Life Of E's

In a recent Life of E’s Email Extravaganza, someone asked this question:

Do you have suggestions for how to get the teachers I’m working with to respond to my emails with more reflection?

 Without seeing specific examples of what you are sending them, all I can do is give you some general suggestions… 

1. Keep the emails short. One or two questions, tops.
2. You have to have a relationship with the people or they won’t respond anyway, so take a look and see if you are getting more response from certain people. Are they the ones with whom you have an even better relationship than you have with others.
3. What’s in it for them (The old WIIFM: What’s In It For Me radio station). Why should they, in their busy days, respond to your emails? Do they recognize the benefit they are receiving.
4. Ask them individually (F2F or email) why they don’t respond. I’d be more likely to ask F2F because then you can probe further and read the body language, etc.
5. Are the teachers you’re working with very skilled on email management (probably not). If they have an email inbox with scores, hundreds, or thousands of emails, then yours are just lost in the clutter. This is true for nearly all teachers (and other professionals).
6. Are the answers easy for them or difficult? Do they want to respond or is it easier to ignore the questions, i.e., if you’re asking the ‘tough’ questions, which is your role, then some of them may prefer not to answer those. Easier and more comfortable to keep their heads in the sand.
7. Has the administrator made it clear what her expectations are as far as how they will work with you?

So, this is a lot to consider. I know you are working so hard with them and have such a wealth of knowledge and opportunities for growth for them – if they’d just access it.

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Tags: email, reflection, relationships, responses, teachers, timely