Meet The Teacher night can be an exciting, but stressful, event. Do you get those first day jitters and wonder “What am I going to say to the parents?” “Do I have to talk in front of all those people?” “How will I keep the students occupied?”
I hear ya sista! It can seem like an overwhelming evening and you want it to go perfectly. So how do you do that? Well, I have a few tips that just might help you out during your open house or meet the teacher night.
Make sure your room is prepared
Before you begin to write those first week of school lesson plans you'll need to get into your classroom and get it arranged. You definitely want your classroom set up and ready to go before you get ready to greet parents and your new students! That doesn't mean that you have to go out and buy a bunch of new furniture and bulletin board displays.
But you should make your room neat and tidy. Make sure things are clean and shining. Have your classroom learning centers set up and bulletin boards covered with fresh paper and border. You want your room to be an inviting place for your new students.
Label everything
It's a good idea to have everything labeled with your students' names or student numbers before your meet the teacher or open house. When your new students come to meet you, they also want to take a look around the room and find their special places. It's a good idea to have their cubby, student mailboxes, and seats labeled. By the time you finish labeling everything, you will have all your student's first and last names memorized!
Sign up sheets
Will you want parent helpers this year? Now is the time to get those names! Put sign up sheets for parties, field trips, etc on a table with some pencils. During the evening, encourage parents to sign up to help before they leave.
Prepare a meet the teacher packet
I think it's a good idea to give parents a packet of information about your classroom. Parents will have lots of questions at the beginning of the year and I'm sure you'll try to answer many of those questions during your Open House. But people forget things. If you have a nice packet all typed up, your parents can refer to it throughout the year whenever they have a question about something in your room.
Some of the things that you may want to include in your welcome packet are:
- Daily Schedule
- Transportation Procedures (Car, Bus, etc)
- Breakfast and Lunch Procedures and Cost
- Parent / Teacher Communication Procedures (email, phone, notes from home, newsletters, etc)
- Snack Procedures
- Dress Code
- Discipline / Behavior Expectations
- Parent Volunteers
- Grading Procedures
Send a welcome letter to your new students
About a week before the Open House, it's a nice idea to send a letter to your students welcoming them to your classroom. Tell them a little about your classroom and what to expect during your open house. Ask parents to bring all of their child's school supplies to open house. Include the date and time of the Open House and also your room number so that they can find you!
Collect school supplies
I always collect my school supplies before school starts. Have your students bring their supplies to your Open House or Meet The Teacher night and let the parents sort them into boxes. I like to use these free school supply labels on bins that I stack in the hallway. That way, parents and students can easily see where each supply goes. It'll save you so much time and you'll be ready for the first day of school!
Have a plan for your meet the teacher night
Be sure to have a plan for how you want your evening to go. Think about what you want the students to be doing. Do you want them to do a scavenger hunt with their parents? Maybe they can look for their cubby, their mailbox, their seat, the pencil sharpener, etc.
I like to show a PowerPoint presentation to parents as I talk to them about our classroom. It looks professional and helps me remember everything I want to say! Read more about my Meet The Teacher presentation here.
Putting it all together
Now…are you thinking….how am I going to get all this put together before my open house? No worries! I have you covered with these back to school editable forms, lists, and PowerPoint in both an apple theme and a school kids theme.
Each set includes an editable meet the teacher letter, emergency contact forms, parent helper sign up sheets, birthday calendars, bus lists, and more. Plus it includes an editable Powerpoint presentation that is perfect for your Meet the Teacher or Open House.
Click here to see the apple theme.
Click here to see the school kids theme.
Save these ideas for later!
Take a minute to save these tips to your favorite back-to-school Pinterest board so you can remember them later!
Want more helpful tips? Check out this post
