Professional Email Activity

Activity brief description: At a time where texting has become prominent, this brief activity opens up a conversation with students about the genre of formal emails and the rhetorical situation it entails. In this activity, students are asked to email their lecturers from their official Stanford email accounts; this allows students to present themselves in a professional manner, and provides students with a space to share any additional information about themselves (if they choose to). This assignment prompt offers three guided questions to help students come up with specific points in their formal emails.

Course: PWR 1- especially as students become accustomed to their newfound academic community.

Activity Length & Schedule: 10-20 mins as a short out-of-class activity. Ideally assigned on the first day of class during week 1.

Activity goals:

• Allows all students to learn the ropes of composing formal emails and to examine the rhetorical situation involved in the process
• Helps students establish their professional identities
• Offers a space for less vocal students to reintroduce themselves to their instructors
• Provides instructors with more contextual information about their classroom population which can also act as an ice-breaker during the first round of conferences

Activity details: See handout

Additional notes:

If you are interested in learning more about your classroom population and their interests, think of customizing your questions accordingly. Ideally you should ask your students for no more than three guiding questions so as not to ask too much of them in an email response. I have also found this assignment to be helpful when working with international or multilingual students as they usually spend more time writing about their specific language and learning backgrounds. For additional resources please access this  Inside Higher Ed article that offers tips to college students when emailing their professors.