Why I Have Students Write Letters

At the beginning of the year and at the end of each quarter, I have my students write a letter to me. I do make it a grade, but the grade is based on whether they fill the page or not. I also explain to students that they can write about anything they would like – it just needs to be complete sentences and about something, not simply song lyrics or writing the alphabet over and over. While this assignment seems easy (I personally say that it is), there are a lot of reasons why I continue to have this assignment four times a year.

1. Share anything with me

One of the main reasons that I continue to do this assignment is because it is a great way for me to build relationships with students. I provide a list of 8 questions and I explain they can answer all of the questions, or none of the questions. What they want to tell me is completely up to them. I also make sure to remind students that I am a mandated reporter, so if there is anything concerning, I am legally required to report it, but other than that, I am the only one that will be reading their letter. This provides students with the ability to share anything that they want to tell me. I’ve learned that they don’t like their seat, they love science, or even more serious things, like they have a parent battling cancer or they even share things that I have to report.

I find that these letters establish a line of communication with me that is easier than coming up and talking to me before or after class. By the second or third letter, the majority of my students are genuinely excited to write their letter to me – as they love to update me on what they previously wrote about or just love sharing information with me!

2. Get feedback as a teacher

Another top reason that I enjoy assigning letters each quarter in my class is that one of my questions to students is “How can I be a better teacher for you?” As a teacher, we are always reflecting and trying to be better. Through the letters, I learn about what assignments my students enjoyed or didn’t enjoy, if my pacing is too quick, or if they feel heard or cared about by me. If I find that a student needs me to come up and check in with them more, I make it a point to do that so they know that I read their letter and genuinely take their feedback seriously.

3. Understanding of school culture

When it comes to getting more feedback, I also have a question that asks about how students are feeling about the school in general. Based on the answers that I get within the letters, I can get a general understanding of what the school culture is like. I’ve found that some classes lack self-confidence, there is concern about attendance, or an overall general idea that school isn’t important. Oftentimes, I will bring this information to our leadership team so that they can brainstorm ideas to help manage these thoughts and establish goals to work on the issues.

4. Provide an opportunity to vent

I’ve found that sometimes, students just need to get out a lot of their feelings that they bottle up during the quarter. A lot can happen in two and a half months and it can be hard to process emotions when it seems like tons of changes are happening. Writing letters to me allows my students to just get their stress off their chest. When it seems like there are some big changes happening within my students’ lives, I may bring it up to their counselor to check in on them if I feel there is any concern. However, many students end their letters by saying that this exercise really helped them process some emotions – which I love to read. In a way, it can become more of a journal for them rather than a letter to me, and I’m okay with that!

5. Practice formatting

On top of the Social-Emotional advantages to letter writing, there is also the practice of formatting a letter. Letters are written often – applying to jobs, writing to elected officials, or even just having pen pals. Knowing the proper format for a letter is a great and easy practice within the classroom that is strengthened every time I have my students write a letter to me.

6. Academic check-in

While I’m not asking students to write me an essay, I can still evaluate their writing and spelling ability within the letters they write me. I can often see their skills in sentence formation, spelling, how their thought process works, and track what stuck with them throughout the school year. I have often brought the letters to IEP meetings as writing samples for case managers to see what their writing ability is at.

7. Practice handwriting

This might seem like a random reason as to why I have students write letters to me, but I do a lot of my assignments online and through Google docs. So I like to make sure that students get an opportunity to handwrite an assignment, as it’s always good to practice their handwriting skills. Plus I just love seeing a full page of writing rather than of typing – it makes an English teacher heart flutter <3

Do you have students write letters to you? Will you? Share in the comments below!