Communication with Teachers

When some people think about teachers, feeling of intimidation and fear might arise. Many students are worried about talking to their teachers; most do not know where to start. As a senior in high school, I have many good relationships with my teachers. These relationships made it easier to talk to my teachers when something is wrong, ask for help, and even ask some for letters of recommendations for college. However, the troubling times we are in right now make it much harder to build a relationship with some of your teachers, especially if you never had them before. Harder, not impossible. Here are some of the ways you can communicate with teachers online.

Do you need help with grades? You are not alone. Many students are struggling with adapting to online school and their grades are suffering. There are several different ways to ask a teacher for help.

Most teacher have different office hours or tutoring hours offered for their students. Go to where ever you can find assignments or your class homepage. There you could find some directions on how to contact your teachers during their office hours. If your teachers do not have any hours posted, then you can email them asking for a session. Most teachers are aware on how the new online schedule is hard for students, so they would be a lot more lenient and understanding than you might think. You can also text them through school apps like Remind if you have a quick question or a question over a single problem. You should be able to find contact information of your teachers depending on what they use. If your teachers use something like Teams, then you can click on their profile and find their email. If your teacher use Zoom, then you can privately message them asking for a session. No matter what platform they use, there should be a way to get in contact with them.

Let us say you finally have their information and now you need to tell them what you are having problems with, how do you do it? For starters, go ahead and try to email them. Emailing your teacher is the most respectable way to get their attention. If your teacher gives you permission to text them or if that is the only contact information you have for your teacher, then go ahead and use that.

Next start off your email with a greeting. “Hello Mrs./Mr. [ their last name]”.

This is just email etiquette. Now state your name, the class you are taking, and what period you are in. Since most teachers teach more than one class, this will help your teacher better understand who you are.

For example, “This is Leighton Gammage [name] from your 2 period [period] Physics 1 class [class].”

Finally start explaining what the situation is and what you need. This should take no more than 3-4 sentences. You want to give then a good description, but keep it short and simplistic. “I have noticed I have a 30 in the grade book for our last test. However, when I got the results back, it shows I scored an 80 on the test. Is there any way you can fix my grade please?”, or if you need to ask them a question, “I am having trouble on assignment [enter assignment name] on questions 1-4. Can we set up a time so I can receive help for it?”

When you are emailing teachers about a mistake they made, make sure to have photo evidence of your proof, a screenshot of the score or a photo saying you turned in the assignment on time. This way the teachers are willing to trust you more in the future. Finally close out your email with a formal ending.

The ending should have a thanks and your full name one more time. “Thank you so much! [Enter] Leighton Gammage [name]” At the end you should have an email that reads like this:

Hello Mrs./Mr. [ their last name],

This is Leighton Gammage [name] from your 2 period [period] Physics 1 class [class]. I have noticed I have a 30 in the grade book for our last test. However, when I got the results back, it shows I scored an 80 on the test. Is there any way you can fix my grade please? (attached photo)

Thank you so much!

Leighton Gammage [name]

Over text you should follow a similar pattern, make sure to use no abbreviations and spell every word out.

If you don’t need any help or anything from your teachers, then feel free to still join their information sessions or coffee hours. This is a great way to show your teachers a different side of you. When it comes senior year and you need recommendation letter, they will not remember you as their student, but more like their mentee.

Contacting teachers is important, so doing it right can make all the difference. At the end if the day, remember that your teachers are human too, and they are here for you no matter what!

Name: Leighton Gammage

Editor: Katelyn Clark