Dear Colleagues,
I have experienced the same issue, so I now begin the semester with a
graded assignment in which students send me an e-mail. I have two example
e-mails on the assignment sheet to use as examples of how to send an e-mail
with not only the needed information so I can respond to them, e.g. student
full name and section number, but also a proper address to any
instructor/professor/administrator or other individual: Dear Ms. Clevenger,
Dear Professor Jones. Students are required to write complete sentences
minus the text-speak. They do not receive points unless they meet all the
criteria for the assignment. For the most part, student e-mails have
greatly improved, although there are a few who don't quite understand it
yet. Because I accept text messages from students, and after receiveing
text messages from unknown students, the assignment has grown to include a
proper text message. As the semester progresses, I think students finally
understand how important this exercise is because they get better results,
e.g. responses from their instructors with the information students need.
I think this is a very important life skill in that students develop the
language needed to communicate with someone. I think this exercise also
shows students that they need to show respect to the person they are
e-mailing, and that it might possibly make a positive impression on their
instructors. One thing for sure, I no longer see, "Hey," or "Clevenger," or
even worse, the abbreviated form of my name, clevengs, that is part of my
campus e-mail address.
Shari
Shari Clevenger
Instructor/Coordinator Reading Enhancement
Northeastern State University
Seminary Hall 357
609 N. Grand Avenue
Tahlequah, OK 74464
[log in to unmask]
918-444-3607
"Tomorrow's illiterate will not be the man who cannot read, he will be the
man who has not learned how to learn." (Herbert Gerjuoy as quoted in Future
Shock, 1970, p. 414)
On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 5:21 PM, Linda Russell <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I agree that students need to send emails that are clear. I like to give
> my students the example of "hotmama@yahoo" who accused me of not
> responding to her emails. Turns out Hotmama was in my spam folder, so that
> is lesson #1: email me from your school account.
>
> Otherwise, anything that comes in without identification (my students'
> school email is not their first and last names, so it's hard to tell) gets
> the following reply from me: Who are you? What class are you in?
>
> Then the ball is in their court to write a clearer email. That doesn't
> clean up the texting language, but at least I know to whom I am responding.
> If I really can't figure it out, I just tell them to write me in regular
> words...by this time, we probably have class, and their question hasn't yet
> been addressed.
>
> I have a small collection of unreadable emails that I can use for examples
> of how not to email me. I only use them when necessary!
>
> Good luck,
> Linda Russell
> Minneapolis Community and Technical College
> ________________________________________
> From: Open Forum for Learning Assistance Professionals [
> [log in to unmask]] on behalf of Martha Krupa [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, April 02, 2012 8:20 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Is it important that students learn to compose proper emails?
>
> Hi Michele,
>
> It's a serious issue in my mind. I have an e-mail protocol in my
> syllabus and I do not respond to students who don't follow it. I teach
> more than one class at a time and we're often at different places in the
> syllabus. I certainly cannot tell what issue the student is responding to
> without at the minimum a name instead of a student number, the course
> section and what assignment or issue is in question. I have read many
> articles where issues of poor e-mail skills have affected the workplace.
> It's like anything else let run amuck; it becomes a bad habit. I don't
> think you're being a pain by holding them to a higher standard. They may
> even thank you when they're out there working although I'm sure we won't
> ever hear it aloud.
>
> Martha Krupa
> Niagara University
> Writing Coordinator
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Open Forum for Learning Assistance Professionals [mailto:
> [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Michele Doney
> Sent: Friday, March 30, 2012 11:06 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Is it important that students learn to compose proper emails?
>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm having one of those moments when I can't tell if I'm helping prepare a
> student for the future, or just being a pain in the backside. Your input
> will be helpful.
>
> In the past few years, I've noticed that students have taken to sending me
> emails that read as if they are texting their friends. Often there is no
> salutation, no closing, and very little in the way of punctuation or proper
> capitalization. They make no attempt at grammar, and they use the usual
> texting abbreviations for words they do not wish to spell out in full.
> Often, the student fails even to identify himself/herself, and when the
> email address is something like [log in to unmask]," I can't even work
> out how to address the student in my reply. Do I start with "Dear Bronx
> Hottie"? Until recently, I ignored the style and responded to the
> substance, if I could figure out what it was. Lately, I have started to
> wonder if I am properly serving these students by not seizing the
> opportunity to help them learn the difference between texting their friends
> and writing to a member of the college staff to request assistance. It has
> always been my philosophy that some of the !
> most important things a student learns in college are not necessarily the
> things learned in the classroom. With this in mind, I have responded to a
> few students by letting them know I will be happy to respond to their
> request if they are willing to compose a proper email.
>
> So tell me: Am I prompting them to think and to develop an important life
> skill, or am I just being a pain in the you-know-what? Honestly, I really
> can't tell!
>
> Thanks,
> Michele
>
> MICHELE COSTABILE DONEY
> DIRECTOR, MATH & SCIENCE RESOURCE CENTER NCLCA CERTIFIED LEARNING CENTER
> PROFESSIONAL - LEVEL ONE OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES JOHN JAY COLLEGE
> OF CRIMINTAL JUSTICE
> [Description: cid:3396506604_282853]
> 524 W 59 ST
> NEW YORK, NY 10019
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>
>
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