PURPOSE
E-mail.
It instantly makes communication easier but not necessarily less complicated. Sending an effective and professional e-mail takes practice and effort and is a skill for which most people have not received training. We write a lot of e-mails. Some are short, some are long some are emotional, and some are matter-of-fact, but they all have one thing in common. The purpose of every e-mail we send is to convey a message and to get some point across. As educators, communicating is the most important thing we do every day. Giving and receiving information is the crux of what makes us productive and the ability to do so well, is directly related to the proficiency with which we do our job. So with all of the importance placed on effective communication, why is there so much conflict and misunderstanding? It’s because most of us do not take the time necessary to get better at email.
It instantly makes communication easier but not necessarily less complicated. Sending an effective and professional e-mail takes practice and effort and is a skill for which most people have not received training. We write a lot of e-mails. Some are short, some are long some are emotional, and some are matter-of-fact, but they all have one thing in common. The purpose of every e-mail we send is to convey a message and to get some point across. As educators, communicating is the most important thing we do every day. Giving and receiving information is the crux of what makes us productive and the ability to do so well, is directly related to the proficiency with which we do our job. So with all of the importance placed on effective communication, why is there so much conflict and misunderstanding? It’s because most of us do not take the time necessary to get better at email.
There is hope, however. With a little practice and attention to detail, you can learn how to send a perfect e-mail in almost any situation.
IN-SERVICE
Below is an excerpt from a blog post by Sarah Wessling- who is a high school English teacher in Iowa and a 2010 National Teacher of the Year:
1. You can’t take back what you’ve written.
2. Our first impression most often comes through what and how we write.
3. Our haste can cause us to suggest a tone or meaning we didn’t intend. Educators aren’t immune to these oversights, especially as our inboxes are more and more crowded.
1. Don’t get defensive. It never fails that we’ll get the toughest emails on the days that we’re the most exhausted or have exercised the greatest patience. It can be so easy to get defensive when our practice, our grading, or our attention to students is questioned. But these are the moments that we have to be the most empathetic. A hastened response with a defensive cloud can quickly stifle a conversation and send a parent straight for a CC to the principal. Instead, we have to take a breath and put the email into context.
2. We’re teaching all the time. Yep. All the time. We’re even teaching parents when we respond to their emails or questions. We’re teaching them about the culture of our classroom, about the way we’ve seen their child learn, about the way we make deliberate instructional decisions.
3. No one is perfect. In the same way that we teachers are fully aware of our imperfections, parents will make mistakes, too. Approaching a parent with curiosity or empathy can go a long way in creating a strong partnership. This means that instead of leading with accusation, a start of thanks (I appreciate the way you’ve been following up at home), empathy (I know how important your child’s success is to you), or curiosity (I’ve been curious about how the homework process is going with “Zoe” and am anxious to hear more about it), will open lines of communication.
4. Turn these communications into opportunities. Whether you’re responding to a parent or initiating the conversation, our email communications can be incredibly powerful. Seeing even the most difficult messages as an opportunity can help us all work towards the same goal: creating a better opportunity for students to learn.
5. Use the phone, too. Sometimes the email’s tone will tell you just how frustrated the sender is, and in such cases, a phone call can be much more productive. Don’t hesitate to use it as an opportunity to listen and put the concern in context.
Here is another excerpt:
- One of the toughest responses to craft can be the ones where our decisions about the classroom and how or what we teach are being questioned. I've fielded questions ranging all the way from why I grouped students in a particular way, to why I gave homework over a break, to why our department had chosen to teach Maya Angelou. Curiosity is the key here. Sometimes the real question underlies the complaint, and we can make a lot of progress by understanding the difference
- We have to know when our instructional decisions are sound and shouldn't be changed, versus when we may have overlooked something and we have room to revise
Here is an example:
There are many things to consider when writing an email. Having the wherewithal to understand what type of response is needed to a particular situation and audience is the key to communicating effectively and thoroughly. Understanding that sending an e-mail is also a skill that needs to be practiced and reflected upon is also the key more productive communication.
IMPLEMENTATION
This month, the implementation is easy. Write an email or look at an old e-mail and then reflect on it and ask yourself if you have done the following:
- Were you too emotional
- Were you too short
- Were you defensive
- Were you professional
- Did you thank the recipient
- How was the tone of the email and would it be better to pick up the phone
Share your thoughts in the comments section and if you are bold, maybe even share an email you have written. Below are some resources I have found with tips and tricks along with the link to Sarah Westling’s post. As always, your comment is worth an hour of PD.
Thank you for reading.
