Should You Keep in Touch with EFL Students?

It's your last EFL class, and you have to say good-bye to your current students. You've had some of them for a couple of weeks; others you've had for a month or more. Certainly you've been through this before-if you've taught EFL for any length of time-but each time it can be a bittersweet moment for both the students and you.

So should you keep in touch with your students after they leave? Here are some guidelines:

1. What are the policies of your school? Each EFL school has its own policies about relating to students outside the classroom. Ask another teacher what he/she does about keeping in contact with students, and make sure you don't violate any rules.

2.What does staying in touch mean? Today, contact can mean everything from phone calls on SKYPE, emails, Facebook-you name it. Think beforehand what you will offer if a student asks for your email, phone number, etc. As for myself as an EFL teacher Malta, I offer my email (I write it on the board) at the end of the last class. I tell students that I would love to hear from them-but they are under no obligation. I never ask for the emails of students. I personally don't feel it's appropriate to ask for a student's email. One good way of keeping in touch with students is an occasional note on my own Facebook page. I actually hate Facebook, but I find it very handy to leave a message to students in the section where you change your status or say what you're thinking. I've found students read that and feel very comfortable leaving a message back if they want.

3. What are your expectations? I worried about some students I thought would contact me every day with one EFL question or another--and I never heard from them. There are others thought I would never hear from-and I still get emails from them a long time after they were students. Some even chat a bit on MSN Live. You just never know which students will keep up contact with you. Here's the best you can do: If you feel like keeping touch with students, give them your email. Let them know what they can expect: Will you always answer? If students don't hear back from you, should they email you again? I tell students that if they don't hear back from me within two days they should email me again. Occasionally, I found out that I never received a student's email and he/she was upset. This is why, therefore, I tell students to try me again if I don't answer.

4. How long do you stay in touch? As with any relationship-student and teacher-or otherwise, it all depends on what the two parties want. Usually, I leave things in the hands of the students. I stay in touch as long as they want to. Sometimes, I've had to cut IM chats short with students, but it's rare that I've had students overdue it with contacting me.

Whatever you do, remember above all else that you're in a professional relationship with the student-even when the student leaves your classroom. There are always exceptions to this, but that's another story for another time.

Ilene Springer teaches EFL in Malta and is author of An-American-in-Malta.com.