Why are student-designed summer projects beneficial?

School is important for everyone. The law is that everyone who is born in the United States must attend school. School is a time where you study to get good grades, develop strong bonds with teachers and friends, and having a fun time. During the school year, students get to choose what classes do they want to take. After students select what classes they want to take for next year, they usually get summer assignments or summer projects to prepare them for the upcoming school year. In other states, summer projects or summer assignments are either teacher-designed or student-designed. I always preferred that summer projects should be student-designed because it allows the student to have creativity, an easier way to self-study, and it engages the student's learning.

Doing a project brings astonishing ideas to a student. When the teacher gives a simple task to do a project by using tri-fold display boards, construction paper, and color; it gives the student the freedom of what they want to create. Students grow a mindset of what will help them. Some students do well by being creative because some of them are visual learners. Visual learners understand materials by looking at a specific picture to capture the concept, so it can be a part of their memory. When creative students start coloring; it gives them less stress. Less stress causes to work faster and gives relief, and it helps them to make a nice presentation. Creativity also brings the teachers attention when it's time to present. Teachers will see that these creative students took their time to make a neat artwork and helped them to understand their assignment by designing it themselves.

Self-studying prevents the student to be behind. Self-studying can be hard at first, but once you understand how to do it and manage it; therefore, it becomes easier. Studying by yourself doesn't make you re-read, highlight, and memorize the textbook the whole day. Use different ways to study such as doing projects, making flashcards, or teaching it to a friend. Most of these self-study learners make detailed projects to make it enjoyable for them, and it can make them motivated. For example, you are taking an biology class in the fall. Your assignment says to make a project that makes you notice nature. You come up with a brilliant idea and make a bird feeder. You use creative ideas along the way such as making a bird feeder out of an old milk carton. After that, you put half of the seeds inside and the other half on the ground. To observe your data, you would see which type of birds came to your feeder, what time, and what day of the week. This shows that you noticed nature by motivation and self studying by making data.

During the summer, students learn new material for their future classes. When learning about new knowledge during break, it makes students more engaged. Students don't have a deadline when they can study, so they take it easy by doing it step by step. Since some students get bored over the summer, they get curious to find new things. There are students who make their own projects to see how intelligent they are in that subject. By making projects, students have the will to discover their learning path. They have the time to go out to different museums or national parks for ideas for their project. They notice what they can establish in their future life by observing areas, so then they research more to make their summer project even better. The students designed their own projects by having the time to explore around themselves, making experiments, and taking risks. All of this helps them to engage their learning.

In conclusion, projects should be student-designed because it allows the student to have creativity, an easier way to self-study, and it engages the student's learning. Making summer projects that are student-designed helps learning grow and makes teachers proud of what their students can accomplish. Student-designed projects give no procrastination, spend more time with friends, and manages your time easily. This is why student-designed projects are more beneficial than teacher-designed projects.