Articles and news stories are constantly pushing me to consider something new, broaden my perspective, or change the way I look at an issue. My husband likes to joke that my brain explodes with something new on a daily basis. These articles – and the brain explosions that result from them – are so beneficial for me that I wanted to create a place where I could share them, in case you might want to read them, too. Learn more about Things that Made My Brain Explode – and see past posts – here.

Here’s a recent batch of Things that Made my Brain Explode:

Read this first. “It might not seem like much, but I can tell you, for some kids this is everything. We don’t always know which kids these are, but they are there. Trust me.” Now You See Me, Now You Don’t.
Reading is not a race: The virtues of the ‘slow reading’ movement. Read slow. Read fast. Read however you want! Just read.
Trolls hijacked a scientist’s image to attack Katie Bouman. They picked the wrong astrophysicist.
Have you heard about the clean beauty movement? I’ve seen it growing in my social networks, but haven’t given it too much thought. CBS shared a video this week about a Clean Beauty Bill that made it straightforward and easy to understand.
Millennials Are Sick of Drinking. So the next step is to stop meeting in bars and hang out in libraries and bookstores instead, right? Asking for a friend.
“Weingarten wondered why we never ask teachers what they need to do their jobs to best enable student success and then design education policy, funding and school structures around those responses.” Are we killing soul of teaching with treatment of educators?
A 100-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor on How Books Save Lives.
2019’s Teacher Of The Year Teaches Incarcerated Youth At Detention Center. “‘I give my kids empathy, not sympathy, and that’s the key,’ Robinson told The Associated Press. ‘It’s all about empathizing — understanding their situation, but teaching them how to overcome.’ “
How I know My Dying Husband’s Nurses Played Cards. I’m beginning to think that the only way you can know that your job is meaningful, is if a politician under-appreciates it and insults the way you do it. Nurses, teachers have got your back.
24 Books for Anti-Racist Teachers. I’ve got a lot of reading to do.
“This is certainly about more than a bandage.” Appreciation for Dark Brown Flesh-Colored Bandage Goes Viral.
Are you a teacher, librarian, or person responsible for a book fair for your school? This Twitter thread perfectly captures why Scholastic does not deserve your business. I cut ties with the company years ago and never looked back. I vote with my wallet, and my readers deserve better.
Dear (Cis) People Who Put Your Pronouns On Your “Hello My Name Is” Name Tags. I’ve never put my pronouns on my name tag before. I didn’t know it mattered. I will now.
Kids fail a lot in my classes. We take a lot of big risks, try a lot of things out, and do a lot of things wrong. I’ve had about a zillion conversations with kids about failure, and this week I finally published the recipe that I find most successful for the daunting “failure talk”. You can check it out here: We failed. Now what? 10 steps for discussing failure with kids.