The bane of many students existence are summer projects. Many students dread having to complete yet more schoolwork during the time in which they are supposed to be taking a break from school. Though we may not enjoy summer assignments, it can not be denied that they do help students retain information over the summer. Some people feel that these summer assignment should be guided by the students, while others feel the teacher should design the project. In my opinion, summer projects should be teacher designed because the teacher can ensure that students are learning what they think is important, it outlines what students need to do so that they do not have to stress about making their own project, and students can assist each other due to the projects being uniform.

If the teacher designs the project, they can ensure that what the students are learning over the summer is going to benefit them when summer break ends. If students are allowed to make their own projects, the risk of them researching something unimportant or irrelevant is not unlikely. When a teacher designs the project, they can make sure that everything students are learning over the summer is important and relevant to their class. When I was in elementary school, we were assigned summer reading. This summer assignment was intended to help us improve at reading and to last most of the summer. No book list was given so we were free to choose any book we pleased. As a result, many kids chose to read short, easy books in order to complete the project as quick, and with as little effort, as possible. This puts them at a disadvantage as they did not get the same reading and word practice that other kids got. Teachers should design summer projects in order to make sure students learn what is necessary for the class.

If students are given a summer assignment by their teacher, they are more likely to complete it over the summer, rather than last minute. As a student, knowing exactly what I have to do for the assignment makes it easier for me to complete them over time. This is because I know exactly what I need to do to finish the project, thus I can plan as to when I will complete each part of the project. To have the student design the project would add an extra layer of stress over coming up with and completing a project. This leads to them putting it off until they run out of time and have to rush their project to turn it in. When they wait until the last minute, they are likely to retain less information than if they did the project throughout the summer. During the transition from eighth to ninth grade, I was assigned a summer reading of a Greek mythology book. Along with the book, I was given a reading guide to fill out and turn in when school started. Having the reading guide allowed me to split up the reading and complete it over time. I could complete a page of the reading guide and then take a break, then pick it up another day and complete another page. Overall, teacher designed summer projects encourage students to complete their assignment over the summer through providing a structure that students can follow.

Teacher created summer assignments promote collaboration as they are identical across students, allowing students to discuss with and help each other. This collaboration allows them to have better projects and learn more about the topic they are required to research. Students can share what they know in order to learn from each other. Some students are better at certain topics than others, if they can combine their knowledge with that of others they will improve their understanding of the topics. With no teacher to ask over the summer, their peers are the only one they have access to. Students can get help from their classmates and both improve their assignment, and their relationship. Being able to ask for help is greatly beneficial to students as ,otherwise, they would just leave it be and never be able to correct it. Going back to my Greek mythology summer reading, every student had to read the same book that I was. I was able to ask my classmates what they thought about certain parts of the book that I did not understand. This collaboration allowed me to better understand the book and succeed in that unit when I returned to school. Creating uniform summer projects promotes help and collaboration between students.

In conclusion, summer assignments should be teacher created so that teachers can make sure students learn what is necessary, students actually do the assignment over the summer, and to allow students to work together on the assignment. I believe that it would not only benefits students, but also the teacher. The point of summer assignments is to help students retain or learn information. The teacher knows best what students need to learn over the summer to be successful when school begins. Teacher created summer assignments provide many benefits over student designed summer assignments and is the best way for students to learn over the summer