Summer's in full swing. We hope you're staying cool and not working too hard (though a teacher's job never ends). On with the news:

Smaller schools across the nation are being shuttered to save money, and the students are being sent to larger schools.

Jennifer Corroy writes about the words we use to describe teaching and their effects on teachers and students alike.

Education Week collected some great photos taken by teachers and admins on the last day of school.

Teachers are gearing up for the PARCC assessments. The teachers interviewed for this article, at least, seem to have a positive outlook.

Just a reminder that your efforts are important to your students: Joshua Murguia's former students tell him about their high grades on college writing assignments. Murguia dishes a bit about what motivates him.

We shared a lesson on our blog this week — it's a writing lesson that asks students to create their own lesson plan for teaching something they love. Check it out here, and feel free to share!

Summer vacation? More like summer vocation, am I right?

Thanks for reading, and see you next week!