How To Email Your Teacher

As you get into the full swing of the school year, you're likely going to have to start doing things without your teacher being in the room. Whether that be clarification on a simple homework assignment or help understanding a project's instructions, your teacher isn't always going to be right by your side to solve all of your problems–that's just independence. But, for the really important problems, every teacher you have is just an email away, so we're going to show you how to master the simple (but essential) skill of emailing your teacher.

Subject line

Before you start writing your email, write the subject line–don't just leave that section blank. It should be something that gives your teacher (or anyone you're emailing, for that matter) an idea of what thye're about to read, and can be a simple two words, like 'Homework Question' or 'Extra Help Attendance.' Picture it like a title for your email, but one that has to be less than 5 words. And, do not write your entire email in the subject line.

Greeting

Once you're in the body text section of the email, don't just start asking questions right away. Begin with a 'Good morning,' or even just a 'Dear _____,'. Then, when you truly begin writing the email, we would recommend adding in another introduction there as well. This can be something like 'I hope your week has been going well.' It might seem redundant, but it's just common courtesy.

Actually writing the email

Now you can start writing the content for your email. At this point, it's almost fully up to you in what you want to say. But, the way you say it should not come across as demanding, rude, or as if your teacher owes you something. The best way to avoid this is by coming with the question as if you would ask it in class, and simply transcribing that. Of course, when you're finished, read it out loud anyway, because something in writing can feel different than when you are speaking it.

Signing off

Once you've finished the content/question in your email, add a sentence thanking the teacher for their help. Then, hit your return/enter key twice and add your closing: something along the lines of 'Best, [name]' or 'Sincerely, [name]'. You can customize this to your liking, but make sure you have something similar to finish your email.

Grammar

So, your email is written and finished. What now? This is the part where you spell and grammar check everything. Remember, you're writing to your teacher, not your best friend. That means keeping your I's and I'm's capitalized, ending each sentence with the appropriate punctuation, removing typos, and having a sense of formality in your writing, even if the whole email is just a few sentences.

Once you've done all that, you can send your email! While it might seem simple, it's the little things like email writing that differentiate students and show how much or little they care, both about the class and the attention to detail they have in general. Now, go write great emails, and if you liked this, check out our other posts below or on the Blog page.