How to get better student emails

As a language teacher managing between 5 and 8 courses each semester, with over 20 students in each class, I found myself frequently overwhelmed by emails from students that often lacked essential information.

I would feel frustrated by the ambiguity of these messages, which made it challenging to provide the support my students needed. However, rather than letting this annoyance persist, I decided to take a proactive approach and teach my students how to communicate more effectively through email. I am their teacher, after all.

But, WHO ARE YOU??

This was sent to me about 2 weeks into the semester. No idea who this student was or the course they were taking. I had 3 students with the same first name.

Beyond me being annoyed…

Effective communication is crucial in any educational setting. When students send emails that are unclear or missing key details, it can lead to misunderstandings and delays in responses. To address this, I created a dedicated section in our LMS, Moodle, titled "How to Email Your Teacher." This resource serves as a guide for students, helping them understand the importance of clear and concise communication, and what I expect from them. We go through it during our onboarding session- it’s part of a little game we play, more about that some other time. It includes the image below.

Want the template?

I have created an editable email template that YOU can use as a starting point to get better emails from students. To edit this template, you need a Canva account, it is free to make.

Click here to open the template link.

If you’re happy with the guide as is, you can download it here as a PDF and as a JPG file.

Hopefully it is useful! :)