Gmail Tips for Teachers & Students: Boost School Productivity with Google Workspace in UAE

1. Set Up Your Inbox Like a Pro

Think of your inbox like your bedroom—would you rather have clothes everywhere or everything neatly organized? Here’s how to make Gmail work better:

• Change Your Inbox View: Go to Settings > Inbox and try “Important and unread first.” This puts the emails that matter most right at the top.
  
  
• Use Priority Inbox: This feature learns which emails are important to you. After a while, it’ll automatically highlight messages from your teacher or important school announcements.

2. Create Email Signatures That Look Professional

Your email signature is like your digital business card! Here’s what students should include:

• Your full name
  
  
• Your school and grade/year
  
  
• Your student email address
  
  
• Maybe your LinkedIn profile (if you have one)
  
  

For teachers, add:

• Your name and title
  
  
• Your school/department
  
  
• Contact information
  
  
• Office hours
  
  

Pro tip: Keep it simple and clean—avoid rainbow colors or funny quotes in school emails.

3. Master the Art of Email Organization

Labels Are Your Best Friend: Think of labels like folders, but smarter. You can put one email in multiple labels. Create labels such as:

• Homework Due This Week
  
  
• Math Class
  
  
• College Applications
  
  
• Important School Info
  
  

Use Filters to Automate: Filters are like magic rules that organize emails automatically. For example, you can set all emails from your math teacher to automatically get labeled “Math Class.”

4. Use Templates to Save Time

Templates (formerly called Canned Responses) are perfect for teachers who reply to the same types of emails.

Teachers can create templates for:

• “Thanks for submitting your assignment.”
  
  
• “Here are the makeup work instructions.”
  
  
• “Reminder about upcoming test.”
  
  

Students can use them for:

• “Thank you for your feedback on my assignment.”
  
  
• “I’ll be absent tomorrow due to illness.”
  
  

5. Schedule Emails Like a Time Wizard

Gmail’s “Schedule Send” feature helps manage email timing professionally and efficiently—perfect for both teachers and students.

How to Schedule an Email:

1. Write your email as usual
   
   
2. Click the dropdown arrow next to “Send”
   
   
3. Choose “Schedule send”
   
   
4. Pick your perfect time!
   
   

Why It’s Useful:

• Teachers can draft emails on weekends but schedule them to send during school hours
  
  
• Students can submit assignments at appropriate times
  
  
• Great for different time zones if you’re studying abroad
  
  

6. The “Undo Send” Feature Will Save Your Life

We’ve all hit “Send” and immediately thought, “Oh no!” Gmail gives you up to 30 seconds to take it back.

To Set This Up:

• Click the gear icon in Gmail
  
  
• Go to “See all settings”
  
  
• Find “Undo Send”
  
  
• Choose a cancellation period (5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds)
  
  
• Save changes
  
  

When It Helps:

• Forgot to attach a file
  
  
• Noticed a spelling mistake
  
  
• Sent to the wrong person
  
  

7. Search Like a Detective

Gmail’s search bar is incredibly powerful. Try these search operators:

• from:teacher.name — Finds all emails from your teacher
  
  
• has:attachment — Shows emails with attachments
  
  
• subject:assignment — Locates emails with “assignment” in the subject
  
  
• in:sent — Searches through your sent mail
  
  

8. Keep Your Contacts Organized

Add Important People: Save your teachers, classmates, and school staff with clear labels. Instead of just “Mr. Smith,” use “Mr. Smith – Grade 10 Math.”

Create Groups: Make contact groups like “Study Group” or “Science Class” to email multiple people at once.