During the course of the school year, students learn and take part of the classroom life. Many take notes, create projects, listen to lectures, take tests, and more. However, by the end of the school year, teachers decide to give out summer projects. These projects can vary from reading textbooks to making a piece of artwork to assure learning during their break. There are many debates and questions about the use of summer projects. A certain question circulates around who should design the project; the teacher or the student. Teachers, however, should design these projects because they are the experts, they control the classroom, and students will put in little to no effort in making the project meaningful.

Teachers should create these projects because they are the experts of the material. Because they are well educated in the subject, they are able to create a project that is both relevant and useful to the students education. For example, my AP US History teacher is well knowledgeable about the history of the United States. Before the school year began, she assigned a project in which a student has to portray freedom in a piece of art. By doing this, she is able to connect freedom in history into a project that can create deep thought towards the subject.

Teachers also control the classroom and decide what to do for the education of their students. As a student, I am able to see the hard work put into teaching a class. My teachers have to create the lessons, teach the information, grade paperwork, and much more. However, there is also the aspect of making sure that the students are controlled enough to have the needed information get across. This goes hand in hand with the knowledge of the teacher in the subject. Due to their position of power and the expertise they acquired, teachers know what to do for the education of students. Some may say that students should design these summer projects in order to exercise freedom and creativity. However, because teachers are the experts and oversee the education of their students in their position, they know what and how to use projects for the students benefit. Both the teacher will exercise their position as a leader and student practice their creativity with the freedom these projects allow for.

Another important aspect of why teachers should create the projects is due to the lack of effort in the project if students create it. Students, after a tiring school year, want to relax during their summer break. By allowing students to design the project, they will create it in an uncaring way in order to get it over with. Students will not put the effort in both designing and finishing the project. This will create no benefit, growth, or thought in their education and academics. A personal example revolves around a project my English teacher once gave out. There was no prompt and no requirements other than a works cited. This created a hard time for students to figure out what they needed to do. As seen by this example, allowing students to design their own projects will create no benefit or direction. Without the direction of a teacher, students will not know what or how to do anything that is needed of them.

As explored in this paper, allowing students to design summer projects is not the most beneficial. This is because the teachers know the information, teachers are in charge of the classroom, and students will have no motivation to create and finish the project. As experienced in personal life and much more, too much freedom is not always for the best.