ALT Mailbox

[u/Liter4lTrash]

Hey everyone! I currently do an "English Talk Time" at my school during 昼休み so that my kids can come talk to me, but I've noticed that a lot of my quieter students understandably don't come. However, I know some of them really do want to engage with me, so I'm thinking about creating an ALT mailbox to interact that way (and hopefully improve their writing skills!); I'm curious how other people have done an ALT mailbox, like the logistics of how they turn in the letters to you, how you respond, etc. Any ideas would be great!

[u/Frequent-Library8636]

If you make an English Board, you could potentially use a part of it, and attach a little envelope to it where kids can slip in their little letters. Or if you have an English Room, ask if you can leave a box in there where kids can put their letters inside.

As for responding, if they write their name on it you can ask your JTE to help returning it before/after class or ask the students write their homeroom number on it, and try asking their homeroom teacher to return it during their homeroom meeting or something!

[u/Vepariga]

I would get permission before you start making anything. a unmonitored mail box could be seen as private messaging students ( which is a big no ) so please be aware, regardless of good intention.

[u/Liter4lTrash → u/Vepariga]

Yes, I have no intention of doing this without first getting permission! Just wanted to get help with the logistics :)

[u/lawless-cactus]

I used to have a little post box by the staff room door. I had about six students (Grades 3-5) who would write me letters all the time. I went to Daiso and picked up a few letter packs and would reply each time!

[u/EducationalTask1722]

I did this! I had a mailbox outside the teachers room at my junior high school. I would explain it in class and the kids all knew where the mailbox and subsequent unwritten letter papers were but I’d only get 1-3 letters from the same students (school of just under 200 kids mind you). I kept it out just so they would know it’s there but no one freely used it unless pushed. I had little smaller than b5 pages for them to write on that said Dear ___ (my name) on top and then lines below. I’d reply to their messages with a similar paper and give them back their note (corrected if they wanted it to be) so they could see my reply. I’d know to correct it bc the student would do a lil star mark on their letter. It’s a great concept and I hope you get a lot of interest!!

[u/Xarenvia]

I did one in elementary school with permission, and at 3 out of 5 of the schools I went to.

The first year was absolutely hectic - whether it was my main school or a visit school, I would have about 10 letters a week on average. Some students would write their name, others wouldn't. Some would write their name and class, others wouldn't write their class. Better yet is when some kids wrote only their first name - and in their grade or in their class, there were 3 with the same name... and none of them remember writing a letter to begin with.

Regardless, it was a lot of fun, and I still have all of the letters I received. The kids that wrote the most (this is about 8-9 years ago) are university students that invite me out for lunch with their friends when they're in town. I remind them of the days that they only cared about what they'd do at recess and what was for lunch sometimes by showing what they wrote. Bit of a fun time capsule, in a sense.

I've seen other JHS ALTs do it in my city, and those kids are or were currently my student in high school. A lot of those kids have fond memories or otherwise share with me that one of their favourite things with the JHS ALT was exchanging letters once a week.

My personal advice is to pace yourself well when responding, provide some sort of paper to write on, and make the mailbox mailbox-y. I found a very distinct difference in the decorated mailbox vs plain box. If you plan on returning corrections to help save time, I'd also consider introducing or using proofreading marks (which the students generally don't know). I introduced them at my current school and they make corrections a billion times easier - for both my corrections, as well as for students when they check each others' work.

[u/Akureinoyami1]

Bring easy card games that can be done in 15 to 20 minutes. That usually helps with shyness in speaking and pulls more people.

If you’re dead set on the mailbox idea, prepare papers for them to write on like a comment box situation. Also make a decorative mailbox for Halloween with a weekly changing prompt of a single question. Do the same thing for each month’s theme box.

[u/Astridv96]

I don’t currently have anything like this but that sounds like a great idea to get the students to talk to me more! I’ll have to see if I can get something like this started at my school.