Article: A physical card is much nicer than only sending an email to say thank you. It’s a more personal gesture and it is more meaningful than an ecard or email. It will also give your teacher a physical keepsake to remember their old students by.  If you aren’t sure of your teacher’s mailing address, then you might need to do some investigating. Some options to try for locating the address include contacting the school directly or contacting the alumni or local teacher's associations. If the teacher you’re thanking is a high school teacher, then you can simply address the card to your teacher at the school’s address, which will be available on the main page of the school’s website. If you’re thanking a former college professor, then things get a little trickier. You’ll need to either call the office of the department in which your professor teaches to find out their specific mailing address or search the school’s website to find out the address of a particular department. For example, if you want to thank your former Political Science professor, then you will need to call or search the website of that department to find the correct mailing address for your professor. Do not send the card to the general university mailing address, as that is for school administrators, not faculty. College faculty are often very mobile, more so than K-12 teachers, so they might not still be teaching at the school where they taught you. If this is the case, you can contact the department office and ask for a forwarding address for them. When you go shopping for a thank you card, keep in mind what you want to convey with your card. Do you want it to be serious or would you prefer a more playful message and design? Make sure the tone of your thank you card is appropriate for the relationship you have with your teacher. If you’re unsure, err on the side of caution. You’ll be personalizing the card, so pictures on the card are less important. A handmade card is also a wonderful gesture! It shows a little more effort on your part and is easy to create. You can simply fold a piece of paper in half widthwise and include a combination of illustrations and words on both the inside and outside. Your card should begin with "Dear [teacher's name]." To ensure that your thank you note doesn't feel stiff or sound strange, address your teacher the way you addressed them in class. For example, use "Ms. Smith," "Dr. Jones," or "Amy," depending on how you referred to them in class.  Likewise, if your college professor has their doctorate, use “Dr.” and not “Mr.” or “Mrs.” If you’re unsure of their proper title, this will require some research on your part. Check out the university department’s website. There is usually a faculty page with brief biographies and resumes that will let you know whether “Dr.” is the right title to use. Teachers love to get positive feedback from their students, so you should let them know specifically what they did that endeared them to you.  For example, did they stay after class to help you understand some course material better? Did they make an ordinary lecture interesting or inspiring? Were they flexible or understanding when you had personal issues during the school year? Be sure to say thank you, but also make sure to include specifics. Begin your letter with “Dear [Name]” and make sure that you use proper grammar and punctuation throughout. Avoid using “hey” as your greeting because that’s not a respectful, professional greeting. If you’re worried you’ll make a mistake while writing, try writing your message on a separate piece of paper and then transcribing it onto the card. This way you can avoid having to scribble out or white-out over mistakes.

What is a summary?
Deliver or send a handwritten note. Make or purchase a thank you card. Address them properly. Specify why you appreciate them. Keep it professional.