Teachers have more often than not been the epicenter of academic negativity. There always has been and always will complain about teaching styles. If students could take the steering wheel, chances are they will understand the material taught and retain that information. That said, summer projects should be student designed rather than teacher designed because it allows for a more positve and creative atmosphere, improved scheduling, and higher pass rates.

Virtually nobody wants to spend their summer doing classwork and projects. However, if the projects were both educational and entertaining, then summer would be that much more enjoyable. It would also allow the content to soak in much better. For instance, say a student wanted to to a project on auto mechanics. With a teacher designed rubric, the would want the project to be somewhat generc in its presentation. On the flip side of that, if the rubric was composed by students, that student now has a variety of options as far as presentation. Creativity and individudality are things that schools should integrate into their cirriculum.

Also, if projects were student based, then the due dates would be rather reasoable. intstead of having to worry about one big poject, student could decide to break the project up into shorter, more managable dates. It would also allow for a more balanced schedule in general.

Some people say that if the old rubric works, then keep on using it. They have been working for years now, so why change it; because students are sick and tired of repititon. Doing the same thing over and over for an extended amount of time is not good. It starts to blur the summers together, to the point where someone will not remember what they did because of the summers being so similar. If projects are mandatory over the summer, schools should make them enjoyable and worth the students' time. That way they undestand the material and they pass that class.

With that being said, student designed projects are the much better route. With students being able to choose the subject and presentation style of the project, it will allow for creative juices to flow through everyones' minds and really intrigue the students. It would also allow for better time management on the development of said project. Finally, if students are interested in their projects and they genuinely want to do it, then the grades will improve. They will also be able to gather and retain the information that is being introduced to them. So, if you are thinking about doing this Generic_School, do it right