On average, students attend school for roughly nine to ten months, for which their learning is directly teacher-designed. Once summer break arrives, many students tend to fall of the edge, which leads to an inundated feeling when they return during autumn. Incorporating a summer project that is teacher-designed will allow students to receive a more philisophical and educational assignments that creates a challenged mindset to further strengthen their intellectual capacity. Students that have the free will to design a project in their interest allows for more creativity in the project. Students must be challenging both sides of their brains, as one side is mainly arithmetics, and logical thinking, whereas the other is creativity-based. Schools should either incorporate a teacher-designed, or student-designed summer assignment, as both have pros and cons.

I have dealt with summer assignments granted by teachers in my past years, and it has transitioned me into becoming an erudite. With the critical thinking it forces you to adhere to, you have no other reason to grow from that learning experience. For instance, every year in elementary school, we had a summer reading assignment that was not mandated, but highly encouraged; I did not attempt to complete one until the fourth grade. We were assigned to read at least 150 hours during the summer; I did so by reading all of my Geronimo Stilton, Magic Tree House, and Junie B. Jones books. I had feared this "unnecessary" task for summers, but in the end, I had a fervency to continue reading. Many schools frequently incentivize students that complete summer assignment by allowing

"extra credit"; the goal of this is to attract more students to enlongate their reading reperotoir. Some benefits of a teacher-designed summer assignment is that they correlate with the established curriculum, therefore allowing for a coherent transition into the following grade level. Another benefit is the clarity of the desired task for students. For example, reading a teacher's guide for an assignment is naturally more understandable compared to the message of a student. Lastly, a benefit for students receiving a teacher-designed summer assignment is that it keeps them preoccupied in school work, rather than doing some nefarious actions many teenagers at my age commit. As always, there are disadvantages to it being teacher-designed. For instance, it limits the students from a creative outlet that is tailored to their interests, and lacks diversity amongst the students, as typically they complete the same assignment.

Overall, a teacher-designed summer school project in beneficial to students because it: assists in mental maturity, correlates to the curriculum, has clarity, and keeps students preoccupied, but it is also detrimental, as it limits them in many ways.

I have yet to complete a student-based summer assignment yet, during my 11 years in school, but what I can infer is that a student-designed summer assignment is very similar in terms to the benefits and disadvantages of a teacher-designed one. I believe a student-designed summer assignment is truly beneficial to students, as it provides a copious amount of options for them to select. Another reason is that the teachers receive original work, as they are not forced to complete the same task, prompt, etc.. Lastly, this is beneficial because it may generate more interest from students, as it allows them to be creative, rather than being confined to a set task. With all of the benefits, there are still disadvantages. Many students may take advantage of this freedom amongst their task and either limit their effort in it, or dismiss it altogether. Another disadvantage is that it can take longer to grade different projects, as each is formatted, structured, and morally unalike. Lastly, it is detrimental, because it does not offer a focused task that might assist in the following year, as it is only a task to keep the students preoccupied. Overall, a student-designed summer project is beneficial as it allows for a creative outlet to students, but is detrimental as it may not assist in the learnings for the following school year.

The benefits and disadvantages of a teacher-designed and student-designed summer project have been previously addressed. In conclusion, both are a great mechanism many schools should aim to incorporate. Whethern each is beneficial or detrimental solely relies on the teacher and student itself. After providing my reasonated opinions on the topic, I can conclude that I believe a student-based summer project should be incorporated, so that teachers may see what a student has learned in the past school year, through the project, so that they may focus on improving those areas of hardships in the future.