For the past few years, teachers have been implementing a new way for students to be still continuing to learn even over the summer break, summer assignments. Summer assignments are, rightfully so, teacher created assignments that are put in play for higher level classes for the purpose to prepare students for what is to come in the following year, as well as, to help them get a good start in grades and knowledge.

Teachers in these higher level classes spend a lot of time teaching material to students and never have enough days in the year to teach it all without cramming it down the throats of their pupils, thus creating the need for the summer assignment. In Advanced Placement classes, teachers want to make sure that students are learning the right material and the right amount of it too, which is why it is much more teacher created and designed then student. In Advanced Placement Language and Composition, the summer assignment consisted of specific instructions to find fifteen different sources for certain topics and write short precis on each one; however, the students were able to choose what sources they used as long as they followed the guidelines. This gave the student a little bit of freedom to choose, while the assignment was still teacher designed. This method was extremely beneficial to the following year once enrolled in the class due to the type of work students were doing right off the bat. Throughout the year, teachers create class work every day for their students to help them on their way to a good grade in the class and a better understanding of the material. No one argues that students should make class work, that wouldn't be practical for the class since they are the ones learning the information. Shouldn't the same be said for the summer assignment due to it being the very first assignment of the year before the class even started?

When teachers let students create their own work, it can become more of a hurting situation rather than a helping situation. There are many different types of students in classroom settings, but a trait most have in common is the apathy to do homework, projects, or class work. Asking a student to complete an assignment over their three month break over the summer is difficult enough; therefore, asking them to design the project themselves and execute it? There is no way they will be prepared to come back to school and preform well in the class. Teachers themselves know the most about the subject they teach, the students take the class to learn said subject from the teacher because they don't know it yet. How could teachers expect students to create an effective summer assignment on a subject they don't know anything about yet? In some respects, student designed projects can be beneficial. Most students possess the resentment of work in general assigned by a teacher; however, maybe if the students were to create the summer assignments themselves, put their own spin on it and make it their own to help them learn the lesson better, it could be beneficial to the teachers having that load off of them for the year to start. Students love freedom, they love to be able to do what they want and control their lives and school work, if they are given the freedom to create their own summer assignment then quite possibly, the outcome might be much more creative and interesting. Yes this could work, giving the students freedom, but it also has been done before and the effect has been, contrary to popular belief, less then stellar. In Pre-Advanced Placement World History, students were required to plan, create, and execute an entire project based off of a topic of their choice relating to world history and present it to the class. It was expected that students would create said project at an Advanced Placement level skill set, that did not go as planned. Students would come into class during work days and do absolutely nothing, treating the block like a study hall, and when it came time to present projects, they had next to nothing, or something that could be done by a sixth grader. Students did not take the assignment seriously and could not be trusted to create projects or assignments on their own. When asked why the poor outcome of the project, students protested with arguments of how it was their assignment to design and how it was unfair of teachers to judge them on their skill set for that even though the real reason was them slacking off to still get a grade; therefore, it is out of question whether or not students should be able to create assignments for themselves, let alone be trusted with the task.

Ever since school has been in session it has been the same way, the teachers create the work and teach, and the students work and learn. Why would we change that now? Students have proven to be untrustworthy in creating their own work on numerous occasions and should not be designing work for subjects they haven't even learned yet. The summer assignments were created for teachers to get students a head start on the upcoming year for the advanced class that they were taking, it is supposed to prepare them for what is to come. The students have not learned this material, the teachers have, lets leave the assignment designing to the ones who know what they are talking about and know how the course is going to go, and the learning up to the students.