Most students look forward to the last few days of school, those last few moments when the bell is about to ring and they can all go and hang out, or just go home and relax. After a whole school year's worth of work they are ready to take a nice break. But then those hopes are ultimately hurt a little when a teacher announces that the students are to complete projects over the summer. These projects should be student designed because of the work being assigned over vacation, giving the students a chance to self-govern themselves, and because they will have extra free time to work with.

Some teachers would agree that if the students were to assign themselves projects, nothing would get done, or the students would not learn anything new. This really should not matter in the long term as the teachers already have enough control during the school year, and the students really should be allowed a break from all this learning. If the students do not get the break they might need, than what is the point of a vacation?

Speaking of that vacation, students need that time to relax and unwind, preparing themselves for the next year. Some parents might even have big vacation plans over the summer to take their families interesting places. This means that a student will have to work his or her summer homework around the vacation time, which, in some cases, can be really challenging. One student might have a big project to get done, but their parents announce that they are taking a family vacation to Germany for a couple of weeks. Of course, this might not seem like a lot of time, when school stops, that does not mean everything else does as well. These students might have jobs to keep up with or other responsibilities outside of school, these projects just make things even harder than they need to be. When you give students a larger window to finish something, they get the chance to improve their leadership skills, either in a group, or with themselves.

Students who design their own projects will get the chance to self-govern themselves, meaning they have more time to make creative decisions that can improve the project, rather than just having a week or so to finish it where they might rush it, or cannot dedicate enough time outside of school to get it done in time, lowering the overall quality. When students get to make these creative decisions, they can make the students think in new ways and bring out more interesting decisions to make the projects stand out a little more. All of this culminates in the extra free time the students have to think, execute, and produce a well-made product.

The extra free time gives students more freedom to try more ambitious projects without the pressure of all the work that needs to be done within a week. The project will be able to develop naturally over time. If teachers assign these projects, then either the student will feel less compelled to do it, or it will not turn out as well because the student might not want to do that type of project in the first place. This extra free time is a great source for creativity and good student led projects because the students will be more compelled to do the work right, rather than just get through it so they can actually enjoy their break.

Overall, these students would really feel bummed if they were required to do extra work over the summer for seemingly no reason at all, other than to continue learning. With student-designed projects, students will still get to enjoy their vacation, while learning more about self-governing, and making good use of their extra free time. Going to school is not something that everyone in the world enjoys, but is required, so if the teachers are really going to strip away some of the student's free time, at least let the students be in control. If you give the children more freedom, the creative results may be beyond anything you have ever seen.