Summer is a time to relax and go outside, but it is also a good chance to learn outside of the classroom. Many schools will assign projects that a student is to complete by the time they return to school the next year. These summer projects ensure that students continue to learn over summer break. Summer projects should be designed by teachers rather than the students because while some may argue that students will choose something they are passionate about learning, in reality students will choose the most quick and simple project to complete. Additionally, students would benefit from it being teacher-designed because teachers understand future material, teachers know what material from the previous year is most important to review, and teachers can personally guide students to success.

Some say that if students were to design their own summer projects, they would grow from the experience of working on something they are passionate about. They believe that if a student was, for example, passionate about oceanography and their school did not offer a course on it, it would be beneficial for the student to be able to pursue it during the summer. Nevertheless, this is not true for all students. Many students do not have the drive to choose a challenging topic for their project- they would simply want to get it out of the way. This would not benefit these students as they would not learn nor grow from the project.

It is vital that teachers design the summer projects because the students do not know what material will be covered when they return to school in the fall. Teachers can prepare their students for the coming school year through these projects. For example, if a student was to take chemistry the next year, a teacher could do an introduction to chemistry project that would prepare the student for the class. If a student were to choose the project themselves, he or she may not pick a chemistry related project. He or she would then struggle once he or she entered the class. Another example is that in general, when beginning a new topic, it is good to give students a head-start so that they can understand the topic before they enter the class. This can work as a foundation for students to build upon throughout the year. This basic foundation can be enough to help students achieve success.

Next, if projects are teacher-designed, teachers can review past material. For example, math is a subject that continues to use past knowledge to build on itself and go further. Thus, if a student were to forget math they learned the previous year, it would be catastrophic to their ability to learn math the following year. As an additional example, if one remembers everything from the prior year, a student can return to the next school year as if the break never occurred. However, if a student were to forget everything they learned the past school year, they would, consequently, struggle to relearn all of the material during the next year.

Finally, if the project is teacher-designed, they can pick specific areas that students do not know or understand. Typically, one is unable to tell what he or she does not know because he or she does not know it. Therefore, a teacher can personalize the projects to the student. This would help students because they could perfect skills, learn more, and understand concepts they did not previously know. A personalized project would prevent students from having to catch up once the school year began again. Furthermore, teachers being able to pick certain areas for students to work on over the summer ensures that they can provide students with the ability to maintain important skills. The teachers know which skills are most important, not the students. Maintaining skills vital for the following year will greatly benefit students as they can enter the next year of their education fully prepared.

Thus having the teachers choose the summer project is the best option.

Summer projects should be designed by teachers rather than the students because even though some students may choose a project they are passionate about learning, many students will choose a project that they believe will be easy. Additionally, students would benefit from it being teacher-designed because teachers know the next year's material, teachers understand the importance of certain material from the previous year that should be reviewed, and teachers can help personally aid a student in learning what he or she does not know yet or what skills he or she needs to maintain. Because of these reasons, summer projects should be designed by teachers to assure that students continue learning over heir break. While summer can be a time to relax and decompress, summer projects created by teachers can help students grow.