One of the biggest shocks I had when I moved from teaching middle school to high school was the amount of college recommendation letters I would be asked to write. My first 2 years of teaching high school, I just dealt with the onslaught of requests. Every time I turned around, another student was requesting one.
I don’t mind writing them, but they take time. Even though I have several templates to help me, but they still take on average about 15 minutes each to write. Now, I have a system that works for me and I’d like to share it with you. It has saved me so much time and frustration.
I make my expectations clear to my juniors in the spring. In order for me to write a recommendation letter for a student, I require the following:
- Formal Request: Students must sign up outside my classroom door AND send me a request via email. Many want to ask me in person, which I appreciate, but I also tend to forget if I don’t have the request in writing. They can also see the list fill up outside my door, which causes them to get their act together!
- Resume: The biggest requirement I have is that students send me their resume. So many times I don’t know what organizations they are involved with on campus or how they spend their time outside of school. Seeing their resume really helps me paint a better picture of the strengths of a student.
- Cover letter: A cover letter which includes what universities they plan on applying to and what they think might be their major. Of course, this part is subject to change, but it helps me craft my recommendation letter for them.
- Advance notice: They must give me 2 weeks lead time. I want them to understand the importance of time management. It also takes pressure off of me to do them when I am available.
- Thank you note: Students must write me a thank you note. Yes, this is important because I want to teach them proper etiquette. A proper thank you note shows gratitude and appreciation. Amelia from Couple of Teachers has a great blog post on how writing thank you notes is a life skill worth teaching. Check it out here.
- A follow up! For the first two years I taught high school, I never heard back from students where they got accepted or where they finally decided to attend. I now require them to follow up with me and let me know their plans.
Two additional suggestions:
- Put a limit on how many recommendation letters you will write and stick to it. In my first two years, I wrote 50, then 72. This year I am limiting myself to 40 and I’ve told my students my limit. I suggest you find a number that works for you and stick with it. It will teach your students that your time is valuable and that they need to plan ahead.
- Find or create several templates to get you started and keep your letters in case you need to submit them electronically.
I hope this helps!
