Millennial Mom Thoughts

Jordan Spicklemire and Helen Plevka-Jones

Two millennial moms...sharing some thoughts. As parents and as education professionals, we discuss our past, present, and future relationships with changing technologies. We're interested in how it impacts ourselves, our students, and our kiddos, and we're learning how to advocate for the issues we care most about.

  1. 23H AGO

    EPISODE 35: Social media on trial and the verdict

    We first catch up on our latest life happenings, including (but not limited to): an E.R. visit, book clubs, and trying to remember to promote our own various spaces on the internet: Substack, YouTube, and Four Norms. Then we dive into the results of the bellwether social media trial in Los Angeles that just concluded on March 24 and the implications for the future. The jury found that Meta and YouTube intentionally built addictive platforms, which caused harm to the plaintiff, K.G.M., and they awarded her several million dollars in damages. Jordan mainly followed along the trial with the coverage thanks to the Scrolling2Death podcast and Instagram account. We discuss the questions the jury had to answer and how the public can now view evidence online for themselves. Jordan talks about her emotional reactions to hearing the verdict and thinking of the many families that have lost children over the years due to social media harms. We recap some of the points Emily Cherkin made in Episode 31 about the differences between ed tech and tech ed and the importance of media literacy. Helen then gives us a lesson on em dashes, en dashes, and hyphens after Jordan shares a recent AI cheating mishap. Find Helen on Substack at Resonances. Join Jordan on Four Norms through reConnect Morton. And why don’t you support Millennial Mom Thoughts on YouTube, too! Follow up with the episode by reading the internal documents, learning more about the families impacted, and listening to an analysis of the verdict.

    58 min

  2. MAR 26

    EPISODE 34: Happy birthday, Jordan!

    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 post-it incident involving anonymous mail and her precious dog. Then, we celebrate Jordan’s upcoming 40th birthday with 40ish questions in 40ish minutes! Get ready to learn a whole bunch of random (see also: interesting?) facts about Jordan. Want to know what Jordan’s favorite pasta is? Do you think you can guess what her favorite episodes of The Office are? How about her favorite concert? Helen attempts to ask a series of questions in a quick, Scattergories-style, but Jordan essentially says, it’s my party and I’ll disregard your rules if I want to. This should surprise nobody. Sit back and enjoy getting to know a little more about Jordan thanks to Helen’s expertly-created list of fun, silly, and thoughtful questions.  And make sure to check out our Instagram account to view a few pictures described in the episode!

    53 min

  3. MAR 19

    EPISODE 33: A conversation with Jill Anderson, Mindful Tech Lessons

    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 teaching and theater towards a degree in Educational Psychology and into her advocacy for healthy habits around technology. She shares stories about noticing the subtle messaging of social media and video games embedded in early literacy activities, and she details ways she has made her classroom almost entirely screen free. Jordan shares her admiration for the book boxes Jill has placed around her community and the ways this initiative has inspired her own project. We conclude our conversation by hearing more about a recent article picked up by the New York Times featuring Jill and her empowering work.  Learn more and connect with Jill at MindfulTechLessons.com

    1h 12m

  4. MAR 12

    EPISODE 32: GenAI, deleting photos, and ethical dilemmas

    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, that conversation leads to aging and mustaches. Jordan shares about an upcoming early birthday celebration with friends, and Helen describes what a float bath is and how relaxing it is – Jordan, however, is still not convinced this is a good idea. We talk about Jordan’s recent decision to delete all photos of her kids off social media and the plan to no longer share their pictures. We talk through the factors that lead to this choice and how online spaces like social media are no longer what they once were. Jordan then shares how Meta patented an AI tool that allows social media accounts to continue posting posthumously. Helen discusses her latest class activity for her students with six scenarios to discuss ethical decision making in education. She modeled one of the scenarios after Jordan’s decision to opt out her son from the iPad at school. We end with Jordan talking through her current project of applying for a community grant to place screen-free activity bins in businesses with waiting areas around town where families bring their kids. And make sure to listen to the end to hear about how someone once left a lunchbox full of yogurt on Helen’s porch.

    1h 6m

  5. MAR 5

    EPISODE 31: A conversation with Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant

    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 discussions. After her then kindergartener came home with a note asking for him to learn “ctrl+alt+delete” on the keyboard to take standardized testing, she turned into an accidental activist. Jordan shares her struggles with getting people involved locally, and Emily talks through the challenges she has faced in her own advocacy work. Emily describes what being tech-intentional means (spoiler alert: it doesn’t mean being anti-tech) as well as explaining the difference between ed tech and tech ed. Emily talks about how schools should be evaluating the potential use of any ed tech platforms by asking these four questions: Is it safe? Is it effective? Is it legal? Is it better? We talk about how the tide is turning as many states across the country are implementing bell-to-bell smartphone policies. Helen and Emily discuss their current experiences with teaching in higher ed and how to have discussions with future educators about the impact of technology on the profession. We talk about how we have to protect childhood and how these discussions are not anti-tech but pro-childhood and pro-learning. — Visit thescreentimeconsultant.com to access the UnPlug EdTech Toolkit and connect with Emily. Subscribe to Emily’s newsletter at substack.com/@emilycherkin. Sign up for Emily’s free webinar on March 9, 2026: It’s time to talk about EdTech. — Emily Cherkin, M.Ed., The Screentime Consultant, is leading the fight for a Tech-Intentional™ childhood. Emily works with schools, families, policymakers, and advocacy organizations to ensure the future of education prioritizes skills, safety, and relationships over screens, EdTech, and A.I. Emily is an author, speaker, consultant, and associate professor of public policy at the University of Washington. She is also co-chair of FairPlay’s Screens in Schools Action Network and the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against one of the largest EdTech companies in the world. Emily is also the creator of the UnPlug EdTech Toolkit.

    1h 15m

  6. FEB 26

    EPISODE 30: What is the cost of convenience?

    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 segment on the local news about OFF February might literally be airing as we speak. The idea for this episode came after Jordan was reflecting on a recent grocery store experience with her two-year-old; while it would be more convenient to do grocery pickup, she wonders what would be lost by eliminating that experience. We share our childhood shopping experiences: Jordan loved pushing a kid-sized grocery cart, and Helen was given a box of cereal to eat while shopping. Naturally, this leads to comparing notes on our favorite cereals--shoutout to Oreo Os! We then talk about how we accessed and purchased music, movies, and concert tickets before streaming services and smartphones took over. An important point Helen makes is that she is convinced that she invented DVR. Jordan then shares about a recent webinar she attended called: Untangling EdTech: Evidence, Vision, Practice. It discussed how students using learning management systems (Google Classroom, Schoology, etc.) are often losing their ability to practice executive functioning skills, another potential loss in the name of convenience.

    56 min

  7. FEB 19

    EPISODE 29: A conversation with Millennial Dad, Mike McLeod: CEO of GrowNOW ADHD

    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 things off and ask Mike to share his journey to becoming the founder of GrowNOW ADHD. He shares his expertise about what ADHD and executive functions are (and what they are not)--spoiler alert: it’s not just kids having messy backpacks. He details the four pillars of executive functioning and explains how he takes a different approach at GrowNOW ADHD. We address how social media can make parenting harder because of all the “parenting experts” giving advice. We talk about his experience of writing a book and how it feels now that it’s out there. Mike shares his classroom observation experiences after traveling the country and visiting schools, including the problems he sees with edtech and school-issued devices. We reflect on what it’s like being millennial parents and how we’re all just trying our best. Mike and Jordan share their memories of a beloved 90's childhood play place: Discovery Zone. We were honored to have Mike join our podcast to share his experiences and expertise.

    1h 6m

  8. FEB 12

    EPISODE 28: Swipe right for love?

    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 legislation in place for phone-free schools. And one more Can’t Look Away screening has been scheduled for the end of this month with a more targeted approach to reach mental health professionals in our community. Helen then kicks off the dating conversation with her brief list of online dating “failures” via the Coffee Meets Bagel app in grad school, From a bold, in-person library ask-out to a weird Weird Al invite, those relationships just weren’t meant to be. Jordan’s online dating experiences, however, were plentiful and on multiple platforms. Ultimately, swiping right led to meeting her husband Brian! We then close with some concerning online “dating” trends happening with AI chatbots. There is a café in NYC opening specifically for people to take their AI chatbots on a date. We share our concerns about people forming attachments to AI rather than sustaining meaningful, human relationships.

    1h 4m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Two millennial moms...sharing some thoughts. As parents and as education professionals, we discuss our past, present, and future relationships with changing technologies. We're interested in how it impacts ourselves, our students, and our kiddos, and we're learning how to advocate for the issues we care most about.

Information

  • Creator
    Jordan Spicklemire and Helen Plevka-Jones
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Jordan Spicklemire and Helen Plevka-Jones
  • Show Website
    Millennial Mom Thoughts

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