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?

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📢 Call-to-Action: 

• View the 16-chapter blog, “My Soul’s Journey Home”
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Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Queen Michelle & Her Mission
• 3:20 Why Retire Abroad: Cost, Community, Climate
• 5:24 Spiritual Awakening and Writing the Books
• 9:07 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

Transcript

Speaker 01: 0:00

Hello, and welcome to the Designing with Love Podcast. I am your host, Jackie Pelegrin, where my goal is to bring you information, tips, and tricks as an instructional designer. Hello, instructional designers and educators. Welcome to episode 86 of the Designing with Love Podcast. I'm thrilled to have Queen Michele with me today. 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. Welcome to the show, Queen. Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 00: 0:47

I appreciate I'm honored to be here.

Speaker 01: 0:50

Yes, and I'm honored to have you as well. I'm so glad that we we got connected on Podmatch. I always try to mention whenever I connect with guests on PodMatch. And so it's it's a great platform. So I'm really glad that we got to connect there. So I'm giving my little shout out to Podmatch there. I love it. 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?

Speaker 00: 1:18

Well, thanks for that question, Jackie. I tell you, um, I am I feel right now that I'm amongst peers. You know, I'm amongst those who uh are in the educational um arena. I myself am a retired elementary and middle school teacher, 27 years. Also, within that 27 years, I did some, I did some administration as well. And I've taught across the country, uh certified in Michigan, Nevada, and Georgia. I've worked in private, public, charter, and magnet school uh arenas. But I retired uh and after 27 years uh while living in Atlanta in 2015. 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. I mean, the the rent paid for uh uh the uh pension paid for my my rent. And we just had a huge blast. I was just gonna say, I just heard that. The nurse just cracked open. I'm here in uh Chiapas, uh Mexico, in a lovely town called San Cristobal de la Casas. And um the sky just cracked open and it is starting to rain. So that's what you actually heard was thunder.

Speaker 01: 2:54

That was a big crack of thunder, yes. I know it was now it's raining. 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?

Speaker 00: 3:08

Well, it kind of did, it kind of threw me off for a minute. I mean, it cracked the sky open, and now it's raining. Wow.

Speaker 01: 3:15

Well, hopefully everything will be okay and it won't be.

Speaker 00: 3:19

We're gonna be fine. We're gonna be fine. But that kind of moves me right in. It's a segue right into you, you're in Mexico? 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. I'm gonna always have to supplement my pension. And I tell you, Jackie, I didn't want to be 70 years old saying, Welcome to Walmart.

Speaker 02: 3:43

You know?

Speaker 00: 3:44

Yeah. You we see them everywhere, you know, and in at airports, driving Ubers, you know, working in retail. 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. They have to. And that um I started researching the top 10 places to retire. And this is back in 2016. And then I landed in a place in Mexico in the state of Jalisco. 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. It's called Lake Chipala. 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. Expat being, of course, expatriate, those who are citizens of one country but reside in another. And it and moving there pretty much checked all the boxes for me. 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. And then the climate was the next one, the box that was checked because it's eternally spring there. Now it's a wet spring and a dry spring, but spring nonetheless. 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. Wow, and so it was there, Jackie, that I uh I discovered a whole new uh way of being, living, living my purpose actually. Yeah, in in that in that time living there in Lake Chipala, uh, I had a spiritual awakening. I I started a brand, I started writing books, several books. 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.

Speaker 01: 6:19

Wow. 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. And like you said, it's it's mere survival, right? 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? So I like that.

Speaker 00: 6:45

Absolutely correct, Jackie. 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. But here's the thing with that I would only be working to pay bills, right? See, there would be no weekend getaways, there would be no fine dining or or concerts. 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.

Speaker 01: 7:28

Right, yeah, that's that's amazing. You took control of your life in that way. I love that. 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? That's what's so important about what you do now. 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?

Speaker 00: 7:57

Um see, here's the thing, and and that's just it. Sometimes you don't even know. 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. Here I am, I'm I'm living in in uh Lake Chipala, living in paradise, okay. And I, you know, had wrote uh several books, and I was really on this train of thought. Uh, had just written a book called 52 Insights for Living New Earth Now. Okay, and and I was getting ready to do an eight-month uh workshop, you know, every uh third Saturday from 10 to 3. I had called the gurus from around the lake uh together, the guru of meditation, the guru of movement, the guru of art. And then, of course, it was uh my books. It was uh the workshop was gonna be called Your Soul, uh, The Soul's Journey. Okay, the Soul's Journey. And I gave a presentation and and and people had signed up, and we were getting ready to start that. Uh I was the beginning of 2022. And then I got the call. I got the call that uh my parents were in dire straits back in Detroit, Michigan, where I was born and raised. Pop is 99, was 99 uh with dementia. Mom was uh 86 with her own set of uh medical issues. They had both left the house via ambulance within a week of each other. When I got there, when I got there, uh they were both in rehab. He was on one end of the hallway and she was on the other. Now, I I have two older brothers, dumb and dumber, and um I thought that everything was being, you know, handled. 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. I became my parents' full-time caregiver uh there uh back in my hometown of Detroit. Now, here I am. I spent three and a half years and four consecutive winters in Detroit. Now, mom and pop, they passed away within 10 months of each other in 2022. But mind you, when I came there, all that work that I had done, I had I kind of put that aside, right? I mean, I just put it down, I, you know, rolled up my sleeves, became their caregiver, and that was that was my life. You know, it kind of changed the trajectory of my life in that moment.

Speaker 02: 11:19

Right.

Speaker 00: 11:20

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. And I thought to myself, oh wow, that'd be a nice gift. I mean, it's just sitting there, it's a great book. I gave her that book and a bottle of wine and a candle, you know. Happy birthday, niece. Right. She thumbed through that book and she said, Oh, Auntie, she said, this would be great uh uh for high school. Now, my my niece is a uh, among other things, uh she's a high school basketball, uh girls basketball coach. And you know, she's thumbing through the book and she's saying this would be great. And you know, I kind of got this this little nudge from the insight, you know, kind of like a little ding-ding-ding. And I thought, you know what, you're right. It would be, you know, just thinking about the material and the content of it. 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. Well, you know, I was thinking it might be good for high school, and and she's a retired uh educator and administrator herself. She said, No. She said that would be perfect for middle school. And when she said that, I tell you, I exploded on the inside. You don't know. I talk about the ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Yeah. But my thought was, who's middle school? Who is middle school in this time and and and and moment in time, right? 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. Uh, had I known that, I probably would have messed it up. It always was for Generation Alpha. Wow. You know, so that's amazing. Coming to that uh understanding, um, that was the the the transformative off the the authenticity of the the curriculum itself. Right. Because again, like I said, I never I never thought it would be for Jen Alpha. And here's the thing who's Gen Alpha? Right. Who are they? Well, I took that deep dive. And Jen Alpha uh was born between 2010 and 2024. Matter of fact, the oldest of that generation just turned 13 last year. They are the children of the millennials and some exes who got in there kind of late. They are the first generation to be born fully in the 21st century. What that means, Jackie, is that uh generation alpha uh is was clicking and swiping in infancy. 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. Sesame Street went off, the TV went off, you know, but their world is that of 24-7 external stimuli. 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. Oh wow, I I can get the dishes done, I can get a meal on it. I I can. It became all of that. 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. 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. Alpha is uh means beginning. Generation alpha is responsible for the conscious evolution of humanity. They are an extremely important generation, but we're dropping the ball with them. 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. The curriculum focuses on self-awareness through activities uh that foster mindfulness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness, and conscious decision making. 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.

unknown: 17:45

Right.

Speaker 00: 17:46

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. We're not going, but they are. And right there are certain tools in which they need in order to navigate that world. See, it's always been so it's everything has been external, you know, um, nothing has cut off. 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. Let's put a class in there, like we had different classes to help us with our work. 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.

Speaker 01: 18:51

Wow, I love that. That's great. You you saw that need, and and uh it was by no accident. Um by no accident, yeah. No, uh, I think I think that was your light bulb moment. 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. And we talked about that several times, the light bulb moment. 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?

Speaker 00: 19:25

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. I piloted the uh program in two different middle schools, and boy, did I learn a lot. 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. 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. 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. That's all they do is put out fires. 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. 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. They are in platforms and in spaces that their parents don't even understand. 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. 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. Absolutely, yeah. That's one of the things I discovered. 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. 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. Again, because of that statement I made, consciousness can't uh the unconscious can't teach consciousness. Uh in in that respect. So I have taken um, I'm in a 12-week course. 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. Oh wow, that's exciting. I am over the moon excited. 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. The content is already there, you know, the design and the structure and all of that is there, but it's missing AI. And without an integration of AI, and without that, um, again, it's not marketable or consumable. So I am in class now. I've just started the um, I just started the class. 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. 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? Right how about that auto stuff? How about just something that helps them navigate? Right. Yeah, absolutely. Where they're going.

Speaker 01: 24:35

Yeah, because they you know, they they need to be prepared not only uh, you know, that this uh the middle schoolers, right? 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.

Speaker 00: 24:56

It's like no, it doesn't have to the oldest of that generation alpha, they just turned 13 last year. They just turned 13. 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.

Speaker 01: 25:18

Right.

Speaker 00: 25:18

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. This is a piece that's now needed. It wasn't needed before, but it's needed now. Generation Alpha, they're a different breed. They are a different breed. So let's give you some by the time they get to me.

Speaker 01: 25:53

Yeah, by the time they get to me in in college, I want them to be able to write well.

Speaker 00: 25:58

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. 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. 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.

Speaker 01: 26:46

Wow. 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? 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. So that's great. I love that. So as you know, many of my listeners are educators and instructional designers like myself. We're always look, yeah. So we're always looking for ways to reach this new generation of learners. 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? And we're trying to understand them. Yeah. 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? 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? Because, like you said earlier, we can't treat them like we've treated other generations. We have to treat them differently.

Speaker 00: 28:04

They are so they are so uh different. Remember, here we are with a student in that classroom who has been swiping and clicking since infancy. Okay, and so they they they come in. So here's one one, this is something, this is an uh uh an exercise or an activity. 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. Here's an exercise, and and and and maybe your audience to do it with me really quick. 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. 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. So they come in and it's 446. 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. Um the more advanced students, like say my middle middle schoolers, I would love to uh take a word. Remember, we're working with emotional intelligence, we're working with uh conscious decision making. 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.

Speaker 01: 30:02

Uh uh calm, yeah.

Speaker 00: 30:08

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. Okay, so we're gonna take I'm gonna take three words. I'm gonna take um calm. Okay. Uh I'm going to take peace uh and I'm going to take uh focus. Okay. But take those three words. Now, those are words that we'll breathe in. Now, um, what we're going to breathe out would be uh let's say agitation, um uh fear, uh and um maybe anger. Let's just go ahead and say anger, and I'm just throwing these off the top of my head. All right, so class is about to begin. Now remember this is 446. All right, so you're gonna breathe in. Um, all right, um, guys, today to work um our words today. We're ready to get started with 446. Here we go, and breathe in. Now they already know to breathe in four times. When I say breathe in, breathe in calm, breathe out anger. Now you've breathed in calm, you held it for four seconds, and you breathed out anger. Okay, right. Breathe in peace, breathe out fear, breathe in focus, breathe out anxiety. Now, after a while, and and then now then we'll get started with our day. But after a while, the kids will start leading that themselves. They'll come up with the words. Right. Yeah. Who's who's leading 446 this morning? Who's leading for let's go? Let's get to the show. So you just yeah, you rotate it between the students, right? And let them take it. They come up with their words. Oh, absolutely. They have to own it. See, that's that's self-management, you know, because and then that's something that they'll take with them. They will know how to get back centered when they are in those places, you know. And and and anxiety and fear and anger, those kind of things are recognized, validated. Right, but uh, also released. Also released. You know, so that's that's just one simple, and that can go across all learning styles. 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. It's a whole again, a whole curriculum. Uh 52 weeks. Uh uh actually. So this this this program wouldn't even be done in a year. They'll come back the second, the you know, the next year and finish it up. And it's this specifically designed for seventh, eighth, and ninth graders. That 12-year-old, that 13-year-old, and that 14-year-old. That generation of generation alpha. It's my hope. 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. It's just a class, you know, not trying to change anybody's um way of being. Jackie? Yes, yeah. Okay, I thought for a minute, I thought I lost you. That's okay.

Speaker 01: 33:48

That's okay. With the storm going on, you want to make sure you're still connected. Yeah, I get that. No, I know. I know, because we're we're in such we're in such a good conversation. We want to make sure we don't lose that, right? Wow. 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. I'll kind of look it up a little bit and get more information on it. 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. 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.

Speaker 00: 34:37

Flooding can definitely take place. Right. But I I I hope I answered your question again. Absolutely that you were able to hear me.

Speaker 01: 34:44

I love that. 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?

Speaker 00: 34:52

Those negative thoughts before class even begins.

Speaker 01: 34:55

Absolutely. 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. And like you said, it's a tool.

Speaker 00: 35:09

And that's what you know, this curriculum does. 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? Completely. You know, so let's let's give them let's give them some tools, you know, to help them navigate that.

Speaker 01: 35:27

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. How how much did how much better will that make their relationships with others? Not my I mean just not just with their classmates, but with their teachers and their uh their parents and other family members. 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. So you're you're setting, we're setting them up for for a good life. And yeah, and I love that. 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. Yeah, it's so it's uh I think it's something that educators have um missed out on.

Speaker 00: 36:27

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. She begins, and then there's no time for embracing just that moment of breath work, you know. 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. And then I say, hey, teach them to breathe. The teacher's not even breathing. That's what I mean by, you know, unconscious can't teach consciousness.

Speaker 01: 37:12

Right, exactly. I love that. 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. You're like, Yep, I love it. That's that's a practical strategy right away that they can implement it. Right away. Yeah, absolutely. It's so easy right before class starts, just do that and get them used to it. And and I love that idea of letting the the kids take ownership of it. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 00: 37:46

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. You know how we used to go into class and someone would lead the pleasant pledge of allegiance, you know, that starters off. 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. Well, someone starts off with the breath work, you know.

Speaker 01: 38:13

Same thing. Yeah, that's great. 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. 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. 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? 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? Right. 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?

Speaker 00: 39:01

That's an excellent question, Jackie. Excellent question, and thank you for asking that. 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. That was ego. Most people are living their lives, and they're living their lives uh through uh an ego-driven perspective. The eagle is in the front seat, the eagle is driving. 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. And then so imagine had I done that. 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. So, because what happened when I moved to Mexico is that I met my soul self. 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. That's that's where the the um uh the brand was born. It was just me meeting my soul self, no longer being driven uh by my uh by my ego. 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. The ego only has three uh jobs, put it that way. The ego has three jobs. The ego is a flight uh and fight or flight, it's a defense mechanism. 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. It's also a thought uh producer, it produces thoughts. Then those when those thoughts coming in your mind, that's ego. 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. The ego is not has a general purpose, but it's not the general. 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. That's going to be the game changer. That was the game changer for me. 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. We think, oh no, not at all. Yeah, you are, you are programmed. No, no, I'm in no good. I know, yeah, you are conditioned.

Speaker 01: 42:57

It's a subconscious thing, right? Exactly. Exactly. Subconscious. We may not realize it. Exactly.

Speaker 00: 43:03

You got it.

Speaker 01: 43:04

Wow.

Speaker 00: 43:05

Exactly. That would be my advice. You know, putting on the back seat. I mean, it has a general purpose, it's just not the general.

Speaker 01: 43:13

Flip the script, as they say. Just flip it, right?

Speaker 00: 43:16

Yeah, we really, yeah, flip the script.

Speaker 01: 43:19

I love that. Great. I love that, Queen. That's wonderful. So, as we wrap up, what's one piece of encouragement or advice you would give to educators and instructional designers? 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.

Speaker 00: 43:48

Yeah. You know, to connect to your learners, you got to tell them who they are. You know, tell them who they are. They may they may not know. Generation alpha don't know that they're generation alpha. 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. See, and the teachers didn't know that either. So not knowing who you're teaching uh will keep you from actually connecting with them. Right. 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. Um so here here's my thing. Who whatever generation that you're teaching, go do a deep dive on it. Just go Google um what generation is uh I don't know, a 22-year-old. What generation is that? 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. You will learn a little bit more about who you're teaching. You would tell them a little bit more about who they are, and um, there's the connection right there. I love that. You know them, you've connected to them, you've told them something about themselves that they don't know.

Speaker 01: 45:27

That's great. I love that. Yeah, because I it's funny because I the university that I work for, we teach uh undergraduate, graduate, doctoral students. So we have a whole gener uh multiple generations, right? 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.

Speaker 00: 46:01

Absolutely, yeah. The connection will come in the knowing of who they are.

Speaker 01: 46:06

Exactly. And then you can connect with them. Absolutely. And then when it comes to, like you said, Generation Z, the generation alpha, right? 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. 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?

Speaker 00: 46:48

Absolutely, absolutely, right?

Speaker 01: 46:50

So being able to understand them, I love that idea. That's great, yeah. 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. She's like, I'm 45, and I'm like, Well, I guess I'm gonna tell my age. I'm 47, going on 48. So she's her and I are in the same generation.

Speaker 00: 47:08

So the right the connection right there. And and and say what say, oh wow, we're both generation, bam. And from that, the here here's some unique, here's some unique things about us. Here's some unique things about, you know, uh uh uh how we learn. Yeah, right. And once again, there's connection. Tell them who they are, right? And um uh connect with them in that way.

Speaker 01: 47:35

Right. I love that. That's great. And it was neat too because she's going for her second master's. 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. These are short classes, not like yours are yours is 12 weeks, ours are six months. So they're like they're they're like half of that. So they go by really fast. So we're in topic five. 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. 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. So I tried to put them in groups. 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? Okay. You don't want it, you know, that's a sweet spot. 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. If I was to do Hawaii and someone in New York, that would be uh how many hours difference? Six hours difference? Wow, that would be a lot. So I'm like, that's not gonna work for them to set up something. So I tried to at least kind of do my best to group them together. 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. And I'm I get it, I understand that. 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. And it it made a lot of us nervous. We're like, how is this gonna work? And we're going to school in person, we're meeting in person, and we still had problems. Then you add the online complexity, and that makes it even harder. So I I I just came down to her level and I resonated with that. 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. And it made all the difference because they connected. You understood that. Yeah. 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. 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. Absolutely, right. 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? Um with the students and and bringing that in fresh new ways to them. So I love that. Great. Oh, that's wonderful. And I I'm so excited about your curriculum, Queen. I I think it's like you said, your your hope and your dream is to take it worldwide. And I have no doubt that you're gonna do that. So that's great. I love it, especially especially since you're integrating the AI, because Oh, absolutely. I have to. I have to, right.

Speaker 00: 50:49

And I can tell you that I had to do that deep dive in order to survive because that's where we are. Period. Exactly.

Speaker 01: 50:56

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and we're doing it at the college level. 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. And they have incorporated AI technology all throughout the courses. Yeah, so it's amazing. Uh, I think you would enjoy this one assignment my students did. It's about situational leadership. 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. 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. 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. You need to act like the employee. So it had different readiness styles, and then the student had to interact with that particular quote unquote employee, right? Which is what AI was playing. And it was really interesting. They had to actually submit screenshots showing the conversations, those conversation screenshots. Um of their interaction. Right, and their process. 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. And it was it was fascinating to see that. 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. And then, of course, they they refine it with the AI, and then it's gonna be their own work at the end. But it's really amazing to see how they're utilizing it. And this is something they'll do in the workplace because I use I utilize AI every day in my work with curriculum development. Right. It's amazing. I love it. So it's great. So you're you're definitely you're on target to uh to make a difference, and so I'm excited about that. 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. So that'll be great. So I'm looking forward to hearing after the 12 weeks how that goes. So okay, yep, maybe started. I'm so excited. 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. Yeah. Oh Jackie, that'll be great. That'll be great. I love that because then we can dig into maybe some of those things that you those light bulb moments, right?

Speaker 00: 53:54

Some of those things that you take away while while integrating uh AI into the curriculum. Right. That's what you say. The the content is there, the curriculum is there. Exactly. 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. Yeah. I love that. I'm on my way.

Speaker 01: 54:22

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. What areas do you see where you can make those refinements and add the AI into it? 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. 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. That's right. That is great. That is correct. Yeah, so that would be great. I'd love that. Wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Queen, for sharing your insights and your experiences with my audience and with me today. I I well, thank you for having me, Jackie.

Speaker 00: 55:16

I really appreciate it.

Speaker 01: 55:17

Absolutely.

Speaker 00: 55:18

And again, like I say, it's been an honor.

Speaker 01: 55:20

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. So it's been wonderful. 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. It's like, yes, why want I want you back, I want you back on the show again. So I love it. Well, like once again, thank you, Queen. I appreciate it. And thank you, Jackie.

Speaker 00: 55:52

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.

Speaker 01: 55:59

Yes. Hopefully it'll clear the skies out and it'll uh you know, I love the the smell of fresh rain. Fresh rain. 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.

Speaker 00: 56:22

Yes, yeah, great.

Speaker 01: 56:24

Well, enjoy the rest of your your weekend and try to stay dry at least as much as you can. All right, hon, you take care now. All right, you too, Queen. Thank you so much. Alright, Han. Bye. Thank you for taking some time to listen to this podcast episode today. Your support means the world to me. 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. Every act of support, big or small, makes a difference, and I'm truly thankful for you.