During your time in school, writing an email to a teacher is inevitable. Whether it is a question about homework, a notice about a sick day, or a request to meet for help after school, there is a proper way to email a teacher that students need to practice. Here are steps on how to craft the perfect email:

1.) Try to sound professional. Try to stay away from informal greetings or sayings that might make your teacher question the importance of your email. For example, don’t use emojis or slang. If you aren’t sure whether or not one of your comments is entirely appropriate, then that is probably a sign that it’s not.

2.) Use proper punctuation and grammar. The better you write, the better response you are going to get from your teacher. Prove to your teacher that you can write properly outside of the school day. Avoid abbreviations and short-term slang like “TTYL” and make sure that you apply all of the English skills that you would normally use in class. You know how to capitalize and spell, so do it.

3.) Keep it short and sweet. In other words, avoid small talk. Maybe you think your teacher is chill and you guys are future besties, but for now, quick and simple is the way to go. Stick to the subject you are talking about and keep things strictly formal to avoid later confusion.

4.) Timing is key. Don’t send an email at 2 a.m. the night before your homework is due. You can’t expect your teacher to be awake, constantly refreshing their email. They have a life outside of school just like you. If you want a punctual response, send your email so that your teacher has a reasonable amount of time to respond.

5.) Make sure to include an appropriate greeting. Try not to start off your email with “Hi” or “Hello”. A safe way to greet your teacher is to use the traditional “Dear Mr./Miss/Dr. ______,” and then to start the question of your email in a new paragraph below. Also, if you don’t remember if your teacher is married, use “Ms.” instead of “Mrs.” to avoid an awkward mistake.

6.) Do not forget your name. Please. You may think that your email address is an obvious giveaway as to who you are, but your teacher might not. Don’t send them on a wild goose chase as to figure out who sent the email. Make it easy for them and sign off with your name at the end of your email.

7.)  Don’t forget to say thanks. If you think about it, your teachers don’t really have to reply to you. They get hundreds of emails a day. What makes yours so special? Make sure that you tell them that you are grateful that they took time out of their day to write you back.

What Not To Do:

“In the grade book u have my body paragraph on listed as not turned in and i printed it out in class for half credit”

“My essay is 19 words short…is that accpeptable?”

“if you could change my grade I would be very grateful and if there is a problem then we can talk in class because i never check here for emails haha thanks.”

“could you possibly send me the 3 picctures i need to write the essau?”