Many training programs end with the practice of participants writing a letter to themselves reminding them of what they learned and how they intend to use their newly acquired knowledge and skills. The same is true for students in professional programs like ours. The act of sitting down and reflecting on what they have learned and deciding what they will do with the new insights tends to focus attention on the new information and increases, dramatically, the likelihood of actually using it. The simple act of writing it down helps individuals remember the insights.
It is also important to protect the privacy of the letter. It is a personal letter from the student at the current moment to the student to read at a future time. Therefore, it is important to give students a chance to write the letter without any interference or oversight. They need to know that the confidentiality of what they say will be respected.
The Assignment
To make this letter-writing activity work most productively, you need to do five things:
- Give the students a clear assignment to write a letter to themselves that you will mail at some specific date in the future. They should address the envelopes with their mailing address at the time that you will mail them.
- Provide some time and space in the classroom (or make it a homework assignment) for the students to write the letters. Giving class time shows you value the assignment. If it is a homework assignment, collect it; that act provides the same message of importance.
- Pick an appropriate time during the term for the assignment. It can be part of a class at the end of an important unit or near the end of the term, when reviewing material is often a class activity.
- Collect the letters—in stamped and sealed self-addressed envelopes—and hold them until the date you indicated that you will mail them.
- Mail them to the students on the appointed date, which can be several weeks later in the term or a month or six weeks after the course ends. Either date—or another one that may be more appropriate to your school calendar—is fine so long as you actually honor it. (I found that mailing the letters to students in the early part of the next term, before assignments got too heavy, was most useful.)
The clarity of the assignment and the privacy of the letter are essential for this activity to work. To ensure students will complete the assignment, you can make it a requirement of the course that they do the letter and guarantee that its privacy will be respected. Given the stamped addressed envelopes that you collect, it is easy to know who has done the assignment and who has not.
Summary
Thank you for reading this column about using personal letter writing as a strategy for students to remind themselves of important insights. Next month and for the spring, we will discuss increasing, building and encouraging curiosity and creativity among students. If you have suggestions for other topics or teaching practices you want to share, send them to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and I will include them in future Mayo’s Clinics.
Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT, was most recently a clinical professor at New York University. Principal of Mayo Consulting Services, he continues to teach around the globe, and is a frequent presenter at CAFÉ events nationwide. His latest book, Planning an Applied Research Project in Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports (Wiley, 2013), debuted last autumn.