What children want you to know to help them feel safe - The ConversationInteresting explainer on childrens' fears, challenges they have in processing and explaining them, and how you can help them understand their emotions and deal with them more effectively.   

Skills the Outdoors Can Teach Your Kids - NatGeoGoing hiking or camping this summer?  While these experience are naturally educational, here are some tips to get even more educational value out of them.

Confident Kids Come From Parents Who Do These 5 Things - FatherlyA worthwhile read on how to help your kids tap into their inner confidence.  Much of it involves modeling healthy behavior and attitudes towards your own strengths and weaknesses, so they can see that their moments of self-doubt are not unique to them.

Scaffold Reflection for Deeper Metacognition and Better Feedback - EdWeekArticle on helping kids understand their own learning processes better by reflecting on them and considering what worked and what didn't.

We need more teachers of color, so why do we use tests that keep them out of the classroom? - The ConversationWe know that standardized testing needs to address the needs of students of color, so it makes sense that standardized teacher tests should do the same.

The lighter side: Parents Share Small Lies They Tell Their Children And It's Shockingly Wholesome - BuzzFeedWe don't link to Buzzfeed often, but this one is hilarious.  Here's one I remember trying myself: "My sister and brother-in-law told their kids that the ice cream truck was actually 'the music truck.' It just drove around the neighborhood playing music for everyone to enjoy."

These Tweets Totally Nail What It’s Like Parenting Teens - Scary MommyMore great "I can associate" social media sharing, this time from parents of teenagers.  Andy Richter shared a great one, "Found a chewed apple core in our shower #teens."