Feb. 1, 2026

Alpha Minds, Real Tools with Queen Michele

Alpha Minds, Real Tools with Queen Michele

Thunder cracked over San Cristóbal as Queen Michele told us how a retired teacher, armed with a suitcase and a stubborn sense of purpose, found her soul in Mexico and a mission for the most connected generation on earth. What followed is a story of reinvention, caregiving, and building a mindfulness curriculum that teaches middle schoolers to center before they swipe.

We unpack Generation Alpha—kids born into a 24/7 feed—whose attention is shaped by platforms that never power down. Queen shares how 52 Insights for Gen Alpha blends self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness, and conscious decision-making into a year-plus sequence that fits alongside math and reading. The anchor is disarmingly simple: 4-4-6 breathing. Inhale four, hold four, exhale six—paired with words like calm, peace, focus, while releasing anger, fear, anxiety. Students lead it. Teachers get their minutes back. Classrooms find a tone that supports learning instead of firefighting.

There’s a deeper arc, too: rewriting your personal narrative. Queen explains how stepping off the survival treadmill—and moving ego to the backseat—opened the door to work that actually heals. If you’ve ever wondered how to meet today’s students where they are, build calm into your class in 60 seconds, or bring AI into SEL without losing the human core, this conversation is your map. Subscribe, share with a colleague who needs a sustainable strategy, and leave a review to support more soul-forward learning. What’s the one ritual you’ll try this week?

🔗 Website and Social Links:

Please visit Queen Michele's website and social media links below.

Queen Michele’s Website

Queen’s Facebook Page

Queen’s LinkedIn Page

Queen’s X Page

Queen’s Instagram Page

Queen’s YouTube Channel

📢 Call-to-Action: 

  • View the 16-chapter blog, “My Soul’s Journey Home”
  • Donate monetarily to the non-profit’s mission
  • Order any of my publications that resonate 

Send Jackie a Text

Join PodMatch!
Use the link to join PodMatch, a place for hosts and guests to connect.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show

💟 Designing with Love + allows you to support the show by keeping the mic on and the ideas flowing. Click on the link above to provide your support.

Buy Me a Coffee is another way you can support the show, either as a one-time gift or through a monthly subscription.

🗣️ Want to be a guest on Designing with Love? Send Jackie Pelegrin a message on PodMatch, here: Be a guest on the show

🌐 Check out the show's website here: Designing with Love

📱 Send a text to the show by clicking the Send Jackie a Text link above.

👍🏼 Please make sure to like and share this episode with others. Here's to great learning!

 

00:00 - Meet Queen Michelle & Her Mission

03:20 - Why Retire Abroad: Cost, Community, Climate

05:24 - Spiritual Awakening and Writing the Books

09:07 - Caregiving Detour and a New Audience

13:14 - Discovering Generation Alpha’s Reality

16:54 - The Curriculum: 52 Insights for Gen Alpha

20:24 - Classroom Realities: Fires, Gaps, and Food

22:36 - Breathing Practice 4-4-6 in Class

25:54 - Why AI Must Be Integrated

28:49 - Preparing Kids for High School and Life

31:44 - Practical Strategies Educators Can Use Today

34:49 - Rewriting Personal Narratives: Ego vs Soul

39:54 - Know Your Learners: Generations and Connection

47:14 - Building Cohort Connection and Group Work

51:44 - What’s Next: AI Course and Global Vision

56:14 - Gratitude, Rain, and Closing CTA

WEBVTT

00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:04.240
Hello, and welcome to the Designing with Love Podcast.

00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.160
I am your host, Jackie Pelegrin, where my goal is to bring you information, tips, and tricks as an instructional designer.

00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:17.199
Hello, instructional designers and educators.

00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:21.440
Welcome to episode 86 of the Designing with Love Podcast.

00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:24.000
I'm thrilled to have Queen Michele with me today.

00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:43.679
Queen is an author, blogger, and creator who has written several books, launched her blog, Keeping Tabs in Mexico, to share her experiences of moving from Atlanta and living abroad, and developed a mindfulness curriculum designed for seventh to ninth grade students of Generation Alpha, which is a very important generation.

00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:45.520
Welcome to the show, Queen.

00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:47.439
Thank you so much for having me.

00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:50.159
I appreciate I'm honored to be here.

00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:52.240
Yes, and I'm honored to have you as well.

00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:55.280
I'm so glad that we we got connected on Podmatch.

00:00:55.280 --> 00:01:00.399
I always try to mention whenever I connect with guests on PodMatch.

00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:02.079
And so it's it's a great platform.

00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:03.840
So I'm really glad that we got to connect there.

00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:06.719
So I'm giving my little shout out to Podmatch there.

00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:08.400
I love it.

00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:17.920
So to start, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and share what inspired you to step into the work of helping others embrace authenticity and create positive transformation?

00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:20.239
Well, thanks for that question, Jackie.

00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:24.079
I tell you, um, I am I feel right now that I'm amongst peers.

00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:30.079
You know, I'm amongst those who uh are in the educational um arena.

00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:35.680
I myself am a retired elementary and middle school teacher, 27 years.

00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:40.560
Also, within that 27 years, I did some, I did some administration as well.

00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:46.400
And I've taught across the country, uh certified in Michigan, Nevada, and Georgia.

00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:52.400
I've worked in private, public, charter, and magnet school uh arenas.

00:01:52.400 --> 00:02:01.920
But I retired uh and after 27 years uh while living in Atlanta in 2015.

00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:20.400
Um upon retiring, I spent that first year of just I looked at my my pension, the pension of a uh school teacher, and uh I realized, oh wow, I'm gonna have to I'm gonna have to do some things to kind of supplement this pension.

00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:29.520
I mean, the the rent paid for uh uh the uh pension paid for my my rent.

00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:32.319
And we just had a huge blast.

00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:34.000
I was just gonna say, I just heard that.

00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:36.560
The nurse just cracked open.

00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:45.360
I'm here in uh Chiapas, uh Mexico, in a lovely town called San Cristobal de la Casas.

00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:50.479
And um the sky just cracked open and it is starting to rain.

00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:53.919
So that's what you actually heard was thunder.

00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:57.039
That was a big crack of thunder, yes.

00:02:57.039 --> 00:02:59.919
I know it was now it's raining.

00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:07.360
Yeah, I live in Arizona, so we get the we get those big thunderstorms too, and it's like, whoa, it's enough to jolt you alive, right?

00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:10.560
Well, it kind of did, it kind of threw me off for a minute.

00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:14.639
I mean, it cracked the sky open, and now it's raining.

00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:15.439
Wow.

00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:18.800
Well, hopefully everything will be okay and it won't be.

00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:19.759
We're gonna be fine.

00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:20.719
We're gonna be fine.

00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:22.639
But that kind of moves me right in.

00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:25.840
It's a segue right into you, you're in Mexico?

00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:35.680
Well, yeah, because after a year of um supplementing my pension, I kind of realized that hey, I'm gonna always have to do this.

00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:38.159
I'm gonna always have to supplement my pension.

00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:43.439
And I tell you, Jackie, I didn't want to be 70 years old saying, Welcome to Walmart.

00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:43.919
You know?

00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:45.039
Yeah.

00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:52.719
You we see them everywhere, you know, and in at airports, driving Ubers, you know, working in retail.

00:03:52.719 --> 00:04:06.800
Hey, listen, these people who have given 30, 35 years in someplace uh else are now working to supplement their pension, not because they want to, but because they have to.

00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:07.520
They have to.

00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:12.879
And that um I started researching the top 10 places to retire.

00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:15.680
And this is back in 2016.

00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:22.240
And then I landed in a place in Mexico in the state of Jalisco.

00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:34.800
Uh Jalisco had um Mexico has 32 states, and I wound up in the state of Jalisco, which houses the largest freshwater lake in the country of Mexico.

00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:36.639
It's called Lake Chipala.

00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:46.240
Now, surrounding that lake are little towns and villages, and on the North Shore, it's the largest expat community in the country of Mexico.

00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:52.959
Expat being, of course, expatriate, those who are citizens of one country but reside in another.

00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:56.879
And it and moving there pretty much checked all the boxes for me.

00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:12.879
Number one, um, it was just a three and a half hour plane ride from uh Atlanta to Guadalajara, which is the capital of um Jalisco.

00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:20.000
And then the climate was the next one, the box that was checked because it's eternally spring there.

00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:24.399
Now it's a wet spring and a dry spring, but spring nonetheless.

00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:34.639
And then um thirdly, it was that large expat community that of Americans and Canadians that just kind of made my landing there really soft.

00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:46.480
Wow, and so it was there, Jackie, that I uh I discovered a whole new uh way of being, living, living my purpose actually.

00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:54.240
Yeah, in in that in that time living there in Lake Chipala, uh, I had a spiritual awakening.

00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:59.360
I I started a brand, I started writing books, several books.

00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:18.399
And um it's a crazy story how and not really crazy, it's actually just kind of goes to show how the universe is perfect, how one of those books uh wound up actually being uh 52 Insights for G and Alpha, a conscious curriculum.

00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:20.160
Wow.

00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:31.920
That's amazing how you were able to take that moment and instead of turning it into something where you were uh you were gonna say, well, okay, now I'm gonna have to work in another way.

00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:35.120
And like you said, it's it's mere survival, right?

00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:44.000
Of uh survival of what am I gonna be able to do to be able to live a good life and not feel like I'm constantly on edge, right?

00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:44.720
So I like that.

00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:46.319
Absolutely correct, Jackie.

00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:56.959
Because here's the thing I could have stayed, I could have absolutely stayed on the wheel and in the matrix and in the system and continue to work to supplement my pension.

00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:02.319
But here's the thing with that I would only be working to pay bills, right?

00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:09.120
See, there would be no weekend getaways, there would be no fine dining or or concerts.

00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:28.480
I would work and pay bills, work, yeah, pay bills, and then I would work and pay bills until I couldn't work any anymore, and then I would live substandardly because I'm not working, and I felt, Jackie, like I didn't owe anyone or anything my life.

00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:30.959
Right, yeah, that's that's amazing.

00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:33.600
You took control of your life in that way.

00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:34.560
I love that.

00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:44.240
So uh you did to kind of describe yourself earlier, just now, as someone who helps others move from survival to success by embracing authenticity, right?

00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:46.319
That's what's so important about what you do now.

00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:57.040
So yeah, so can you share that turning point in your own journey where living authentically changed the direction of your life or even your work, or maybe even both too?

00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:59.920
Um see, here's the thing, and and that's just it.

00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:02.160
Sometimes you don't even know.

00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:10.240
I tell you, uh, the universe works on on a really need-to-know basis, and I'm gonna tell you how that happened for me.

00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:16.079
Here I am, I'm I'm living in in uh Lake Chipala, living in paradise, okay.

00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:23.439
And I, you know, had wrote uh several books, and I was really on this train of thought.

00:08:23.439 --> 00:08:29.920
Uh, had just written a book called 52 Insights for Living New Earth Now.

00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:39.679
Okay, and and I was getting ready to do an eight-month uh workshop, you know, every uh third Saturday from 10 to 3.

00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:48.879
I had called the gurus from around the lake uh together, the guru of meditation, the guru of movement, the guru of art.

00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:51.840
And then, of course, it was uh my books.

00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:57.679
It was uh the workshop was gonna be called Your Soul, uh, The Soul's Journey.

00:08:57.679 --> 00:08:59.840
Okay, the Soul's Journey.

00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:07.440
And I gave a presentation and and and people had signed up, and we were getting ready to start that.

00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:12.080
Uh I was the beginning of 2022.

00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:14.320
And then I got the call.

00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:22.080
I got the call that uh my parents were in dire straits back in Detroit, Michigan, where I was born and raised.

00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:26.399
Pop is 99, was 99 uh with dementia.

00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:30.720
Mom was uh 86 with her own set of uh medical issues.

00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:36.159
They had both left the house via ambulance within a week of each other.

00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:40.879
When I got there, when I got there, uh they were both in rehab.

00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:44.480
He was on one end of the hallway and she was on the other.

00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:52.399
Now, I I have two older brothers, dumb and dumber, and um I thought that everything was being, you know, handled.

00:09:52.399 --> 00:10:04.799
I was led to believe anyway, but it became extremely apparent to me that uh when they were you know released from rehab that they needed full-time care.

00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:12.879
I became my parents' full-time caregiver uh there uh back in my hometown of Detroit.

00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:14.080
Now, here I am.

00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:21.600
I spent three and a half years and four consecutive winters in Detroit.

00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:26.960
Now, mom and pop, they passed away within 10 months of each other in 2022.

00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:33.360
But mind you, when I came there, all that work that I had done, I had I kind of put that aside, right?

00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:39.120
I mean, I just put it down, I, you know, rolled up my sleeves, became their caregiver, and that was that was my life.

00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:42.320
You know, it kind of changed the trajectory of my life in that moment.

00:11:19.570 --> 00:11:19.889
Right.

00:11:20.050 --> 00:11:34.850
Well, my niece's birthday had uh was coming up, and and I don't know, I just so happened to kind of look over in the corner and I saw 52 insights for Jen, uh 52 insights for Living New Earth now.

00:11:34.850 --> 00:11:38.050
And I thought to myself, oh wow, that'd be a nice gift.

00:11:38.050 --> 00:11:40.930
I mean, it's just sitting there, it's a great book.

00:11:40.930 --> 00:11:45.170
I gave her that book and a bottle of wine and a candle, you know.

00:11:45.170 --> 00:11:46.450
Happy birthday, niece.

00:11:46.450 --> 00:11:46.769
Right.

00:11:46.769 --> 00:11:56.690
She thumbed through that book and she said, Oh, Auntie, she said, this would be great uh uh for high school.

00:11:56.690 --> 00:12:05.330
Now, my my niece is a uh, among other things, uh she's a high school basketball, uh girls basketball coach.

00:12:05.330 --> 00:12:08.690
And you know, she's thumbing through the book and she's saying this would be great.

00:12:08.690 --> 00:12:15.730
And you know, I kind of got this this little nudge from the insight, you know, kind of like a little ding-ding-ding.

00:12:15.730 --> 00:12:18.050
And I thought, you know what, you're right.

00:12:18.050 --> 00:12:23.570
It would be, you know, just thinking about the material and the content of it.

00:12:23.570 --> 00:12:34.129
And then um, I spoke with another relative, you know, a little while later, and I said, Yeah, um, you know that book I wrote, 52 Insights for Living New Earth now.

00:12:34.129 --> 00:12:41.490
Well, you know, I was thinking it might be good for high school, and and she's a retired uh educator and administrator herself.

00:12:41.490 --> 00:12:42.610
She said, No.

00:12:42.610 --> 00:12:46.850
She said that would be perfect for middle school.

00:12:46.850 --> 00:12:51.649
And when she said that, I tell you, I exploded on the inside.

00:12:51.649 --> 00:12:52.610
You don't know.

00:12:52.610 --> 00:12:55.090
I talk about the ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

00:12:55.090 --> 00:12:55.490
Yeah.

00:12:55.490 --> 00:12:59.009
But my thought was, who's middle school?

00:12:59.009 --> 00:13:05.649
Who is middle school in this time and and and and moment in time, right?

00:13:05.649 --> 00:13:42.210
So that's where the research uh began, uh a huge deep dive into who was middle school in this moment in time, and that's when the discovery of Generation Alpha, I did a deep dive into Generation Alpha, and from there, from there, I I came to know that I know that I know and understand with the very being of me that all that work that I had done, it was never meant for the audience that I thought it was for.

00:13:42.210 --> 00:13:45.330
Uh, had I known that, I probably would have messed it up.

00:13:45.330 --> 00:13:47.970
It always was for Generation Alpha.

00:13:47.970 --> 00:13:48.370
Wow.

00:13:48.370 --> 00:13:50.450
You know, so that's amazing.

00:13:50.450 --> 00:14:06.850
Coming to that uh understanding, um, that was the the the transformative off the the authenticity of the the curriculum itself.

00:14:06.850 --> 00:14:07.570
Right.

00:14:07.570 --> 00:14:15.889
Because again, like I said, I never I never thought it would be for Jen Alpha.

00:14:15.889 --> 00:14:18.769
And here's the thing who's Gen Alpha?

00:14:18.769 --> 00:14:19.490
Right.

00:14:19.490 --> 00:14:20.210
Who are they?

00:14:20.210 --> 00:14:23.250
Well, I took that deep dive.

00:14:23.250 --> 00:14:31.250
And Jen Alpha uh was born between 2010 and 2024.

00:14:31.250 --> 00:14:37.250
Matter of fact, the oldest of that generation just turned 13 last year.

00:14:37.250 --> 00:14:44.050
They are the children of the millennials and some exes who got in there kind of late.

00:14:44.050 --> 00:14:50.450
They are the first generation to be born fully in the 21st century.

00:14:50.450 --> 00:15:00.530
What that means, Jackie, is that uh generation alpha uh is was clicking and swiping in infancy.

00:15:00.530 --> 00:15:14.450
Right, they have only been taught externally for me and generations that came uh uh a little bit after me or or uh before me, understand this.

00:15:14.450 --> 00:15:27.570
Sesame Street went off, the TV went off, you know, but their world is that of 24-7 external stimuli.

00:15:27.570 --> 00:15:42.769
And get this, I don't blame the millennials because you know, or the exes, because when they saw how that, when that tablet and that phone, you know, went into the hand, they they thought was, oh wow, I can get my paper done.

00:15:42.769 --> 00:15:46.450
Oh wow, I I can get the dishes done, I can get a meal on it.

00:15:46.450 --> 00:15:47.570
I I can.

00:15:47.570 --> 00:15:50.050
It became all of that.

00:15:50.050 --> 00:16:00.769
And mind you, they're trying to keep up with the ever-changing uh fast-paced uh technology in their jobs and you know, in their lives.

00:16:00.769 --> 00:16:19.889
So uh generation alpha will also be the largest generation in the history of the world, and they are so extremely important, Jackie, because get this generation alpha, and when you and you and you hear that name alpha, understand what alpha means.

00:16:19.889 --> 00:16:22.050
Alpha is uh means beginning.

00:16:22.050 --> 00:16:28.930
Generation alpha is responsible for the conscious evolution of humanity.

00:16:28.930 --> 00:16:34.129
They are an extremely important generation, but we're dropping the ball with them.

00:16:34.129 --> 00:17:05.569
And and my purpose, uh, my purpose is just, and it's just a very small purpose based on uh my skill set, you know, as a teacher, as an administrator, you know, with the years behind, um that generation uh where instead of it being 52 insights for Living New Earth Now, it became 52 insights uh for Gen Alpha, a conscious curriculum.

00:17:05.569 --> 00:17:21.250
The curriculum focuses on self-awareness through activities uh that foster mindfulness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness, and conscious decision making.

00:17:21.250 --> 00:17:45.089
See, um when I went to school, Jackie, we had classes like uh home economics and um auto shop and typing and all those things that, you know, those classes aside from the content, reading, writing, and arithmetic, that kind of readied us for the world in which we'll be living in.

00:17:45.409 --> 00:17:45.490
Right.

00:17:46.049 --> 00:18:03.250
See, what's happening, you know, what's happened and what is happening with GN Alpha is that there's nothing really in place uh for them, uh giving them the tools to help them navigate uh the world in which they're going.

00:18:03.250 --> 00:18:05.730
We're not going, but they are.

00:18:05.730 --> 00:18:13.730
And right there are certain tools in which they need in order to navigate that world.

00:18:13.730 --> 00:18:21.409
See, it's always been so it's everything has been external, you know, um, nothing has cut off.

00:18:21.409 --> 00:18:34.449
And and and so in order to consciously navigate where they're going, all this simply does, uh uh my curriculum, this class, because that's all it'll be.

00:18:34.449 --> 00:18:40.129
Let's put a class in there, like we had different classes to help us with our work.

00:18:40.129 --> 00:18:51.329
Let's put a class in there that kind of helps them to navigate all the external and let's balance it with the internal.

00:18:51.649 --> 00:18:53.089
Wow, I love that.

00:18:53.089 --> 00:18:54.209
That's great.

00:18:54.209 --> 00:18:58.449
You you saw that need, and and uh it was by no accident.

00:18:58.449 --> 00:19:00.609
Um by no accident, yeah.

00:19:00.609 --> 00:19:03.889
No, uh, I think I think that was your light bulb moment.

00:19:03.889 --> 00:19:13.169
I I had someone on my show yesterday who works in learning and development, uh that that sphere, and uh he has experience in instructional design as well.

00:19:13.169 --> 00:19:16.209
And we talked about that several times, the light bulb moment.

00:19:16.209 --> 00:19:25.889
And I think for you, Queen, you had your light bulb moment there when you when your niece said you should do this, and you just said, Oh my goodness, like you said, it just all clicked, right?

00:19:25.970 --> 00:19:37.889
And you just it really did, you know, and Jackie, I piloted the program uh in two middle schools uh uh last school year, uh in 2024-25.

00:19:37.889 --> 00:19:43.329
I piloted the uh program in two different middle schools, and boy, did I learn a lot.

00:19:43.329 --> 00:19:59.329
And um from that pilot program, um, I do know um that this this curriculum uh program, it's it's needed, it's impactful, you know.

00:19:59.329 --> 00:20:17.009
Um however, what I found one of the biggest things I found was and here's the thing, I don't know if it let's see if how can I put this unconscious can't teach consciousness.

00:20:17.009 --> 00:20:41.169
And and and I don't know how how that uh will land with your your audiences, and what I mean by that, teachers are because I was in the classroom every day during last school year, you know, in the two different schools, and what I saw, what I witnessed, and remember I'm 27 years, uh uh 27-year veteran, is that they put out fires all day long.

00:20:41.169 --> 00:20:43.970
That's all they do is put out fires.

00:20:43.970 --> 00:20:53.649
And and when I trained the uh the teachers before the school year began, see, here's the thing a lot of them don't even know that they're teaching generation alpha.

00:20:53.649 --> 00:21:18.769
They don't understand that they're the first uh generation, you know, that was born fully in the 21st century and that they've only been taught externally, and that um it in that their world, they are in platform and in spaces that that's free from parental and vi uh parental influence.

00:21:18.769 --> 00:21:24.529
They are in platforms and in spaces that their parents don't even understand.

00:21:24.529 --> 00:21:49.809
And teachers are just trying to to keep up with administration coming down on them about this, that, and the other, and then students being two or three grade levels behind because you know of the pandemic, and then the the nutrition, the food that they they're eating even before they come into classroom, and that that has them wired completely different.

00:21:49.809 --> 00:22:03.089
They are a different breed, and we're still kind of trying to go at them in in that traditional uh way of being, and they're a different breed.

00:22:03.089 --> 00:22:04.929
Absolutely, yeah.

00:22:04.929 --> 00:22:07.490
That's one of the things I discovered.

00:22:07.490 --> 00:22:29.490
I also discovered, and here's the main thing uh for me is that uh in order for uh uh 52 Insights to be marketable or consumable for its target audience, I need to uh integrate AI into the curriculum.

00:22:29.490 --> 00:22:43.730
There's no way that I cannot uh have AI as the the integration into the curriculum in its present state, it is not marketable or consumable in a sense.

00:22:43.730 --> 00:22:50.289
Again, because of that statement I made, consciousness can't uh the unconscious can't teach consciousness.

00:22:50.289 --> 00:22:53.730
Uh in in that respect.

00:22:53.730 --> 00:22:57.970
So I have taken um, I'm in a 12-week course.

00:22:57.970 --> 00:23:23.490
I just started actually, um just downloaded the syllabus and and pulled down my first assignment, and you know, and and it's a 12-week course, and um it's out of uh San Diego University, and it's um uh AI for curriculum and design, you know, and how to integrate uh AI into one's content, into one's curriculum, you know.

00:23:23.490 --> 00:23:25.169
Oh wow, that's exciting.

00:23:25.169 --> 00:23:28.529
I am over the moon excited.

00:23:28.529 --> 00:23:38.449
So it's a 12-week course, and then after the um, after the course, I would and during the the process of of going through this class, I will be integrated.

00:23:38.449 --> 00:23:45.490
The content is already there, you know, the design and the structure and all of that is there, but it's missing AI.

00:23:45.490 --> 00:23:53.250
And without an integration of AI, and without that, um, again, it's not marketable or consumable.

00:23:53.250 --> 00:23:54.689
So I am in class now.

00:23:54.689 --> 00:23:57.970
I've just started the um, I just started the class.

00:23:57.970 --> 00:24:12.289
I'm extremely excited because at the uh start of the new year, uh 52 insights uh for Gen Alpha Conscious Curriculum will be ready to um hopefully go globally.

00:24:12.289 --> 00:24:20.289
Because I'm not saying, you know, that the you know reading, writing, and arithmetic, all of that is still important, but how about a how about a home ed class in a sense?

00:24:20.289 --> 00:24:25.490
Right how about that auto stuff?

00:24:25.490 --> 00:24:30.609
How about just something that helps them navigate?

00:24:30.609 --> 00:24:31.649
Right.

00:24:31.649 --> 00:24:33.169
Yeah, absolutely.

00:24:33.169 --> 00:24:34.929
Where they're going.

00:24:35.169 --> 00:24:41.809
Yeah, because they you know, they they need to be prepared not only uh, you know, that this uh the middle schoolers, right?

00:24:41.809 --> 00:24:55.889
They need to be prepared to go into high school, and then if they won't decide to go into college or technical school, trade school, whatever it is, they need to be prepared for their careers earlier, right, in life and not not just, oh, we're gonna we're gonna catch them in high school.

00:24:56.049 --> 00:25:04.289
It's like no, it doesn't have to the oldest of that generation alpha, they just turned 13 last year.

00:25:04.289 --> 00:25:05.730
They just turned 13.

00:25:05.730 --> 00:25:18.049
And it's my hope, Jackie, it's my hope that someone some curriculum designer out there uh will take a look at my curriculum and modify it for the younger grades.

00:25:18.209 --> 00:25:18.449
Right.

00:25:18.609 --> 00:25:39.169
You know, let's take it that this can start as early as uh kinder, first, second, third, just that piece that needs to be inserted into the overall uh curriculum, you know, curriculum, the schooling, because it's needed.

00:25:39.169 --> 00:25:43.009
This is a piece that's now needed.

00:25:43.009 --> 00:25:46.609
It wasn't needed before, but it's needed now.

00:25:46.609 --> 00:25:49.089
Generation Alpha, they're a different breed.

00:25:49.089 --> 00:25:50.609
They are a different breed.

00:25:50.609 --> 00:25:53.169
So let's give you some by the time they get to me.

00:25:53.409 --> 00:25:57.809
Yeah, by the time they get to me in in college, I want them to be able to write well.

00:25:58.209 --> 00:26:08.209
Well, by the time they get to you in college, you know, with you know, just having this class, you know, they'll have that self-management and and relationship skills.

00:26:08.209 --> 00:26:33.089
You know, you know how technology can take, you know, uh take that out of the picture completely because everything external and and also social awareness, you know, they're just everything is you know external and then conscious, making conscious decisions, you know, making conscious, uh having that skill of the conscious decision making.

00:26:33.089 --> 00:26:46.209
We are not equipping them with the social and emotional intelligence that is needed in today's uh in today's world and in the world that they're going.

00:26:46.769 --> 00:26:47.009
Wow.

00:26:47.009 --> 00:26:59.809
So I love that you reckon Yeah, I love that you recognize that need, Queen, because I think you're you're always you're you know, you know that what you're what you're doing, it's there's never it's never gonna be completely done, right?

00:26:59.809 --> 00:27:10.209
You're always gonna be revising it and enhancing it so that you're you're you're meeting the needs of the educators and you're meeting the needs of the of the learners as well.

00:27:10.209 --> 00:27:11.009
So that's great.

00:27:11.009 --> 00:27:11.970
I love that.

00:27:11.970 --> 00:27:17.169
So as you know, many of my listeners are educators and instructional designers like myself.

00:27:17.169 --> 00:27:18.609
We're always look, yeah.

00:27:18.609 --> 00:27:21.730
So we're always looking for ways to reach this new generation of learners.

00:27:21.730 --> 00:27:34.609
And as you mentioned earlier, that's an area where as educators and curriculum developers and and like myself, instructional designers, we're like you said, we don't, we're just starting to tap into this generation, right?

00:27:34.609 --> 00:27:36.289
And we're trying to understand them.

00:27:36.289 --> 00:27:36.769
Yeah.

00:27:36.769 --> 00:27:49.089
So yeah, so um, so what are some unique, you you touched on this quite a bit, their unique needs, but what are some of their learning styles that you you think that with this generation alpha?

00:27:49.089 --> 00:27:56.529
Um, what do you think these uh educators and someone like me needs to know about um them and what their unique learning styles are?

00:27:56.529 --> 00:28:01.089
Because, like you said earlier, we can't treat them like we've treated other generations.

00:28:01.089 --> 00:28:02.849
We have to treat them differently.

00:28:04.209 --> 00:28:08.049
They are so they are so uh different.

00:28:08.049 --> 00:28:16.929
Remember, here we are with a student in that classroom who has been swiping and clicking since infancy.

00:28:16.929 --> 00:28:19.649
Okay, and so they they they come in.

00:28:19.649 --> 00:28:27.569
So here's one one, this is something, this is an uh uh an exercise or an activity.

00:28:27.569 --> 00:28:39.649
If I was still in uh uh in the classroom and and I was teaching Generation Alpha, and I'm talking from kinder all the way up, you know, this can be modified.

00:28:39.649 --> 00:28:44.609
Here's an exercise, and and and and maybe your audience to do it with me really quick.

00:28:44.609 --> 00:29:00.129
It's called it's called I call it the 446, 446, 446, and this is simply uh a breathing method, and this is done at the beginning of the class before we even get started.

00:29:00.129 --> 00:29:13.730
When they come in, you know, remember because this is these are exercises that foster mindfulness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness, conscious decision making.

00:29:13.730 --> 00:29:16.449
So they come in and it's 446.

00:29:16.449 --> 00:29:30.129
And what it means is for you breathe in for four seconds, you hold it for four seconds, and you release that breath for six seconds, four forty-six.

00:29:30.129 --> 00:29:39.809
Um the more advanced students, like say my middle middle schoolers, I would love to uh take a word.

00:29:39.809 --> 00:29:45.730
Remember, we're working with emotional intelligence, we're working with uh conscious decision making.

00:29:45.730 --> 00:30:02.129
So before we even start class, I would have them I'll start off giving them the words, all of these emotional uh uh words that just help enhance uh emotional intelligence, uh, like calm.

00:30:02.529 --> 00:30:05.169
Uh uh calm, yeah.

00:30:08.609 --> 00:30:21.649
Um, or and then we're going to uh words like uh frustration or um uh what's that word when you I can't even think of it right now.

00:30:21.649 --> 00:30:25.169
Okay, so we're gonna take I'm gonna take three words.

00:30:25.169 --> 00:30:27.889
I'm gonna take um calm.

00:30:27.889 --> 00:30:28.849
Okay.

00:30:28.849 --> 00:30:35.889
Uh I'm going to take peace uh and I'm going to take uh focus.

00:30:35.889 --> 00:30:36.689
Okay.

00:30:36.689 --> 00:30:38.769
But take those three words.

00:30:38.769 --> 00:30:42.289
Now, those are words that we'll breathe in.

00:30:42.289 --> 00:30:57.329
Now, um, what we're going to breathe out would be uh let's say agitation, um uh fear, uh and um maybe anger.

00:30:57.329 --> 00:31:00.769
Let's just go ahead and say anger, and I'm just throwing these off the top of my head.

00:31:00.769 --> 00:31:02.849
All right, so class is about to begin.

00:31:02.849 --> 00:31:04.929
Now remember this is 446.

00:31:04.929 --> 00:31:07.329
All right, so you're gonna breathe in.

00:31:07.329 --> 00:31:12.449
Um, all right, um, guys, today to work um our words today.

00:31:12.449 --> 00:31:14.609
We're ready to get started with 446.

00:31:14.609 --> 00:31:16.449
Here we go, and breathe in.

00:31:16.449 --> 00:31:19.089
Now they already know to breathe in four times.

00:31:19.089 --> 00:31:23.569
When I say breathe in, breathe in calm, breathe out anger.

00:31:23.569 --> 00:31:29.649
Now you've breathed in calm, you held it for four seconds, and you breathed out anger.

00:31:29.649 --> 00:31:31.089
Okay, right.

00:31:31.089 --> 00:31:36.289
Breathe in peace, breathe out fear, breathe in focus, breathe out anxiety.

00:31:36.289 --> 00:31:39.649
Now, after a while, and and then now then we'll get started with our day.

00:31:39.649 --> 00:31:43.490
But after a while, the kids will start leading that themselves.

00:31:43.490 --> 00:31:45.169
They'll come up with the words.

00:31:45.169 --> 00:31:45.970
Right.

00:31:45.970 --> 00:31:46.529
Yeah.

00:31:46.529 --> 00:31:49.009
Who's who's leading 446 this morning?

00:31:49.009 --> 00:31:50.529
Who's leading for let's go?

00:31:50.529 --> 00:31:51.250
Let's get to the show.

00:31:51.250 --> 00:31:54.289
So you just yeah, you rotate it between the students, right?

00:31:54.289 --> 00:31:55.009
And let them take it.

00:31:55.009 --> 00:31:56.849
They come up with their words.

00:31:56.849 --> 00:31:57.970
Oh, absolutely.

00:31:57.970 --> 00:31:59.089
They have to own it.

00:31:59.089 --> 00:32:04.849
See, that's that's self-management, you know, because and then that's something that they'll take with them.

00:32:04.849 --> 00:32:10.849
They will know how to get back centered when they are in those places, you know.

00:32:10.849 --> 00:32:18.609
And and and anxiety and fear and anger, those kind of things are recognized, validated.

00:32:18.609 --> 00:32:22.609
Right, but uh, also released.

00:32:22.609 --> 00:32:23.970
Also released.

00:32:23.970 --> 00:32:29.089
You know, so that's that's just one simple, and that can go across all learning styles.

00:32:29.089 --> 00:32:41.569
You know, it doesn't even it's not even a learning style that has that has to be as it relates to um one uh fostering mindfulness, self-management, relations.

00:32:41.569 --> 00:32:44.689
It's a whole again, a whole curriculum.

00:32:44.689 --> 00:32:46.769
Uh 52 weeks.

00:32:46.769 --> 00:32:48.449
Uh uh actually.

00:32:48.449 --> 00:32:51.649
So this this this program wouldn't even be done in a year.

00:32:51.649 --> 00:32:55.889
They'll come back the second, the you know, the next year and finish it up.

00:32:55.889 --> 00:32:59.970
And it's this specifically designed for seventh, eighth, and ninth graders.

00:32:59.970 --> 00:33:04.769
That 12-year-old, that 13-year-old, and that 14-year-old.

00:33:04.769 --> 00:33:08.929
That generation of generation alpha.

00:33:08.929 --> 00:33:09.730
It's my hope.

00:33:09.730 --> 00:33:34.929
I have a seven-year-old uh grandson, and it's my hope that by the time uh he reaches middle school that there will be a uh a class, you know, uh that that also helps uh with all the external, but it helps quiet, you know, through uh uh mindfulness internally.

00:33:34.929 --> 00:33:41.889
It's just a class, you know, not trying to change anybody's um way of being.

00:33:41.889 --> 00:33:42.609
Jackie?

00:33:42.609 --> 00:33:44.049
Yes, yeah.

00:33:44.049 --> 00:33:47.250
Okay, I thought for a minute, I thought I lost you.

00:33:47.250 --> 00:33:48.529
That's okay.

00:33:48.769 --> 00:33:49.250
That's okay.

00:33:49.250 --> 00:33:51.809
With the storm going on, you want to make sure you're still connected.

00:33:51.809 --> 00:33:52.689
Yeah, I get that.

00:33:52.689 --> 00:33:53.329
No, I know.

00:33:53.329 --> 00:33:56.849
I know, because we're we're in such we're in such a good conversation.

00:33:56.849 --> 00:33:58.689
We want to make sure we don't lose that, right?

00:33:58.689 --> 00:34:03.730
Wow.

00:34:03.730 --> 00:34:13.970
That's well hopefully yeah, hopefully it won't you won't get flooded there because I know some areas of Mexico, they do uh and I'm um I'll have to get familiar with where you are.

00:34:13.970 --> 00:34:17.010
I'll kind of look it up a little bit and get more information on it.

00:34:17.010 --> 00:34:27.250
But yeah, I know some areas, uh just like here in Arizona, we have some areas that are near um like lakes and stuff like that that can get that can get flooded sometimes.

00:34:27.250 --> 00:34:36.769
So hopefully, hopefully everything will be okay because I know sometimes those rivers or lakes can can swell up and you're like whoa, you gotta make sure make sure you're always prepared.

00:34:37.329 --> 00:34:39.329
Flooding can definitely take place.

00:34:39.329 --> 00:34:39.650
Right.

00:34:39.650 --> 00:34:41.970
But I I I hope I answered your question again.

00:34:41.970 --> 00:34:44.050
Absolutely that you were able to hear me.

00:34:44.289 --> 00:34:44.769
I love that.

00:34:44.769 --> 00:34:52.610
And I love that technique too, because you're you're taking the breathing, you're um, so they're inhaling the positive, they're exhaling the negative, right?

00:34:52.850 --> 00:34:55.809
Those negative thoughts before class even begins.

00:34:55.970 --> 00:34:56.130
Absolutely.

00:34:56.130 --> 00:35:06.050
You know, I love that because then they can take that strategy not only in when they're in their academic studies, but they can also translate that to life skills.

00:35:06.050 --> 00:35:08.130
And like you said, it's a tool.

00:35:09.090 --> 00:35:10.930
And that's what you know, this curriculum does.

00:35:10.930 --> 00:35:20.930
It just puts those those tools, those necessary tools in their hands to help them navigate their world because their world is completely external, right?

00:35:20.930 --> 00:35:21.970
Completely.

00:35:21.970 --> 00:35:27.570
You know, so let's let's give them let's give them some tools, you know, to help them navigate that.

00:35:27.890 --> 00:35:37.250
And I can only imagine how how much of a difference the that technique, once they, once they learn it, and then they incorporate it in their own life every day.

00:35:37.250 --> 00:35:41.490
How how much did how much better will that make their relationships with others?

00:35:41.490 --> 00:35:50.130
Not my I mean just not just with their classmates, but with their teachers and their uh their parents and other family members.

00:35:50.130 --> 00:36:00.289
And then that translates into like we were talking about earlier, you know, when they go into high school and forming those good positive relationships and then college and work in the workplace.

00:36:00.289 --> 00:36:04.370
So you're you're setting, we're setting them up for for a good life.

00:36:04.370 --> 00:36:06.210
And yeah, and I love that.

00:36:06.210 --> 00:36:21.170
I kind of wish the generation now, the one that's uh before Generation Alpha, I kind of wish they would have had these tools and techniques because you know, unfortunately, some of them are coming out of college, and it's like, wow, okay, I know this is not good.

00:36:21.170 --> 00:36:27.329
Yeah, it's so it's uh I think it's something that educators have um missed out on.

00:36:27.490 --> 00:36:41.970
Like you said, they they've just got so much coming at them that the exactly and see that that's what I found because I would try to tell as soon as you know the next class comes in, we're talking middle school, that you know, the teachers putting out fires.

00:36:41.970 --> 00:36:50.050
She begins, and then there's no time for embracing just that moment of breath work, you know.

00:36:50.050 --> 00:37:02.530
So here I am trying to, you know, they're they're just off the wall with different behaviors and and and issues, and you know, trying to differate uh differentiate instruction.

00:37:02.530 --> 00:37:05.890
And then I say, hey, teach them to breathe.

00:37:05.890 --> 00:37:07.809
The teacher's not even breathing.

00:37:07.809 --> 00:37:12.530
That's what I mean by, you know, unconscious can't teach consciousness.

00:37:12.850 --> 00:37:14.210
Right, exactly.

00:37:14.210 --> 00:37:15.090
I love that.

00:37:15.090 --> 00:37:29.970
And you, you know, it's it's great because you actually answered that that one question because I was gonna um ask you about some practical strategies that educators and teachers could implement right away in their classrooms or training programs, and you nailed it.

00:37:29.970 --> 00:37:31.650
You're like, Yep, I love it.

00:37:31.650 --> 00:37:34.769
That's that's a practical strategy right away that they can implement it.

00:37:34.769 --> 00:37:35.490
Right away.

00:37:35.490 --> 00:37:37.010
Yeah, absolutely.

00:37:37.010 --> 00:37:41.730
It's so easy right before class starts, just do that and get them used to it.

00:37:41.730 --> 00:37:46.130
And and I love that idea of letting the the kids take ownership of it.

00:37:46.130 --> 00:37:46.690
Yeah, yeah.

00:37:46.850 --> 00:37:57.010
I I start off, you know, I may do it for the first couple of weeks, you know, but then the next thing I know, you know, they're coming in and it's their words, you know, and they're and they're leading that breath.

00:37:57.010 --> 00:38:02.769
You know how we used to go into class and someone would lead the pleasant pledge of allegiance, you know, that starters off.

00:38:02.769 --> 00:38:10.130
You know, I don't know if that was still back when I went to school, someone would always start off, you know, with the pledge of allegiance.

00:38:10.130 --> 00:38:13.329
Well, someone starts off with the breath work, you know.

00:38:13.650 --> 00:38:14.289
Same thing.

00:38:14.289 --> 00:38:16.370
Yeah, that's great.

00:38:16.370 --> 00:38:23.170
So I think we'll have time for a bonus question before we move into the final ones because I I think this is a really good bonus question.

00:38:23.170 --> 00:38:30.370
So before we move into that final wrap-up question, I'd love to slip one more in that I know will resonate with uh with my listeners.

00:38:30.370 --> 00:38:37.809
So you've spoken a little bit about this, and I'd like you to expand upon a little bit about the power of rewriting our personal narratives, right?

00:38:37.809 --> 00:38:44.289
Because you faced in the beginning, you were talking about how you faced that turning point in your life and you had to rewrite your personal narrative, right?

00:38:44.289 --> 00:38:44.850
Right.

00:38:44.850 --> 00:39:01.329
So if someone, if you know someone or uh or someone's listening and they're feeling stuck in a story that no longer serves them, what's the very first step you think um that you would say to encourage them to take that step um in that rewriting of their personal narrative?

00:39:01.570 --> 00:39:03.970
That's an excellent question, Jackie.

00:39:03.970 --> 00:39:06.450
Excellent question, and thank you for asking that.

00:39:06.450 --> 00:39:25.570
And here's the thing had I stayed uh where I was, you know, when that when that decision came to move to Mexico, so I could not uh stay on the wheel, uh, you know, and stay in the matrix and stay on, you know, stay in the system.

00:39:25.570 --> 00:39:27.570
That was ego.

00:39:27.570 --> 00:39:37.090
Most people are living their lives, and they're living their lives uh through uh an ego-driven perspective.

00:39:37.090 --> 00:39:42.130
The eagle is in the front seat, the eagle is driving.

00:39:42.130 --> 00:40:05.090
And it's it's when one, and the eagle is the one who continues to to uh loop those same stories, those those same conditions, those same, you know, we have been conditioned, we have been programmed, you know, to actually stay on the wheel, to actually stay in it, you know, to actually work until we can't work anymore.

00:40:05.090 --> 00:40:07.490
And then so imagine had I done that.

00:40:07.490 --> 00:40:25.650
Imagine had I just not uh got off the wheel or allow myself not to be driven by my ego or just accept the programming and the conditioning conditioning that had had been me all my life, you know.

00:40:25.650 --> 00:40:31.490
So, because what happened when I moved to Mexico is that I met my soul self.

00:40:31.490 --> 00:40:41.650
See, that's that that that internal self, that that one who and it was that meeting my soul self where that's where the books came.

00:40:41.650 --> 00:40:47.010
That's that's where the the um uh the brand was born.

00:40:47.010 --> 00:40:54.930
It was just me meeting my soul self, no longer being driven uh by my uh by my ego.

00:40:54.930 --> 00:41:08.370
So if one finds themselves uh kind of stuck in that that same narrative, they're stuck in that narrative because they're they're living their lives from an ego-driven perspective.

00:41:08.370 --> 00:41:15.650
The ego only has three uh jobs, put it that way.

00:41:15.650 --> 00:41:17.970
The ego has three jobs.

00:41:17.970 --> 00:41:23.730
The ego is a flight uh and fight or flight, it's a defense mechanism.

00:41:23.730 --> 00:41:30.850
You know, it's that that built-in defense mechanism that tells us to either fight or fly or or or run, fight or flight.

00:41:30.850 --> 00:41:36.690
It's also a thought uh producer, it produces thoughts.

00:41:36.690 --> 00:41:39.490
Then those when those thoughts coming in your mind, that's ego.

00:41:39.490 --> 00:41:59.329
More than like that's ego speaking, you know, and then it's a thought processor, and and and it processes based on just our experiences, how we grew up, every everything that's been uh uh told to us, how we were programmed and how we were conditioned, you know, based on these are all individual.

00:41:59.329 --> 00:42:05.570
The ego is not has a general purpose, but it's not the general.

00:42:05.570 --> 00:42:26.450
And if one can put ego in the backseat and allow and and and move inward internally, meet one's soul self, who's waiting for, who's waiting for, and then live their life from within out.

00:42:26.450 --> 00:42:29.809
That's going to be the game changer.

00:42:29.809 --> 00:42:33.730
That was the game changer for me.

00:42:33.730 --> 00:42:49.650
That would be the game changer for anyone to stop um and it and it's not like it's an easy thing, it's not like it's gonna happen overnight, but let's become aware that we are being driven by our egos, and we may not think it, you know.

00:42:49.650 --> 00:42:51.170
We think, oh no, not at all.

00:42:51.170 --> 00:42:53.490
Yeah, you are, you are programmed.

00:42:53.490 --> 00:42:55.010
No, no, I'm in no good.

00:42:55.010 --> 00:42:56.850
I know, yeah, you are conditioned.

00:42:57.410 --> 00:42:58.930
It's a subconscious thing, right?

00:42:58.930 --> 00:42:59.490
Exactly.

00:42:59.490 --> 00:43:00.289
Exactly.

00:43:00.289 --> 00:43:01.170
Subconscious.

00:43:01.170 --> 00:43:02.210
We may not realize it.

00:43:02.210 --> 00:43:03.090
Exactly.

00:43:03.730 --> 00:43:04.610
You got it.

00:43:04.769 --> 00:43:05.010
Wow.

00:43:05.410 --> 00:43:05.809
Exactly.

00:43:05.809 --> 00:43:07.010
That would be my advice.

00:43:07.010 --> 00:43:09.090
You know, putting on the back seat.

00:43:09.090 --> 00:43:12.850
I mean, it has a general purpose, it's just not the general.

00:43:13.170 --> 00:43:14.769
Flip the script, as they say.

00:43:14.769 --> 00:43:16.130
Just flip it, right?

00:43:16.289 --> 00:43:19.010
Yeah, we really, yeah, flip the script.

00:43:19.250 --> 00:43:19.890
I love that.

00:43:19.890 --> 00:43:20.370
Great.

00:43:20.370 --> 00:43:21.329
I love that, Queen.

00:43:21.329 --> 00:43:22.130
That's wonderful.

00:43:22.130 --> 00:43:28.210
So, as we wrap up, what's one piece of encouragement or advice you would give to educators and instructional designers?

00:43:28.210 --> 00:43:48.690
Oh boy, if I can talk to educators and instructional designers who want to make a lasting impact, like you mentioned, whether they're just starting out or looking for fresh ways to connect with learners, whether it's the gen generation alpha that we talked about, or even um, you know, like someone like me that's teaching college classes or high school classes, you know, or something like that.

00:43:48.930 --> 00:43:49.250
Yeah.

00:43:49.250 --> 00:43:53.650
You know, to connect to your learners, you got to tell them who they are.

00:43:53.650 --> 00:43:56.370
You know, tell them who they are.

00:43:56.370 --> 00:43:58.130
They may they may not know.

00:43:58.130 --> 00:44:01.650
Generation alpha don't know that they're generation alpha.

00:44:01.650 --> 00:44:12.210
They don't know that they were the first, you know, to be born in the 21st century, that they're the children of the millennials, that they're the the um largest generation in the history of the world.

00:44:12.210 --> 00:44:14.450
See, and the teachers didn't know that either.

00:44:14.450 --> 00:44:22.530
So not knowing who you're teaching uh will keep you from actually connecting with them.

00:44:22.530 --> 00:44:23.170
Right.

00:44:23.170 --> 00:44:37.170
Um so if you're teaching um uh uh college, then I I I believe you may be teaching uh at this stage, I'm not sure, it may be uh generation Z.

00:44:37.170 --> 00:44:43.250
Um so here here's my thing.

00:44:43.250 --> 00:44:49.010
Who whatever generation that you're teaching, go do a deep dive on it.

00:44:49.010 --> 00:44:56.210
Just go Google um what generation is uh I don't know, a 22-year-old.

00:44:56.210 --> 00:44:58.210
What generation is that?

00:44:58.210 --> 00:45:11.170
And then um do a deep dive, find out a little bit about them, and then you know, find out how and and in in finding that out, you'll find out how how to connect with them in your own way.

00:45:11.170 --> 00:45:14.769
You will learn a little bit more about who you're teaching.

00:45:14.769 --> 00:45:21.250
You would tell them a little bit more about who they are, and um, there's the connection right there.

00:45:21.250 --> 00:45:21.890
I love that.

00:45:21.890 --> 00:45:27.650
You know them, you've connected to them, you've told them something about themselves that they don't know.

00:45:27.890 --> 00:45:28.610
That's great.

00:45:28.610 --> 00:45:29.490
I love that.

00:45:29.490 --> 00:45:37.730
Yeah, because I it's funny because I the university that I work for, we teach uh undergraduate, graduate, doctoral students.

00:45:37.730 --> 00:45:41.730
So we have a whole gener uh multiple generations, right?

00:45:41.730 --> 00:46:01.090
Yeah, so it's amazing because the way we teach undergraduate students that are coming out of high school, right, that are on the ground campus, we're gonna approach them differently than how we approach graduate students that are working adults taking online classes, and then also how we approach those doctoral students that are professionals working in the field.

00:46:01.329 --> 00:46:01.970
Absolutely, yeah.

00:46:01.970 --> 00:46:06.210
The connection will come in the knowing of who they are.

00:46:06.530 --> 00:46:06.930
Exactly.

00:46:06.930 --> 00:46:08.610
And then you can connect with them.

00:46:08.610 --> 00:46:09.970
Absolutely.

00:46:09.970 --> 00:46:14.769
And then when it comes to, like you said, Generation Z, the generation alpha, right?

00:46:14.769 --> 00:46:35.809
Knowing each of those generations, and you may have uh a mixture of of those, um, not so much, you know, in the middle school because you know they're in that, you know, that generation alpha now, but when you get into those higher levels, like I have I have someone that I know that teaches high school, but she teaches multiple uh grades.

00:46:35.809 --> 00:46:47.970
And so I'm like, well, yeah, you have to kind of you know they may be in the same generation, but you have to know that your your um ninth graders are going to need have different needs than your 10th and 11th graders, right?

00:46:48.289 --> 00:46:50.530
Absolutely, absolutely, right?

00:46:50.690 --> 00:46:53.250
So being able to understand them, I love that idea.

00:46:53.250 --> 00:46:54.530
That's great, yeah.

00:46:54.530 --> 00:47:00.370
Because I I have one student I learned the other day in my class right now, and she's she told me her age in a message.

00:47:00.370 --> 00:47:03.970
She's like, I'm 45, and I'm like, Well, I guess I'm gonna tell my age.

00:47:03.970 --> 00:47:05.890
I'm 47, going on 48.

00:47:05.890 --> 00:47:08.050
So she's her and I are in the same generation.

00:47:08.289 --> 00:47:11.329
So the right the connection right there.

00:47:11.329 --> 00:47:15.730
And and and say what say, oh wow, we're both generation, bam.

00:47:15.730 --> 00:47:21.250
And from that, the here here's some unique, here's some unique things about us.

00:47:21.250 --> 00:47:26.130
Here's some unique things about, you know, uh uh uh how we learn.

00:47:26.130 --> 00:47:27.010
Yeah, right.

00:47:27.010 --> 00:47:29.650
And once again, there's connection.

00:47:29.650 --> 00:47:31.730
Tell them who they are, right?

00:47:31.730 --> 00:47:34.850
And um uh connect with them in that way.

00:47:35.170 --> 00:47:35.490
Right.

00:47:35.490 --> 00:47:36.210
I love that.

00:47:36.210 --> 00:47:36.930
That's great.

00:47:36.930 --> 00:47:40.289
And it was neat too because she's going for her second master's.

00:47:40.289 --> 00:47:49.250
I've I have my second master's, so uh it's it's interesting because in the last topic of the class, uh, we're now in topic five.

00:47:49.250 --> 00:47:53.329
These are short classes, not like yours are yours is 12 weeks, ours are six months.

00:47:53.329 --> 00:47:56.050
So they're like they're they're like half of that.

00:47:56.050 --> 00:47:57.250
So they go by really fast.

00:47:57.250 --> 00:47:58.370
So we're in topic five.

00:47:58.370 --> 00:48:08.050
But last week they had a a group assignment where they had to get together, uh come up with two mutually agreed upon times that they could get together.

00:48:08.050 --> 00:48:16.769
And since my students are all over the country, they're from I have a student in Hawaii, and then I have students on the East Coast in the United States, so all over the place.

00:48:16.769 --> 00:48:18.769
So I tried to put them in groups.

00:48:18.769 --> 00:48:25.730
Uh, so because I had nine students, I put them in three groups of three, because usually the sweet spot is three to four, right?

00:48:25.730 --> 00:48:25.970
Okay.

00:48:25.970 --> 00:48:29.090
You don't want it, you know, that's a sweet spot.

00:48:29.090 --> 00:48:49.490
So I tried to group them in uh as best I could by time zone, but it wasn't easy because I had again students all over the place, but I did one group all on the East Coast, and then I had one group with the student in Hawaii and then a student in California because I knew, okay, that's still three hours difference, but it's on the same side.

00:48:49.490 --> 00:48:56.530
If I was to do Hawaii and someone in New York, that would be uh how many hours difference?

00:48:56.530 --> 00:48:57.570
Six hours difference?

00:48:57.570 --> 00:48:59.010
Wow, that would be a lot.

00:48:59.010 --> 00:49:01.570
So I'm like, that's not gonna work for them to set up something.

00:49:01.570 --> 00:49:05.570
So I tried to at least kind of do my best to group them together.

00:49:05.570 --> 00:49:14.130
But this one student that I talked with, she's like, I'm really nervous about doing these group assignments, this group assignment because I rely on my work and what I'm doing.

00:49:14.130 --> 00:49:16.130
And I'm I get it, I understand that.

00:49:16.130 --> 00:49:30.370
Because when I when I got my uh bachelor's and then my first master's, my MBA, I went to the University of Phoenix and they had learning teams, which were group group projects that was required in every class that we had to do that.

00:49:30.370 --> 00:49:32.289
And it it made a lot of us nervous.

00:49:32.289 --> 00:49:33.570
We're like, how is this gonna work?

00:49:33.570 --> 00:49:38.130
And we're going to school in person, we're meeting in person, and we still had problems.

00:49:38.130 --> 00:49:41.730
Then you add the online complexity, and that makes it even harder.

00:49:41.730 --> 00:49:45.809
So I I I just came down to her level and I resonated with that.

00:49:45.809 --> 00:49:54.210
And I I let my students know, I've been there, I understand what that's like, putting yourself in their shoes and saying, I understand that, but I'm there to support you.

00:49:54.210 --> 00:49:57.490
And it made all the difference because they connected.

00:49:57.490 --> 00:49:58.289
You understood that.

00:49:58.289 --> 00:49:59.809
Yeah.

00:49:59.809 --> 00:50:06.850
So I think connecting with our our learners and our students, uh, even if we're not in the same generation, if we are, that's great.

00:50:06.850 --> 00:50:12.690
But if we're not, I mean, just just having that acknowledge puts you right, you know, puts you, you know, one up for sure.00:50:12.690 --> 00:50:14.050


Absolutely, right.00:50:14.050 --> 00:50:21.570


It really, yeah, puts you in the in that uh it gives you that opportunity to really uh take your curriculum to the next level, right?00:50:21.570 --> 00:50:26.450


Um with the students and and bringing that in fresh new ways to them.00:50:26.450 --> 00:50:27.329


So I love that.00:50:27.329 --> 00:50:28.289


Great.00:50:28.289 --> 00:50:29.490


Oh, that's wonderful.00:50:29.490 --> 00:50:31.970


And I I'm so excited about your curriculum, Queen.00:50:31.970 --> 00:50:36.850


I I think it's like you said, your your hope and your dream is to take it worldwide.00:50:36.850 --> 00:50:38.850


And I have no doubt that you're gonna do that.00:50:38.850 --> 00:50:40.289


So that's great.00:50:40.289 --> 00:50:46.210


I love it, especially especially since you're integrating the AI, because Oh, absolutely.00:50:46.210 --> 00:50:47.329


I have to.00:50:47.329 --> 00:50:48.850


I have to, right.00:50:49.010 --> 00:50:54.930


And I can tell you that I had to do that deep dive in order to survive because that's where we are.00:50:54.930 --> 00:50:55.490


Period.00:50:55.490 --> 00:50:56.130


Exactly.00:50:56.289 --> 00:50:57.410


Yeah, exactly.00:50:57.410 --> 00:50:59.809


Yeah, and we're doing it at the college level.00:50:59.809 --> 00:51:11.809


So for example, I had this class I'm teaching, this six-week class, it we just revised this program, this instructional design program that I teach in, and all the classes got revised as well.00:51:11.809 --> 00:51:15.730


And they have incorporated AI technology all throughout the courses.00:51:15.730 --> 00:51:19.650


Yeah, so it's amazing.00:51:19.650 --> 00:51:22.370


Uh, I think you would enjoy this one assignment my students did.00:51:22.370 --> 00:51:24.370


It's about situational leadership.00:51:24.370 --> 00:51:34.850


And they actually had to take the different readiness styles of situational leadership, and they had to, and it the assignment actually gave them prompts to put into an AI tool like ChatGPT.00:51:34.850 --> 00:51:43.410


And so what they did was they put that in there and it said to uh so it basically said to the AI with the prompt, I'm the instructional designer.00:51:43.410 --> 00:51:59.970


You're so they you could even say I'm the educator, but it said I'm the instructional designer, and I am um, you need to, and they in it at the prompt directed the AI to act as the individual, the employee, and say, okay, here's where you're at.00:51:59.970 --> 00:52:01.730


You need to act like the employee.00:52:01.730 --> 00:52:10.289


So it had different readiness styles, and then the student had to interact with that particular quote unquote employee, right?00:52:10.289 --> 00:52:11.890


Which is what AI was playing.00:52:11.890 --> 00:52:13.090


And it was really interesting.00:52:13.090 --> 00:52:18.370


They had to actually submit screenshots showing the conversations, those conversation screenshots.00:52:18.370 --> 00:52:20.850


Um of their interaction.00:52:20.850 --> 00:52:22.130


Right, and their process.00:52:22.130 --> 00:52:36.610


And then they did uh a reflection and they wrote what what that process was like, what they would uh what went well, what they would do differently, and then uh what was the easiest readiness style to work with, what was the hardest and why.00:52:36.610 --> 00:52:39.329


And it was it was fascinating to see that.00:52:39.329 --> 00:52:52.530


Um and then this week they're working on an assignment where they have to create an e-learning module and they have to utilize AI to help them kind of come up with some of the content and refine it.00:52:52.530 --> 00:52:58.050


And then, of course, they they refine it with the AI, and then it's gonna be their own work at the end.00:52:58.050 --> 00:53:01.410


But it's really amazing to see how they're utilizing it.00:53:01.410 --> 00:53:07.490


And this is something they'll do in the workplace because I use I utilize AI every day in my work with curriculum development.00:53:07.490 --> 00:53:08.450


Right.00:53:08.450 --> 00:53:09.730


It's amazing.00:53:09.730 --> 00:53:10.370


I love it.00:53:10.370 --> 00:53:12.050


So it's great.00:53:12.050 --> 00:53:18.530


So you're you're definitely you're on target to uh to make a difference, and so I'm excited about that.00:53:18.530 --> 00:53:30.210


So I look forward to you know hearing more about that as you move forward with that and and and you're and you make those refinements and and adjustments to your curriculum and roll it out.00:53:30.210 --> 00:53:32.289


So that'll be great.00:53:32.289 --> 00:53:35.170


So I'm looking forward to hearing after the 12 weeks how that goes.00:53:35.170 --> 00:53:37.570


So okay, yep, maybe started.00:53:37.570 --> 00:53:38.850


I'm so excited.00:53:38.850 --> 00:53:45.410


So maybe uh maybe in a couple months you can come back on and we can maybe do a little bit of talk about what you learned.00:53:45.410 --> 00:53:45.650


Yeah.00:53:45.650 --> 00:53:47.090


Oh Jackie, that'll be great.00:53:47.090 --> 00:53:48.690


That'll be great.00:53:48.690 --> 00:53:54.289


I love that because then we can dig into maybe some of those things that you those light bulb moments, right?00:53:54.370 --> 00:54:00.610


Some of those things that you take away while while integrating uh AI into the curriculum.00:54:00.610 --> 00:54:00.850


Right.00:54:00.850 --> 00:54:01.809


That's what you say.00:54:01.809 --> 00:54:05.010


The the content is there, the curriculum is there.00:54:05.010 --> 00:54:05.809


Exactly.00:54:05.809 --> 00:54:19.730


You know, now I there's an integration and an understanding on my part as to how to uh the best way to integrate that would be you know best for you know for the uh for the students.00:54:19.730 --> 00:54:20.130


Yeah.00:54:20.130 --> 00:54:20.769


I love that.00:54:20.769 --> 00:54:21.570


I'm on my way.00:54:22.210 --> 00:54:36.289


I think my listeners would really appreciate that because then they can uh they can see what your process was, what you know, you took uh you're taking this class, what your takeaways are, and then how you're how you're planning on updating your curriculum.00:54:36.289 --> 00:54:41.570


What areas do you see where you can make those refinements and add the AI into it?00:54:41.570 --> 00:54:52.210


Because I think uh that would help with a lot of my listeners, because I would say about 80% of my students are K through 12 educators, they're looking to move out of the classroom and transition out.00:54:52.210 --> 00:55:02.610


So I think that would be great because if they're still in the classroom, you know, while they're in their master's program, they still have to be able to work on curriculum and make those changes.00:55:02.610 --> 00:55:03.329


That's right.00:55:03.329 --> 00:55:04.210


That is great.00:55:04.210 --> 00:55:05.250


That is correct.00:55:05.250 --> 00:55:06.690


Yeah, so that would be great.00:55:06.690 --> 00:55:07.410


I'd love that.00:55:07.410 --> 00:55:08.690


Wonderful.00:55:08.690 --> 00:55:13.890


Well, thank you so much, Queen, for sharing your insights and your experiences with my audience and with me today.00:55:13.890 --> 00:55:16.370


I I well, thank you for having me, Jackie.00:55:16.450 --> 00:55:17.570


I really appreciate it.00:55:17.730 --> 00:55:18.050


Absolutely.00:55:18.450 --> 00:55:20.450


And again, like I say, it's been an honor.00:55:20.690 --> 00:55:31.650


Yeah, so I know the wisdom that you offered uh from your creative pursuits to your practical strategies, everything in between that will no doubt inspire and encourage my listeners in their own journeys as well.00:55:31.650 --> 00:55:33.170


So it's been wonderful.00:55:33.170 --> 00:55:42.690


And I know we'll stay connected and we'll have you back on the show because when someone comes on my show once, it it's it ends up becoming a regular thing.00:55:42.690 --> 00:55:45.809


It's like, yes, why want I want you back, I want you back on the show again.00:55:45.809 --> 00:55:48.050


So I love it.00:55:48.050 --> 00:55:50.130


Well, like once again, thank you, Queen.00:55:50.130 --> 00:55:50.769


I appreciate it.00:55:50.769 --> 00:55:52.210


And thank you, Jackie.00:55:52.289 --> 00:55:59.090


And you finish having a good rest of your day, and I'm gonna go ahead and enjoy this beautiful rainfall that's taking place.00:55:59.329 --> 00:55:59.570


Yes.00:55:59.570 --> 00:56:06.530


Hopefully it'll clear the skies out and it'll uh you know, I love the the smell of fresh rain.00:56:06.530 --> 00:56:07.410


Fresh rain.00:56:07.410 --> 00:56:21.809


Yeah, and just that, oh, I love when the sky the moment I love, I don't know about you, but I love the moment when the sky clears and you see the blue sky and you're just like, wow, it's just oh, and and yeah, everything about after the rain, it's just beautiful.00:56:22.610 --> 00:56:23.890


Yes, yeah, great.00:56:24.050 --> 00:56:29.170


Well, enjoy the rest of your your weekend and try to stay dry at least as much as you can.00:56:29.170 --> 00:56:31.329


All right, hon, you take care now.00:56:31.329 --> 00:56:32.530


All right, you too, Queen.00:56:32.530 --> 00:56:33.090


Thank you so much.00:56:33.090 --> 00:56:34.050


Alright, Han.00:56:34.050 --> 00:56:34.530


Bye.00:56:34.530 --> 00:56:38.930


Thank you for taking some time to listen to this podcast episode today.00:56:38.930 --> 00:56:41.170


Your support means the world to me.00:56:41.170 --> 00:56:49.890


If you'd like to help keep the podcast going, you can share it with a friend or colleague, leave a heartfelt review, or offer a monetary contribution.00:56:49.890 --> 00:56:55.730


Every act of support, big or small, makes a difference, and I'm truly thankful for you.

Queen Michele Profile Photo

Author, Blogger, Creator

Meet Queen D. Michele ~ Author, Blogger, Creator
I created a mindfulness curriculum for 7th-9th-grade students of Generation Alpha, titled 52 Insights for Gen Alpha: A Conscious Curriculum. The curriculum focuses on self-awareness through activities that foster mindfulness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness, and conscious decision-making.

📢 Call-To-Action:
~ View the 16-chapter blog, "My Soul's Journey Home"
~ Donate monetarily to the nonprofit's mission
~ Order any of my publications that resonate