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 specialist, into middle school math teacher, then instructional facilitator, and now, middle school math principal! We talk about the mental load that educators carry and how much is on a teacher’s plate. Becca shares about moving to teach in Joplin, Missouri, soon after the deadly tornados; the district was gifted funds from the United Arab Emirates to provide every student with laptops. From there, we dive into the stressful world of planning kid birthday parties. While talking about our reading choices, Becca grabs the most ridiculous looking (but clearly practical) laying down reading glasses. We talk about school cellphone policies and how Arkansas has a state, bell-to-bell cellphone law, which Becca loves—she details how well it’s working in her building. We talk about building community and how it’s difficult for both youth and adults!

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 through. Most recently, Jordan created a technology survey to gather parent feedback regarding concerns with personal devices and school devices. She discusses an analogy about how smoking was once accepted (or at least permitted) in many places, including schools, and now the same is true with smartphones. Both are health-harming and both have secondhand effects. As Helen gives her first report on her “Introduction to Education in the United States” course, she teaches us all what a “snow squall” is after experiencing her first one! On the first day of class, Helen asked her students, “What is the purpose of education?” Jordan attempts to answer this in one word or short phrase and (not surprisingly) answers with many words. Helen discusses the latest Brookings Report on AI in education then shares about her current work-in-progress: creating a video series regarding disciplinary AI literacy and educator identity.

A new direction for students in an AI world

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 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World and how it was a fantastic experience. Helen is gearing up for the first week of a new semester, teaching “Introduction to Education in the United States,” and in her recent state of “antsiness,” she took her daughter to the Peoria Zoo and then the fantastic Peoria Playhouse. We then dive into a Facebook history lesson; both our personal histories with the platform and the history of the company now rebranded as Meta. Jordan’s Facebook origin story goes back to the year THE Facebook was created in 2004, and Helen signed up a few years later in 2008. We each share various posts (both humorous and cringe-worthy) that we discovered in our deep dives. One memory Jordan forgot is that she had met Dierks Bentley--who is apparently a country musician--while at Ball State University. We then share about our differences in how we handle our Facebook “friends.”

Scrolling2Death, The Heat is On: https://www.scrolling2death.com/heat