It is summer time, the suns hot rays are beaming down on you and there is a nice cool summer breeze that is drifting in the wind. The trees are so green that you almost forget that just a few months ago, they were bare. You can see and hear kids laughing and swimming at the local pools and parks and you can taste the cool ice pop on in our mouth after playing with your friends into the summer night. It is perfect, so perfect that you almost forget about your summer assignment. That dreadful assignment your teacher made up that holds no interest to you and that you have been procrastinating all summer. You know it is important to do, but you struggle because it ruins the fun and excitement of your summer. You wish you could have made your own project up to still get the benefit of learning, but not have to deal with the pain of a boring assignment created by an adult teacher. Summer projects that help students continue to learn during the summer breaks should be student designed and created and not teacher created.

Summer is a time for students to get a break from school. The school year is a hard and busy time for students and throughout the entire year, they never catch a break from assignments and assessments in school. Summer allows for students to take the much needed mind break and reset for the following year. While yes, there is an important meaning behind giving summer assignments, when they resemble school work and involve readings or worksheets, a student does not fully get the break they deserve. Students who are able to design their own projects would have a better desire to want to complete them during their summer. Being able to create their own projects as a student also gives the illusion that it is not school work and they are still on their summer break, not just in school.

In addition to a break from school, students motivation in the summer time drops. School is a good way to keep a student on track and completing their work, but when there is not a teacher or building to keep students going, the motivation their is to complete a task is dropped. School assignments, and summer ones, also tend to refer only to a specific topic which a student might not be interested in which could cause them to not do it or rush it and not do their best work. When a student designs a project, they will want to make it something they will enjoy doing. By giving student that option, it eliminates the fact that the school project is something that they would hate. If a person is interesting in doing something they will spend time on it and plan time to do it.

Not only is not getting a break and having the motivation reasons a student should design their own summer assignment, but also the idea that if a student likes the project they are doing and puts effort into it, it allows the teacher to see what the student is like and how they work. Having this advantage can help a teacher structure their school year to appeal to the students which in turn will help them not only succeed on their summer project but throughout the entire school year. Teachers would also get the opportunity to see what students had designed and did during the summer when they create their own project. It could be argued that a student could take advantage of this and make a super simple project or make a sloppy assignment, however that is the students choice. While this would be an issue, the student would have most likely cheated or not have done a good job on the assignment the teacher would have given so why not let the students who actually care enjoy their project and do it well.

Summer time is a time for play and fun, not to be focused on school work. But we all know that is impossible so instead of spending your summer doing long and boring teacher assigned projects, students should be able to design their own and show off themselves and add to the enjoyment of summer. The summer assignments a students creates would give them the knowlogege while still getting a school break, the motivation and want to complete it, and finally the teacher would get to know the student on a personal level within the first few days of school which is important for the students school year. This is why school summer projects should be student designed.