How many e-mails do you receive a day from parents? Do you receive e-mail from your students? Teachers in the 21st century are blessed with the opportunity to immediately be in contact with parents and students, but it can also be a very delicate process when responding.
What do I mean? I know how exhausted you are when you get a few free minutes - at lunch, prep, or after school. You have a million things on your to-do list and want to accomplish as many things as you can in the teeny breaks you do have during the day. One short sentence would allow you to cross that task off your list. But, did that one sentence convey what you intended to your audience? Think about your students, who may send you cryptic e-mails as if they were texting one of their peers. Your well-written, professional response will model how a student should be corresponding.
Here are some examples. This video showcases a frustrated professor tearing apart an e-mail written by one of his students. How could this professor have modeled appropriate correspondence with his student? This could have been a valuable learning experience.
This blog article written by Vicki Davis (@coolcatteacher) gives some excellent tips on how to craft a professional e-mail. Her blog post entitled "8 Great E-mail Etiquette Tips for Educators and Everyone" even provides some helpful phrases that you may want to utilize when communicating. Designing a communication plan for your classroom will save you time in the long-run and ensure you are conveying what you truly mean with your words.
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