<p>My government professor this semester has been very inspiring, as well as entertaining. Have you ever sent a professor an email thanking him/her for their teaching? Is it silly for me to want to do this?</p>
<p>I have a lot of respect for teachers/professors (and I hope to become one) and sometimes I just want to let them know that they're appreciated.</p>
<p>I have written a few of my professor 'thank you'-notes. Many professors put a lot of effort into their teaching and I am sure they really appreciate the feedback :)</p>
<p>I have. And I think it means a lot to them.</p>
<p>As students, we tend to hang around with people who have similar attitudes toward the work and so a lot of us have the impression that students care about learning and try hard.</p>
<p>The students who care about learning and try hard, though, don't take nearly as much time for them to deal with as the students who cheat and the students who don't do the work and then whine about grades and so on. So they're more conscious of those kinds of students. I think a lot of instructors feel as if they and their work are devalued. (Of course, I also read Rate Your Students every morning, which I understand appeals to the burned-out end of the profession.)</p>
<p>A reminder that the kind of students they imagined themselves teaching exist, take their classes, and benefit from their work can be very welcome.</p>
<p>So I say do it.</p>
<p>I got such e-mails and cards when I was a professor. I still have some of them. They do mean a lot. They even can help professors get tenure or promotion. </p>
<p>I suggest sending such things after grades are in, however.</p>