In order to assure that students continue to learn over their summer break, some schools require summer assignments. I believe these assignments should be designed by students, and not by teachers. Student-designed summer assignments are more likely to be completed because the students know what they need to learn most, what will overwhelm them, and what types of assignments they can do on their own from experience.

In the eyes of the students, summer is a time when they do not have as many responsibilities to take care of at once, and they can relax from such difficult work. Giving a summer assignment will add to their stress, and take away from their enjoyment of the break. Each student is aware of what type of work stresses them out, and how much work they can do before they're overwhelmed. It is important to their health and well being for students to be able to take a break from all the pressure they are under during the school year. When students keep in mind that they must take care of themselves and their mental health, they perform better and are more motivated to complete their work.

In the modern world of education, teachers are beginning to incorporate personalized learning into their lesson plans. Personalized learning is any activity that allows a student to learn the material at their own pace. This makes it so students who learn faster can move on as they need to and learn more topics, and the students who need more attention can take the time to truly understand what they are being taught. Summer assignments should be no different from normal personalized learning activities. Only the students understand what level they are at in each subject, therefore if they create an assignment for themselves they will make it challenging, yet manageable. When teachers design assignments they do not keep the needs of every single student in mind, leaving some students behind. Students designing their own summer assignments will make it so no matter what level of education the student is at, they will be growing and learning at their own pace.

When I was going into tenth grade, I had a summer assignment for my AP World History class. The assignment was incredibly complicated and took over a large amount of my break. While it prepared me for the workload of the class, it made me feel stressed and anxious over whether or not it was what my teacher was expecting. If I had been assigned a project that was designed by a student, I would have felt more at ease about the class and confident in my work. The only resource I had available to me to help me with the assignment was a textbook, meaning that anything I did not understand, I could not get much elaboration on. Student life has changed from what it was when today's teachers were in our position. Every student has experience with different teaching styles and projects, but in general we understand each other better than the teachers do.

I believe that if schools require summer assignments, they should be designed by students instead of teachers. Teachers today are unable to empathize with the opinions and feelings of the studentsin a way that helps them grow. Students understand the needs, wants, and experiences of other students, and can therefore create a project that will effectively foster learning over the summer.