Catherine Johnson

Email Suggestions and Tips for My Students

1) Pick an email name that does not give away personal information about yourself, and create a password that you will definitely remember.

2) Since you have decided to open an email account, don’t forget to actually check your mail and respond to other people promptly (or as soon as you can).

3) If you are emailing a person older than yourself (such as a teacher) don’t type they way you would if you were emailing a friend.  Don’t forget punctuation and grammar.

4) When you respond to an email, it is best to keep the option of including the message of the person who emailed you originally included in the text of the email.  That way they can go back and reread what they wrote.

5) Put a subject in the subject line letting the receiver know what you are emailing them about.

6) Try not to attach ENORMOUS documents when emailing another person.  Sometimes this can take a long time for them to open, and it can easily crowd their mailbox.  Sometimes, if the recipient has a very small inbox (mailbox size) and they receive several huge emails than their email does bad things and they have trouble accessing it.

7) Make your email message easy to read: Type a few sentences per paragraph, hit enter, and put some space in-between ideas.

8) Don’t get offended by someone’s email if you aren’t totally sure what they are saying.  Reading emotion in email can be somewhat challenging, as you can’t hear the tone of the person’s voice, all you can see is their words.  If someone makes a joke in person, it can be easier to tell it’s a joke in person than if you just read it on the computer. 

9) Don’t open any emails from people you don’t know that especially include large attachments—these may be viruses.  Delete them immediately.

10) Remember your manners!  Be respectful and polite when emailing other people.

Typing in all caps implies you are shouting at them.