Homework during the summer. That is a students worst nightmare. Now, instead of relaxing on a beach, care free, they have to worry about an assignment. Although students might not like this, summer projects are actually really beneficial for them because it helps them stay in learning mode and be ready to learn more when they go back to school. But who should design the projects, students or teachers? If students design the projects it would be a complete waste of time. The idea of this does not make sense at all because teachers are the ones who are supposed to teach and students are the ones who are supposed to learn. Teachers should be the ones designing summer projects because the project will actually help students learn the topic, there will be more stress put on students if they have to create their own project, and the project will help students be prepared for the next school year.

Some might argue that if the kids were allowed to design the project they would chose something that interests them and would make them want to do the assignment. However, this would be very unwise because even though the project would interest them, the topic might still be irrelevant which would eliminate the whole point of the assignment. This is a risk not worth taking because though some kids would design beneficial projects, there would also be those who hate the idea and would pick something easy to get it over with. Along with this, most of the time, teachers give students many choices to pick from. This means that out of all the choices a student can pick one that appeals to them the most making the project less of a chore.

To begin with, giving students a teacher-designed project would be the best thing to do because the project would help students learn the topic. What is a teachers job? To teach. So one is right to think that a teacher-designed project would only serve beneficial to students. For example, if a teacher gives his or her class a book reading project, where they have to read a book and create a presentation about it, the students would read a book that relates back to the class and would make them understand the topic better. By doing this, teachers give students an alternative than sitting in class writing everything on a paper. If a student was given the task of creating a project like this, they would fail to make it beneficial. Teachers are older which means they are wiser so they will create projects based off experience. They know the best ways to teach from the years of teaching. This means that they would only design a project that is beneficial for students.

Moving on, students will go through more stress if they are given the task to create and complete a project rather than the teacher doing it. This is clear to see because 99% of the time it is the teacher giving work so this change can be hard for students to adapt to. For example, if a kid has many activities such as sports and traveling going on during the summer, he will be more worried about the assignment because now he has to think of an original project to create which is harder than just completing one given to you. Students already have to go through the hardship of having a summer assignment. If they were assigned to also creating the project they would have an increase in the level of stress they receive. This is because now they have to do something they are not used to and that is more difficult as well. This type of stress can lead to students losing interests in social activities which in turn can lead to many negative outcomes such as lower grades, family problems, and eventually depression.

Last but not least, teacher-designed projects will lead to students being more prepared for the upcoming school year. Obviously the teacher knows more than the student about the class so they will know what the kid should be studying. For example, if a history teacher knows that next year the class will learn about World War 2 then he or she will assign a project which has the students research World War 2. Where as if students were given the choice to design their own project, the chances of it being related to what they do next year would be very low. This means that when the student goes to school the following year, he or she will not be prepared for what they have to learn. Which leads to them not doing as well as others and having lower grades. Ultimately this is humiliating for the kid and angering because he or she just spent a good part of their summer creating this project which in return has no value. This could all be avoided if teacher-designed projects were given to every student.

All in all, teacher designed-projects prove to serve better than student-designed ones. Teachers are the ones that know all the information about their class. So letting them design the project is the only logical solution. Students should be given teacher-designed projects to complete over the summer because the project will be helpful since the teacher already knows the topic making it so that the students will learn from it, there will be less stress put on students if they are given a project designed by teachers, and the project will help students be prepared for the next school year. Looking at the bigger picture, by not making students create the project it allows them to excel in many aspects of their lives. Not only do the kids do better but so do the people around the students. Teachers should always give students projects that they design.