No school means no more homework. No more math problems. No more books to read. No more tests to take.
Right?
Wrong.
For almost every Communications Arts class and math class Blue Valley offers, summer work is required.
Usually it’s a packet of about 100 math problems and one or two books you’re required to read, summarize and sometimes annotate.
Summer is supposed to be about days by the pool and nights by the fire, not about keeping our brains fresh through reviewing our algebra.
For me, I understand the purpose of having students read a book over the summer. It’s really not that much of a hassle and it does keep our minds fresh.
However, a lot of students don’t want to read. They don’t want to work. Students turn away from any piece of paper that requires your name at the top.
A good majority of students never even buy the book and just use sparknotes. And some don’t even do that.
Also a lot of students copy other peoples math packets.
Summer assignments aren’t really benefiting students because they are preoccupied with their summer plans, and skim through the assignment, or avoid it altogether.
I think that teachers should give everyone the summer assignments, but make it for extra credit. That way the students who actually want to do it can benefit from it.