Whether your school calls it Meet the Teacher, Back to School Night, Curriculum Night, or something else, new families flocking to your classroom all at once can be as overwhelming as it is exciting. These ten tips for a productive open house will help you organize, communicate, and manage Meet the Teacher Night like a pro. Click here for how to plan and manage a Virtual Meet the Teacher Night.
1. Your classroom doesn’t have to be complete
Many schools hold open house just before school starts so students and parents can meet their new teacher before the first day of school. While your classroom doesn’t have to be perfect, or even completely set up and decorated, you do want families to feel comfortable and confident that their child will be spending their school day in a happy environment.
In the primary grades, make sure you have a name tag and desk or table space for each child. Put away piles and unfinished projects until after your open house. Empty spaces are better than cluttered ones, and bare bones bulletin boards are okay, too. (Yes, we start school in July!)
2. Connect and communicate with your new families
Do your best to not only greet and spend a moment with each family, but to make a connection and begin a relationship. Help students make connections too. Ask each child to look at the class name tags to see if they know anyone in their new class. If they do, I always make sure to point out, “Wonderful! You already have a friend in our class!”.
3. Manage your time
With many families arriving at once, your time with students and parents is limited. Make the most of it by making eye contact with each child as they arrive. If you are busy with another student, give them a big smile and an “I see you and I’ll be right there” signal.
Meet the Teacher night is not a time to hold individual conferences with parents. Most schools hold open house for 60-90 minutes with families continually coming and going during this time. If I find a parent needs to speak with me more in depth, I set up a time when I can call them and ask them to be sure to include information for me on a “Help Me Get to Know Your Child” sheet.
4. Set up simple parent stations
Ensure that all parents know what to do and where to put supplies with step-by-step procedure posters. Use signs to set up a system that runs itself so you are free to spend time with parents and students. This gets parents started while they wait to see you.
Place table tents on groups of student desks to remind parents about the forms that need to be completed.
5. Make it easy to collect student information
My first priority during Meet the Teacher Night is to welcome my students and to make them feel comfortable. My second priority is to collect key information I need from parents and to provide parents with information they will need from me. I highly recommend a parent sign in sheet as the first thing parents do when they arrive.
Have important parent forms to be completed out on each child’s desk. While the front office has parent contact info, it’s always handy to have a copy in your classroom.
These additional forms will give you insight into your new students, offer volunteer opportunities, and ensure that you know how your students will get home at dismissal.
Resource: Meet the Teacher Editable Classroom Kits
I try to collect as many of these as possible while parents are in the room. Once the forms go home it can be difficult to get them returned. Of course, parents don’t always have time to complete them all, especially if they have more than one child at the school and other classrooms to visit. But do the best you can.
6. Meet Your Teacher Letter
Provide parents with information they will need too. I put together a welcome newsletter and other important pages to provide parents with our classroom rules and procedures, behavior management plan, birthday policies, and important school phone numbers like the health office, school counselor info, and the attendance line.
Our school provides health forms, technology use permissions, PTO information, and school code of conduct packets that we hand out as well.
7. Provide something for younger siblings to do
Lay out baskets of books, crayons, and paper to keep younger siblings busy while you meet your students and speak to parents. It can be difficult for parents to talk when they have little ones scurrying around the room. Giving younger siblings something to do helps give parents a chance to talk during your already limited time.
8. Offer volunteer opportunities to parents
Studies show that parent involvement is a key factor in student achievement. Provide as many opportunities as you can for parents to volunteer in your classroom or be involved from home. Many families have young children at home and can’t spend time in our classrooms. Be sure to have a sign up sheet at your Meet the Teacher event for parents to let you know of their interest in volunteering either in the classroom or from home. There are many things you can send home with students for parents to cut, prep, or plan from home to support your classroom.
9. Set up a space for extra supplies
Make a space for extra supplies and community items that students bring or parents donate.
Be sure to label your bins so that parents can sort supplies right then. This saves you a lot of time that would otherwise be spent sorting and organizing supplies later.
10. Display a classroom with list
Many parents ask what they can do to support the classroom besides volunteering. Set up a classroom wish list with extra supplies you know you will need throughout the year. Kleenex, glue sticks, sanitizing wipes, and pencils are like gold come March or April.
I made this one by scrunching an 12″ x 18″ sheet of construction paper and wrapping it around a paper towel holder. Next, I drew a tree top shape on the same size sheet of green before scrunching it. Open the papers, and smooth them out. Cut out the tree top. Wrap the brown around the paper towel holder and tape the back edges together. Lastly, I stapled on the tree top and added the labels.
Download the templates to make this FREE Classroom Giving Tree.
Most of All, Make Students Feel Welcome
I like to place a small welcome gift at each child’s desk. Depending on how much time I have, I’ve even made simple gifts for parents some years.
Create a back to school bulletin board that includes the names of all of your new students. Grab pictures at open house or on the first day of school to add to the board. This tells children, I’ve been expecting you, I value you, and you are part of our classroom family. Here’s a simple example using purple paper plates from the dollar store.
I hope these tips help you prepare and feel confident as you organize, communicate, and manage meet the teacher night like a pro!
Would you like more help with your open house?
I’ve put together editable classroom kits in 4 color styles with everything you need to be prepared for Meet the Teacher Night.
Each EDITABLE kit includes (in both English & Spanish):
- Parent stations & procedure posters
- 10 parent information forms
- Table tents
- Supply bin labels
- Classroom welcome posters
- Meet Your Teacher newsletter templates
- Student welcome gifts
- Classroom donations Giving Tree
Click here to see Meet the Teacher classroom kits.
If you’ve enjoyed this post why not share it with your teacher friends? Help another teacher and share on Facebook and Pinterest.
Find more teaching ideas in these helpful back to school posts.
How to Plan & Manage A Virtual Meet the Teacher Night
Favorite First Week of School Activities
The Best First Week EVER with You’re Finally Here!
Managing Data Folders in the Primary Classroom. Be sure to grab the FREE data folders starter kit while you’re there!
What to Teach in Science at the Beginning of the Year
Need ideas for setting up your classroom? Take my classroom tour. How about time-saving tips for putting up back to school bulletin boards? Check out Beating the Bulletin Board Blues. Need help planning your first week with students? Grab some ideas from this post.
Happy teaching friends!
What do you do if you get a new child in your class for your birthday board? Do you retake the picture of all the kids from that month?
Hi Alison!
While I have retaken the picture before, if everyone in the group is present or if I have time, I usually just grab a pic of the new student holding the date and staple it next to the group picture. Hope this helps, and thanks so much for stopping by!
Linda
Hey Linda!!
Your site looks AMAZING and I just LOVE all your ideas! I so miss collaborating with you. You have such wonderful incite which is a blessing to all that visit this site. Take care and thank you again for inspiring me to always get creative!
Hi Stacey!! Thank you so much friend!
Hi Linda! In 2013 you spray painted your plastic tubs and I am wondering how they held up. Thanks for the info!
Hi Debbie! My bins held up for about 2 years before they began getting scratches on the edges from so many books in and out. There is a new spray paint made especially for plastic that I used last year on a few bins and it held up great. The key is to let the sprayed items sit for as long as possible, at least several days, so the paint can cure before you use them. Here’s a pic on my IG of the paint I used. https://www.instagram.com/p/BVFZ-aLh0xp/?taken-by=aroundthekampfire
I hope this helps, and thanks so much for asking!
Linda
Thanks so much for sharing with other teachers!