Dear Savages,

It is my policy that any written communication (email or blog post) should follow proper letter format.  That means it should begin with a salutation such as Dear Ms Jamieson, or Good Afternoon Ms Jamieson.  Salutations that include the words “Hey”, “Yo” or missing salutations are not acceptable and will not be answered.  Likewise, misspelling my name is never a good idea.  You may abbreviate it to Ms J, if you so choose, but please be aware that Mrs. Jamieson is my stepmother, and I will forward all correspondence addressed to her so that she may answer them.

Also, using text messaging abbreviations (u instead of you, for example)  in an email or blog post intended for a teacher, especially an ENGLISH teacher, is considered academic suicide by ALL educators.

As a basic rule of thumb, you should proofread each message before you hit send, to make sure that you  A. Are asking an actual question.  B.  Have constructed your sentences in a way that makes sense to your reader.  And C.  Cannot answer the question simply by reading the rubric I have so generously provided.

Lastly, all emails and blog posts must contain a signature.  I can not answer a question if I do not know who is asking it.  Your email addresses, while creative (zeelalasparkles@yahoo.com), oftentimes offer no indication of your actual identity.

In this digital age, these are the things you should do for EVERY email that you send.  It is good practice for when you go to college, because I assure you, your professors will simply ignore whatever you have sent if it does not follow these guidelines.  And they won’t bother to spell them out for you like I have done here.  So, if you sent me a message over the break, and it does not follow all of these rules, please resend it in the proper format.  I will gladly answer it then.

Enjoy the rest of your break,

Ms J