Classroom Management Plans - Outline for Behavioral Management

"Findings show that teachers who approach classroom management as a process of establishing and maintaining effective learning environments tend to be more successful that teachers who place more emphasis on their roles as authority figures or disciplinarians." - Thomas L. Good and Jere Brophy, Looking in Classrooms, 2008

Recent studies show that teachers who practice a consistent form of proactive behavioral managment in the classroom experience less student disruptions than those that practice reactionary authoritarian-style displinary techniques. Creating a classroom management plan can help establish a plan for a classroom environment that enhances student learning while reducing student violence and disruptions.

An effective classroom managemetn plan can be written in the form of a formal report for administration and personal purposes, or designed as a Web site viewable to parents. The following topics offer an excellent starting point, and can be used as headings for your plan:

• Introduction
• Management Theory/Philosophy
• Establishing Positive Relationships
• Establishing Classroom Routines, Procedures and Rules
• Fostering Communication
• Assignments, Homework and Grading
• Dealing With Inappropriate Behavior
• Teacher Organization

Researching the aforesaid topics and establishing a formal plan for running your classroom is proven not only to enhance the classroom environment for your students, but to reduce teacher stress. Who can argue with that?!

Teachers: Keep Things Interesting In Class

Learning Through Song

Learning THrough Song by xolizzielizxo15 | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

Creation and Design of a Teacher Webpage

Nonverbal Communication

crink85Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

Grant Writing 101

Grant Writing: Ideas Behind Much Needed Funding

Locating Grants

Before Writing
Consider:
What education need must be fulfilled?
What amount of funding is necessary?
Can the grant be aligned with the school?
What research must be done?
How will progress be tracked?
Can the project be edited to match award requirements?

The Writing Process

Writing the Grant

State the outcome desired.
Find research to support goals.
Maintain innovative ideas.
Stay organized.
Keep funding rules on hand for reference.
Be honest and realistic.

Resources:

Kelly, Melissa. "Grant Writing". About.com. April 7, 2009 http://712educators.about.com/cs/grantwriting/a/grantwriting_2.htm.

Mebane Middle School Reading /Language Arts Teacher
(6 grants written)

Agenda's: An Open Line Communication

Agenda's are an open line of communication between the parent and teacher on the daily progress of their child or children. Agenda's are also a great way to keep students organized or teach them how to become more organized for school.

Agenda's In The Classroom by xolizzielizxo15 | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

Using PowerPoint to Communicate with your Students When you Cannot

Have you ever had a thought or a lesson that you would like your students to be able to practice, without you, the teacher having to stand over them, letting them know if they are correct or not? Maybe you had to get a sub for one of your classes or a student is sick at home… You can use PowerPoint as a tool for students to learn.

Using internal links you are able to take students on a journey in learning shapes.

First off you want to create the first set of slides. This will include a slide with the question and then the answer slides.




After you have created this, go back to the main slide and right click on your first shape and select Hyperlink. In the link to options you will navigate to the “place in this document” button. Select appropriate slide. Example below.

Repeat for all shapes.


Now when you select view slide show, you can read the question and select the answer. If it is the right answer the prompt will show up correct!

You can add sounds and animations for positive reinforcement.

Make sure to add a link for the student to go back to the main page to try again!

Success Contracts - Students Agree to Achieve!

Oftentimes a student’s failure to succeed in the classroom is nothing more than a direct result of them not being held accountable for their achievements, or lack thereof. “Success contracts” are formally written mutual agreements between teacher and student that lay out a plan for ensuring the student’s success.

The most effective success contracts include:

• Names of both student and teacher
• Class title in which the contract is being applied
• Date contract was created
• Steps teacher will take to ensure student's success
• Steps student will take to ensure their own success
• Goal(s) of success contract
• Date success will be reevaluated

Below is an example of the success contract that I use, personally. Please feel free to adapt and use it as you deem necessary. Good luck!

Teaching the Subject vs.Teaching the Student: Which One is Better?

"Student-Centered" teaching is when the teaching revolves around the student, and not the subject. For instance, a teacher should first realize what the student knows, how the student learns, their background, their likes and dislikes, etc. before trying to "teach" them anything. "Subject-Centered" teaching is when the subject in itself gave way. It is important to remember who you are teaching. You are teaching a classroom full of students who are ready adn willing to learn. For your students to learn you must present the material in a way that will most benefit them so they can retain it and use it later in their everyday lives. The student is a huge (if not the most important) part in teaching. Even though a teacher may love to present a subject in its pure form, they still have to take into account who they are talking to. For instance, if a subject is moving too slow when teaching a really bright set of students, you will lose their attention very quickly. In this case a teacher would need to speed up or ask really in-depth/complex questions in order to keep their attention. On the other hand, if the students are slower at the subject, it is important not to lose them. Therefore examples to show them how easy the concept is, with the simplest examples, or how useful a concept is, with a really appropriate or funny application are needed to keep them focused.

I believe that student-centered instruction is more important. For a student to learn best they need to be motivated. Student centred instruction drives student centred motivation. When children are motivated, and know that they have choices and autonomy in their learning, they will be more open and eagar to learn subjects. I am not saying never teach subjects, but to create a learning environment where children feel valued, and therefore choose to learn.

Creating a Written Outline Can Ensure a Smooth Initial Parent-Teacher Conference

Facing parents for the first time can be an extremely scare circumstance. In the following cartoon, a teacher overcomes his fears by creating an outline to provide to the parents, so that they understand the anticipated dialogue and outcomes of the conference.

Outlines - for more than just reports by kmmele | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

Podcasts: In a Digital Classroom

In today's world or lives are becoming more and more digital. We do alot on the computer. We pay bills, we transfer money, we surf the web, we shop, and now more us of are learning on-line. There are so many tools that extend to outside of the classroom that it is ridiculous to say that learning, and learning tools stop once the student leaves the school. There are many tools out there just waiting for teachers to put them to good use. Podcasts for example. A podcast is a piece of audio (sound file) which can be saved to your computer. You can then listen to it any time you choose via your computer, iPod or other media players - even a mobile phone.

How are teachers using podcasts in their classrooms you ask? Some teachers are using podcasts from external sources to find content that is relevant to the topics they are covering in class. For example a teacher of history might find podcasts from war veterans and then share this information with students. Other teachers might get students to produce podcasts as internet radio programmes, providing pupils with the chance to develop a range of critical communication skills, like interviewing and presenting. Communication, this leads into writing. I was told once that if you can speak well you must be able to write well. I believe that if writing teachers have their students write a piece of work, and then have them present it to the class, that teacher should record it. When we hear our work out loud it allows us to critique it more. For example, "Oh I should have had this said before that, and that does not need to be there." When we are better writers then do we become better communicators!

What are some benefits to podcasting? Podcasting is cheap. One of the frequent problems with new educational innovations is their expense. Classroom teachers rarely have direct control over budgetary funds, and school resources for new purchases are always limited. In the case of podcasting, however, a microphone is the only piece of required hardware or software some classrooms may not have already that isn’t free. Audio podcasting encourages no-frills communication. As noted in the preceding definition of podcasting, podcast “feeds” can be used to distribute different types of files, including videos. Audio podcasting, however, encourages students to communicate without many of the bells and whistles that often accompany other types of multimedia modalities. Using PowerPoint, many students become unnecessarily districted with the selected theme, sound effects, and bullet point entry and exit animations. Podcasting involves few privacy concerns. Publishing student photographs as either still images or video clips to a school website can be an endeavor fraught with multiple privacy concerns. In contrast, audio podcasting can avoid most of these potentially problematic issues. Students speaking during a podcast do not have to identify themselves by name at all, but if they do they can use only their first name. There are many many more of these great examples out there, but I just wanted to name a few.
Article to find more benefits from podcasting:
http://www.wtvi.com/TEKS/05_06_articles/classroom-audio-podcasting.html

Writing is as Easy as Baking a Cake

Writing can be as easy as baking a cake. When it comes to writing or baking a cake, both have step by step instructions to help guide you to the most perfect creation you can write or bake up. These steps below could be a good way to relate writing to something fun or even help create an essay.

Step One: Prewriting/ Preparation

• Prewriting is anything you do before you write a draft of your document.
• Preparation is gathering all the ingredients, pans, measuring tools, and preheating the oven.
  

Step Two: Drafting/ Mixing Ingredients

• Drafting is when you put your ideas into sentences and paragraphs. Here is where you explain and support your ideas and start connecting your ideas. 
• Mixing the ingredients is similar because in order to start writing you have to put all your ideas together. Well in order to start baking you have to mix all the ingredients together.

Step Three: Revising/Baking and Cooling

• Revising is the key to effective documents. At this stage you refine your rose, making each sentence as concise and accurate as possible. Make connections between ideas explicit and clear. 
• The Baking and Cooling process is similar to revising because this is the step where you see how the cake has turned out. You are trying to make it taste good and look good. This the step where you decide to continue or start over. 
• Writing or baking are not always perfect the first time around. 

Step Four: Editing/ Decorations= Finishing touches

• Editing is checking for grammar, mechanics, and spelling errors. Don't edit your writing until the other steps in the writing process are complete.
• Decorations are just like editing because this is the part where you take what you have and make it as perfect as you can.  It is putting the icing on the cake, the finishing touches.

The steps you take when writing are just as important as the steps you take when baking a cake. These steps will help you be as creative as you can, no matter who it turns out. Practice makes perfect. All you need to do is follow a few simple steps and you will be writing or baking like a professional in no time.

Reminders from the FTCE General Knowledge Test

At first site most teachers shiver at the acronym FTCE. FTCE stands for the Florida Teacher Certification Exam. I had my first of three chances to tango with this certification test. I study what seems like every math equation ever learn in my now 14+ years of schooling. I also reviewed many English grammar rules. I thought it would be fun to review some of the many writing lessons we simply take for granted in our every day. This stuff really helps. I past the general knowledge section on my first try!




Common miss used Words

• Who vs Whom
  Use the he/him method to decide which word is correct.
  he = who him = whom

Commonly misspelled words:

• Accept vs. Except
  accept = to agree; to receive
  except = but, with the exception that
  
  



• Affect vs. Effect
  *Use effect when you mean bring about or brought about, cause or caused
  *Use effect when you mean result.
  *Also use effect whenever any of these words precede it: a, an, any, the, take,
  into, no. (These words may be separated from effect by an adjective)

Writing a Direct Thesis

• Brainstorming (all examples will use computer background information)
  Computers- Modern invention
  Types- personal computers, micro-chips in calculators and Watches
  Wonder- acts like an electronic brain
  Uses- Science, medicine, offices, homes, schools
  Problems- too much reliance; the machines aren't perfect


• Questioning
  What is my subject?
  What types of computers are there?
  Why have computers been a positive invention?
  How have computers been a positive invention?
  How can I show that computers are good?
  What problems do I see with computers?
  What personal experiences would help me develop examples to respond to this topic?
  
  What- computers/modern wonder/making life better
  How- Through technological improvements: lasers, calculators, CAT scans, MRIs
  Where- in science and space exploration, medicine, schools, offices.


• Clustering

• Subject and Assertion of the Thesis
  
  Subject of the Thesis- relates directly to the topic prompt, but expresses the specific are you have chosen to discuss.
  
  Assertion of the Thesis- is your viewpoint, or opinion, about the subject. the assertion provides the motive or purpose for your essay, and it may be an arguable point or one that explains or illustrates a point of view.

Grade-Level Classroom Policies and Procedures Drafting Tips

The beginning of a school year brings about many administrative tasks, one of which being the creation of classroom policies and procedures. There are a few important writing rules that a teacher should keep in mind during the creation process. As with all professional writing, deciding on a purpose for writing is the first step. When creating classroom procedures, the purpose may need more thought than other areas, because of the need to tailor them to each teacher’s personal rules and beliefs.

Following the professional writing steps, the audience is the next to be considered. Depending on the age of the children each teacher sees during a day, writing policies and procedures in paragraph form may not be an option. Paragraphs could be an option with the 9th-12th grade range, but middle school students tend to need a more basic approach to the introduction of rules. For the 6th-8th grade age group, the use of subtitles and lists work well to get the point across quickly. This also allows for the ease of finding certain rules quickly when a student has broken one, and needs to review the policies.

While writing, a teacher must consider exactly how detailed he or she wants to be in this particular writing process. When going over the policies and procedures, teachers are going to want each rule to be basic and self-explanatory so that there is no room for interpretation. It is very important that the policies cover all possible instances, normal and abnormal, of misbehavior. By following these reminders when drafting your set of rules, you should find your students well informed and positive about the year ahead.

Resources: Mebane Middle School 7th grade Math teacher, and 6th grade Reading/Language Arts teacher.

Wikis For Teachers

What are wikis?
Wikis are free, online writing spaces. Wikis use simple formatting rules, so you don't need to understand HTML or an HTML authoring tools, such as Microsoft FrontPage or Dreamweaver to contribute.
For some, wikis convey a highly collaborative view of composing and creativity. People who contribute to a wiki need to understand that their words may be deleted and changed by others. Wiki authors do not claim ownership of a text.
When writers contribute to a public wiki, their work could potentially be read by millions of readers.
Wikis give focus to the last draft, yet wikis provide a history. Each time the text is changed, a new version is saved. Anyone can go back later and see previous versions. This allows teachers and students to see the writing process in action.
Wikis are generally published online, though desktop and gated wikis are possible. Permissions can be set to limit the readers and writers who participate.
Textual authority is dialogical. Revision is privileged in the wiki. Each new reader can suddenly become a writer. The draft that matters is the last draft. Power and authority are given to the community rather than an individual or official staff.
Wikis are designed specifically as a writing space. They are not a presentation space nor a course management system. Wikis make it possible - and necessary - for writers to continually build upon, revise, and edit an emerging text.
How can teachers use wikis to facilitate teaching, writing development, and learning?
Provide a space for free writing
Debate course topics, including assigned readings
Share resources such as annotated bibliographies, websites, effective writing samples, conferences, calls for manuscripts
Maintain a journal of work performed on group projects
Require students to collaborate on documents, such as an essay written by the entire class
Discuss curricular and instructional innovations
Encourage students to revise Wikipedia pages or take on new wikipedia assignments
Inspire students to write a Wikibook
Support service learning projects (i.e. use wikis to build a website about a challenge in their city)

Here is an example of how you can set up a Wiki.



Article can be found at: http://writingwiki.org/default.aspx/WritingWiki/For%20Teachers%20New%20to%20Wikis.html

Teacher-to-Parent Field Trip Correspondence

When you reach the point of the school year after all required testing has passed, many schools look to a reward for the children. How better to reward a large group than to put together an end of the year field trip?

There are a few things to remember when creating a correspondence to inform parents of a trip. In the administrative aspect, any professional correspondence between a school and a child’s parent, must always be written on the school’s professional letterhead. One must check to make sure that the letterhead is up-to-date with the current Principal's and Assistant Principal’s names and contact information. Interestingly enough, this can be missed quite easily. The correspondence format should fit that of an informational letter including the date, a heading stating “Dear (grade level) parent,” and a proper closing stating a thank you and the grade level team from which the letter was submitted.

When considering the content of the correspondence letter, teachers must first determine the purpose for which they are writing. In this example, the purpose would simply be to inform parents of an upcoming end of the school year field trip, and the stipulations for their child to meet in order to be eligible to attend.

Following the purpose comes the consideration of the audience who will receive and read the correspondence. To consider the audience of a middle school correspondence, teachers would have to take a step back and view the “big picture.” A few helpful questions to ask yourself would be: What types of backgrounds do the students at this school have?, Are there any language barriers that I would need to consider when send this letter home? Teachers also need to understand that the diction of the letter must be at a basic level to meet the understanding of parents who may or may not have received an education of their own. This would involve an assessment of the demographics of the surrounding communities in the school’s area.

The last main factor includes the organization of the letter. It is best to use direct organization by starting with the answer to the “What? and Who?”, followed by the “Why?”, and ending with the “Where?, When?, and How?” When answering the “Where?, When?, and How?”, teachers can use the listing method to maintain a simple, and straightforward organizational pattern.

By using these simple reminders, teachers will find that writing correspondence such as this will become second-nature. Happy End of the Year to all!

Resources include: Mebane Middle School 6th and 7th grade Reading/Language Arts Teachers, and 6th and 7th grade end of the year field trip letters to parents.

Blogging Is Learning

The slideshow below is a great way for teachers, who are new or fairly new, or have been blogging for a while now, to learn more about blogging and how it can be helpful and effective in the classrooms and with their students. Blogging is just a new way for teachers, students, and many others to communicate with one another and look for feedback and opinions. It's a place to express and share interests with other people. Blogging is also a great way to get students writing in new and creative ways. Blogging can be done in different ways, through comics, power points, pictures, videos, podcasting and more. 

Blogging Is Learning

View more presentations from anne773.

Introductory Letters Lead to Effective Parent-Teacher Communication

Research has shown that parents and family are critical factors in children's education, particularly for those who are at risk of dropping out of school.
-Paul Haley and Karen Berry in Home and School as Partners (1988)

Recent studies have proven that open lines of communication between parents and teachers is vital to student achievement in the classroom. Students are much more likely to succeed in the educational setting when parents and teachers are willing to work together, especially in instances regarding student behavior and academics.

Opening a positive line of communication with parents can be difficult, because as teachers, we are often intimidated by the possibility of a negative interaction with our students' caregivers. In order to avoid future negative interactions, introductory letters can be sent to parents at the beginning of the school year, which offer an initial form of positive contact that in turn fosters positive future communications.

The purpose of your introductory letter should be to inform parents of your expectations for their child, both behaviorally and academically, so that there are no surprises later in the school year. Creating an effective introductory letter is quite simple if you keep in mind the following:

• Introduce yourself in order to build a relationship with parents.
• State your interest in developing a positive line of teacher-parent communications so that caregivers understand the purpose of your letter.
• Inform caregivers of your classroom rules so that they will know what is expected of their child (BE SPECIFIC!).
• Invite parents to attend a back-to-school event or parent conference to create a more personal interaction.
• Provide alternative language letters (I.E.-Spanish or Creole) for families that are not fluent in English to avoid language barriers.
• Send the letter to caregivers one to two days before school begins so that they receive it very early in the school year.

Blogging in the Classroom

Here is a video on blogging in the classroom. This will give you, the teacher an idea of what a blog is and how to use it effectively in the classroom. The video is also good to show your students in getting them ready for blogging.



I believe blogging a great way to communicate with students and parents. Blogs can help parents stay intouch with the classroom, without the parent/teacher meetings.

New Age Communications for Teachers

With the economy at record lows, everyone is seeing budget cuts. When I say everyone, I mean banks, churches, department stores, and even schools. Just recently, I heard a rumor of a possible four day school week for students and teachers. That idea really makes me wonder how teachers will effectively teach their students the necessary information in LESS time! I was clicking through the Internet the other day and I saw an article on web casting.

The article goes talks about how nothing beats personal contact in teaching. But with a downward economy and people unable to travel to see seminars, more and more people are turning to web casting. All the viewer needs to view the web cast is a phoneline and a computer. For the presidents ignogoration, the news was webcasting for everyone. You can read more about his article at http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/webcast/.

With budget cuts, teachers are looking to alternative ways to teach the same information with less time and less tools. Web casting can be an alternative solution to this issue. On Fridays, when students are not in school, the teacher can require all of her students to log on to her web cast and teach a lesson as if she/he was in front of the class. Students are able to instant message questions, as if they were sitting in class raising their hands.

Technology is an amazing tool. Alternative ways to communicate to your students and parents are out there. Go to http://www.teachersnetwork.org/ntol/howto/incorptech/webcasts.htm for more information on how you can successfully and creatively communicate with your students outside of the classroom.

Mesa Teachers Develop Their Writing Skills to Empower Students

When searching the internet for a great topic to write about, I came across a great article. This article that I found their is a project that they are persuing at ASU. The Mesa Writing Project is a project that enables forty educators to spend three weeks sharing their poetry and stories, conversing with celebrated authors, and honing their craft through critique groups and regular revision sessions. These elementary, junior high, and high school teachers are learning skills that will help them gain so much more than just a fancy prize, these teachers gain better strategies for teaching writing and with new talent that they have gained they can enpower their students to find their true passion for writing. “The Mesa Writing Project is something we’ve wanted to do for years,” states Laura Walsh, the Secondary Language Arts Specialist for MPS and co-director of the project. “So many teachers have been telling us they were never taught how to teach writing and weren’t getting the professional development they wanted.”

Teachers also listen to many guest speakers including ASU writing professors, poets, and authors, who share their experiences with and strategies for writing.“Listening to these authors has been amazing,” states Lindsay Karges, a third grade teacher from Eisenhower Elementary School. “Gary Soto was here and I was shocked to hear him say he can be very insecure about whether or not his audience would like his work. I’m going to take this back to my students and let them know that even celebrated authors don’t always feel they have the best writing or can accomplish all that they do, but they write anyway. I think that’s very empowering for students to hear.”

While many participants in the project are English teachers, several specialize in different content areas such as social studies, science, and physical education. Such diversity is important for the participants, who want to develop a cross-curricular approach to teaching writing.

This is where you can find my article:
http://community.asu.edu/exchange/2007/07/mesa-teachers-develop-their-writing-skills-to-empower-students-2/

Keys to Remember When Designing Lesson Plans

When beginning a lesson plan design, teachers must first determine the audience of the plans. The age group of the children must be taken into consideration, as well as any accommodations each child may have. The age of the audience determines the diction the teacher should use. The lesson plans must have clear, yet informational directions to allow for comprehension. Comprehension can be determined by question and answer sessions with students.

Certain teaching styles are the next step in lesson plan design in that a teacher must decide what style(s) would serve his or her purpose and work for the classroom environment. Engagement can be promoted through the use of a variety of teaching styles. Types of teaching styles include oral presentations, modeling, and the use of handouts. Should children have any accommodations required for visual or oral aid, a teacher may decide to use both oral directions and a handout. Another option for accommodations would be to have a peer in the classroom take the child of concern aside, and further explain the task.

Information provided by teachers as resources at Mebane Middle School-Alachua, FL

Grammar, Puncuations, and Mechanics Can Improve Writing Skills

A sentence is the most fundamental and versatile tool available to writers, but sentence faults and issues with pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs can cause difficulties for your readers. Sentence- level errors, like inaccurate facts or incomplete information, can confuse, irritate, or even mislead your readers. These errors can make your meaning hard to determine or, even worse, alter your meaning entirely.

Misuse of punctuation can cause your readers to also misunderstand your meaning because punctuation marks may link, separate, enclose, terminate, classify, and indicate omissions from sentences. Certain mechanical questions tend to confound the writer on the job.Such questions as whether a number should be written as a word or figure, how acronyms should be used, whether a date should be stated day-month-year or month-day-year and many others frequently arise when you are writing a letter or report.

Listed below are different sites that could help improve and refresh your writing skills:

• Owl Online Writing Lab: Powerpoint Presentations
• 40+ Tips to Improve your Grammar and Punctuation
  
• Basic Sentences Structure
• Tips For Using Commas
• Ten Quick Tips to Improve Your Writing
• Ten Tips for Stronger Sentence Structure
• Punctuation Tips
• More to come...

These are just a few sites that could help you refresh, improve, understand, teach, or use in your writings everyday. It is important to understand these most commonly made mistakes because this mistakes could make your letter, email, resume, propoasl, etc. be misunderstood or mislead. Knowing these basic skills again could help improve you writing and help you find new ways to get it across to other co-workers and students. Writing is a big part of everyday life, why not make it as perfect as you can?

Professionally Written E-mails Make a Lasting Impression

Just as an ill-written letter can leave a negative impression on its audience, an ill-written e-mail will inevitably leave a negative impression on its reader(s). Because communication between teachers and other faculty has commonly moved away from the past practice of face-to-face and phone contact to the faster e-mail approach, it is necessary that you, as an instructor, are e-mail savvy. You don't want your reader to misconstrue your message, especially if they are an administrator who may one day be in charge of renewing your contract!

When e-mails are used as the primary form of communication within a school setting, it is important to keep in mind that your e-mail should embody the same format that you would use were you sending the message via memo or letter. Consider the following tips when writing in-school e-mails:

• Write concise, purposeful subject lines to help your reader determine the intent of your message.
• Create a salutation suitable for your message type, making sure to avoid one that is too informal for the work setting.
• Use proper English standards, not "text" language, to avoid misinterpretation by your reader.
• Create short paragraphs to avoid straining the reader's eyes.
• Send as attachments any information that is too lengthy or intricate to include in the e-mail, itself.

While it is tempting to send e-mails that are representative of the personal notes that you may leave for a friend, communication with faculty and administrators in the educational setting should be professionally written in order to uphold the professional atmosphere of any workplace. Education has become a much more competitive field, given today's economical setting, and you are much more likely to be taken seriously and leave a good lasting impression if your e-mails exhibit exceptional writing standards.