Some schools require students to complete summer projects to assure they continue learning during break. In doing this, students may be prepared for the upcoming year when they return to school from break. Many people believe that summer projects should be teacher-designed while others believe that they should be student-designed. Summer projects should be student-designed because of motivation, creativity, and productivity.

Students would have more motivation if their summer projects were designed by themselves. Besides in the summer, students spend most of the year under the authority of their teachers. If the project they design is on their own terms, they would have more motivation to actually complete it. Since they are no longer under the school's rule during the summer, students may feel more motivated to do their project instead of being forced to do so during the school year. Students would also have more motivation if their summer projects were student-designed because they would not be expected to meet the expectations of their teacher. If the student designs their summer project to their specific skill set, the student may be more motivated to complete the project because he or she is capable of reaching their own goals. Students would most likely turn in better work because they are not under the stress of their teachers' expectations. Because of this, students would have more motivation if their summer projects were student-designed,

Summer projects should be student-designed so that students may express their creativity. Without knowing it, teachers block students' yearn of creativity with their own preferences. If the summer project was teacher-designed, the teacher would provide a rubric that exemplifies the specific ways a teacher wants the project to be completed. In doing this, the teacher is not letting the student use their own creativity to complete their project while still follwoing the rubric, but in their own way.. Creativity should never be restricted by one's own personal opinion. Creativity surfaces better with a clear mind along with a clean slate allowing creativity to flow through. If the summer project was student-designed, the entire project itself would be created from one's creativity and their expression through it. For these reasons, summer projects should be student-designed so that students may express creativity freely.

The productivity that a student dedicates to a summer project would increase if the project was student-designed instead of being teacher-designed. Productivity heightens when the task is something one actually wants to be doing. If the teacher is somewhat forcing the task, it will make students back away from what they need to complete. Since the student them self is coming up with the project, they must have more motivation to do so which makes the entire process much more productive. Especially during the summer, productivity may decrease because students are no longer in the correct head space that schoolwork requires. If the project is teacher- designed, then the productivity relating to the project will continue to dwindle as well. If the project is student-designed, the time and effort put into the project would heighten which would increase the productivity of the project as well. Hence my reasoning as to why summer projects should be student-designed rather than having them be teacher-designed.

Motivation, creativity, and productivity would all increase if students' summer projects were student-designed. If students were able to use their own creativity to create a project to be completed in the summer, it would not only increase students' motivation and productivity during the completion of the project, it would also decrease the amount of stress students tackle because of their teachers' expectations. Therefore, summer projects should not be teacher-designed but instead, be student-designed to ensure motivation, creativity, and productivity.