mailboxes, originally uploaded by dcJohn.
Last week my inbox was hit with a handful of poorly written Help me! messages from students who lost things like an Mp3 player, a goalkeeper glove, and an electronic dictionary. It’s challenging enough to effectively manage the messages in my inbox without it functioning as a student lost and found center. So I sent out this message today to all students in grades 3-12 via email and to the secondary students again via their daily bulletin.
Dear students,
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your IST email.
IST email: How can I use this powerful communication tool effectively and ethically?
DO
Use IST email to share information related to teaching and learning.
Create compelling subject lines.
Begin your messages with a greeting.
Write clear messages with formal language.
Sign off your messages with a closing.DO NOT
Use IST email to ask students and teachers to help you find something that you lost.Best regards,
Tod Baker
Grade 3-5 students will hear this message again this week when they have class with me. (NPK-2 students do not have school email.) And we’ll work on crafting a well written and organized email message.
Using email to support collaboration, learning, and productivity needs to be taught. Students just don’t pick up on that on their own, not even secondary students. But where should this skill be taught? Just in IT class? When it comes to using email effectively and ethically, who is responsible for teaching these skills and holding students accountable?
I live in Tianjin, China with my wife Tatiana and son Gabriel.
I am the NPK-12 IT Coordinator at International School of Tianjin.
I advocate teaching and learning with technology
that supports inquiry and action in otherwise unobtainable ways.
