of going phone-free.

• the accessibility of action and the collective strength of doing little things.

Join the movement at yourattentionplz.com.

Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

It’s episode fifty-freakin’-five, everyone…just don’t tell Helen’s mom! We are fresh off the Morton Pumpkin Festival weekend, and it was filled with rides, wristbands, runs, and parades. Jordan shares the exciting news that she will be facilitating an after-school club at her son’s elementary school for 4th-6th graders reading The Amazing Generation. Speaking of good books, Helen is about 85% through the audiobook for Natasha Singer’s newest book, Coding Kids: Big Tech’s Battle to Remake Public Schools. Although Jordan isn’t as far into the book yet, we already have plenty to discuss and will absolutely be dedicating a future episode about the book soon! And we have even more book talk and share about two Dopamine-filled books: Dopamine Kids (Michaeleen Doucleff) and Dopamine Nation (Dr. Anna Lembke). Helen faced a challenging library situation where an older child was upsetting her toddler and we talk through how to navigate those difficult, sometimes uncomfortable moments. This leads us to talking about what is the right age to start allowing your kids to do things independently, out in the world. Jordan shares about her recent public testimony given to the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) during a listening session held to understand the impacts of screen-based instruction in schools. Helen asks Jordan to share the advice she would give to others that also want to share their own voice on issues that matter to them.

Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

If you are looking for a reason to hit reset on your technology use in your home or classroom, The UnPluggEd Project happening in October is just what you need! We are joined this week by Kathleen Barlow, a former teacher, mom of six, ScreenStrong Ambassador, and a strong advocate for kids and families. Though Helen was present for this fantastic conversation, you won’t hear much from her because she quite literally lost her voice. We start off learning all about Kathleen’s journey to the advocacy work she does today: helping families to support more of a play-based childhood and establish healthier screen habits. Kathleen is one of the founding members of Smartphone Free Childhood US, which is a group that the Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project came out of. Kathleen shares the origin of the UnPluggEd Project, which is happening October 5-9 and intended to help schools and families support a week of distraction-free learning. Once people register to participate, they receive an incredible playbook with tips, ideas, and resources to help families, teachers, and school administrators to unplug. Naturally our discussion of going unplugged leads to talking about pumpkins and upcoming pumpkin festivals we all will be attending (though in different states!). We hope this conversation inspires you to go unplugged this October!

Discover more of Kathleen's work on her Substack Swimming Upscreen and her podcast GenFree.

Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

Hop on the Distraction-Free Schools Community of Practice call and Schools Beyond Screens Wednesday call.

The countdown to the Morton Pumpkin Festival is on, and the smell of rotting pumpkins is filling the air! Helen gives an update about her classes, including how she and her students are navigating her mostly-device-free technology policy. She talks through the examples of when classwork does allow for the use of devices and how she is using the tech intentionally with her students. Jordan shares about a recent local radio segment, “What to know about Illinois’ cell phone ban in schools,” from Illinois Public Media. In addition to discussing the new personal device law, there was talk from a professor about problems with edtech products entering K-12 schools. This leads to a discussion of the hoops educators often have to jump through in order to become professionally licensed while keeping up with the many requirements. Jordan shares the difficulties of transferring her own license from Indiana to Illinois--including the absurd requirement to sit for the SAT exam in her thirties! Then we talk through the fascinating and complex world of introducing bills to lawmakers. Jordan gives information for the upcoming listening session on September 15th being held by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) calling for parents, students, educators, and child development specialists to share their concerns about screens in schools. Helen closes with a story about how her bracelet-making fundraiser was included in the local newspaper with some possibly false details.

Find Helen on Substack at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Join Jordan in⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

When you need to get some energy out, crank up the tunes (maybe even some Sesame Street hits) and dance! Or at least that is what these two Millennial Moms recommend. Jordan shares the final update to her community grant project: all of the screen-free activity bins are now out! Then we dive into all of the details of the recent Meta settlement. In case you didn’t see the news, Meta will be paying up to $17.1 billion to forty-eight states over the next ten years and will be making several platform changes to improve safety and mental health for users under eighteen. Fun fact: $17.1 billion is a lot of money...unless you are Meta and that is only 1.16% of your $1.47 trillion current total value. Some of the settlement is dependent upon whether or not other social media companies (Snap, TikTok, and YouTube) reach a financial settlement with states and agree to implement platform changes as well. Helen and Jordan wish that some of the changes Meta has agreed to, such as only seeing accounts you follow in your feed, were available for all accounts, not just teens. The settlement money is going to divided between the states to fund youth mental health supports and education. Jordan shares a non-tech-funded/-influenced (unlike Common Sense Media) digital literacy resource: ScreenStrong: Kids’ Brains & Screens. We then talk about the global impact and crises that Meta has contributed to across the world. Helen tries to close with a profound thought, but her internet had some other ideas.

Find Helen on Substack at⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Join Jordan in⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.