Meet the Teacher

 Each fall, our district does a "Meet the Teacher" event where families come to check out the school, teachers, and classrooms.  It's usually an hour or two long and and families can stop by at their leisure. I LOVE the fact that there is no formal presentation--We used to do that my first few years and I always hated it because I felt like no one paid attention.  We also encourage families to drop off school supplies, which is a tremendous help!  I sure don't miss the days of unwrapping the supplies of 20-some student's on the first day of school!  Today's post is an overview of how I run my Meet the Teacher event.  I try to keep things simple!

Tips for Success:

1.  Keep a clipboard and pen with you--Keep a transportation log on it so you know how every student is going home the first day of school.  In addition, keep some notebook paper on your clipboard.  This is for notes that families may share with you (behavior, medical, custody, etc...) This will help you big time after families leave!  You can refer back to your notes for important information.

In years past, I've offered these transportation tags to families in case they want to label their child's book bag or shirt on the first day of school.  These help adults in the building get children to their designated classroom.

2.  Provide Time for Families to Browse-Once I've checked in with families, they are encouraged to find their child's desk, peruse the classroom, and unwrap their supplies.  On the desks, students will see any workbooks, notebooks, a welcome treat, etc...they will use for the year as well as their take home data binders.  The binders travel to and from school each day.  

3.  Provide a Treat-I love placing a special treat on each child's desk.  I've done several things over the years...popcorn, cookies, crackers, lollipops, etc...You can grab the tags that I use by clicking below.

4.  Provide a Space for Supply Check-In-My favorite way to collect student supplies is to display the following signage and have families set up their child's school box.  I display the sign in the clear photo holders and place one on each pod of desks.  

In addition, I use my open house supply signs to make customized signs that match our first grade supply list.  I label large bins with the signs and place them at the front of my room.  Families follow the directions and open/unpack all supplies.  It's truly amazing leaving open house having everything opened and sorted.  It also really saves my hands and wrists! 

*I also put out a sign regarding headphones and markers near the large supply buckets as an extra reminder for families to label them with their child's name.*  

Teacher Tips: Place a set of student name labels near the marker and headphone collection bins.  Families label the marker box with their child' name.  Place a box of gallon Ziploc bags near the headphone bin.  Families unwrap the headphones, place them in a Ziploc, and stick their child's name sticker on the bag.  

*acrylic sign holder affiliate link above*

5.  Distribute Paperwork/Forms- As mentioned above, I place all of my student's paperwork on their desks.  Most families take the forms home to complete and return them on the first day of school.  However, I do give the option for families to sit and complete them during Open House if they choose.

*Although I don't currently use it, I used my "Meet the Teacher Board" for several years.  It's an editable kit that contains the pieces to create an open house 3-panel board, where you can organize paperwork for families to collect.  Several themes are included.

Best of luck with your open house!

xo

Megan 

Preparing for Open House

At our building, we have an Open House of sorts in August.  This is where students and families come to meet the teachers.  It is typically during the day (in the afternoon) and is a week or so before school begins.  Open House is also an opportunity for parents to drop off their kids' school supplies.  I love the format of our Open House, because there is no formal presentation; parents and kids come in, meet us, look around the room, organize their supplies, and share how their child is getting home when school starts.  It's always a whirl-wind, but well worth it.  Today's post is all about how I organize Open House.  As with anything in elementary education, the more organized and prepared you are, the smoother the Open House will go.  Over the years, I have just about perfected my system for Open House and wanted to share it with you in case you are a new teacher, or just looking to improve your current system.

First up is prep.  Here are things I do to get ready for Open House:

• Prior to Open House, I set up bins with supply labels on them.  Think glue sticks, crayons, pencils, hand sanitizer, tissues, baggies, etc...I also have bins that say "markers," "headphones," and "pocket folders."  In these three specific bins, I have sheets of name labels.  *More on that later in the post.

• On the children's desks, I have their school forms, my contact card magnets, their take-home data binders, a small treat, a note about myself, and other forms that I like for myself.  

Another thing that I have done in years past is place all the forms in my "Open House Board."  This is a 3-panel board that I made one summer that houses forms for parents for Open House.  They simply go to the board and take one of each form.  It's a great alternative to sorting forms onto kids' desks!

• Also on the middle of the tables (I keep my kids' desks into groups), I have table-top sign holders.  (You can grab those by clicking my affiliate link below)  These house directions for parents in terms of opening supplies.   Asking parents to open and sort supplies was something new I started doing a few years ago and I will never go back!  The parents don't mind helping at all, and it really is a game-changer!  This has been such a huge help for me.  Because of my Rheumatoid Arthritis, opening packaging is difficult and painful.

• At the start of this post, I mentioned that you'll want to have labeled supply tubs ready.  What I do is have my parents fill their child's supply box and then open and sort the remaining supplies in the tubs for me.  I do not put names on anything.  I do not keep track of who brought what.  We always have more than enough with the extras I purchase during BTS sales.  The only thing I pseudo keep track of are crayons...each child brings 2 boxes of 24.  They get one to start the year and one additional as needed.  That's it.

• I prep a clipboard with a checklist of student names as well as a transportation checklist.  The name sheet allows me to make notes about things the families tell me.  The transportation checklist ensures that I know how each child is getting home from school each day.  I also lay out Sharpie markers, safety pins,  and "Transportation Tags" for my families to complete.  They quickly complete a tag for their child and place it on his/her book bag prior to the first day.  This allows any adult who may see this child wandering the hallways to take them to their classroom.  

• I also ensure that my classroom is presentable and ready.  This is by no means necessary, but I do want to get my kids and families excited and what's more exciting than seeing a clean, organized, and prepared classroom ready for the first day of school?!  Teacher Tip:  In more recent years, I've learned NOT to tape name tags down.  Oftentimes, parents will tell me that their child is BFF with the person I randomly sat next to them.  Or they may tell me the opposite about their child's relationship with their new "neighbor."  In addition, some students do not show up and then I have tons of stuff with their name on it.   Instead of taping name tags down, I lay them on the desks.  This allows me to switch them around as needed.  The only names I put up for Open House are a class list outside my door and cutouts on my door with kids' first names.  Both of those can easily be changed/removed.   I use a number system for the kids' cubbies (praise the lord for not having to re-label those every year!) and mailboxes. 

That's about it, folks!  Open House can be as involved or as casual as you want it (depending on what your administrator asks of you).  The biggest thing for me is to be organized prior to starting.  The chaos of having so many new faces in your room is overwhelming enough; the last thing you want to be doing is scrambling around the room looking for something.  I hope you found this post helpful!  

xo

Megan 

Open House

Each year, we have an Open House/Meet the Teacher event prior to the first day of school.  It's very informal and lasts 1 hour.  It's more of a quick "Meet and Greet."  Each year, I try to be a little more organized than the previous years.  Below I'll show you how I set up my Open House this year.

Like always, I lay out my large bins that you can grab here and label them with my editable supply signs found here.  I have clear directions typed out and sprinkled on the desk groups.  I have parents unwrap the supplies and follow the directions.   In the past, I've displayed the directions, but found that not all parents noticed them on the whiteboard.  Having a paper copy right in from of them really helped this year!!!  

Once supplies are unwrapped, I send the families back to the table to sign in and take all of the important papers.  That little yellow bucket on the table contains contact magnets that I make each year.  They have my name, email, room number, and phone number on them.  I always want my parents to know how to reach me if need be.

In the past, I've used my editable "Open House Display Board" to display papers.  However, it matched an old classroom theme and I didn't have time to make a new one this year.  You can grab the board here.

Each child has a special treat on their desk.  I've done lollipops, popcorn, and candy over the years. This year I went with Goldfish crackers from Costco.  I made some labels to stick on the front.

I ALWAYS ask the parents (immediately after I introduce myself) how their child is getting home on the first day of school.  This saves my sanity on what's already a crazy first day!  Grab the form shown below here for FREE.  I also put out my transportation tags, found here, for the parents to fill out and pin to their kids' book bags.  

I store all extra supplies together in this red cart from Ikea.  The only things that I add a name label to are the kids' markers, folders, and headphones.  Everything else goes in the cart.  

So there you have it!  This year's Open House went smoother than any other years!  I took a lot of pictures and notes and will remember to do the same things next year!

xo

Megan 

8 Tips for a Smooth Open House

Hi, friends!  It's back to school time for me and I'm sure it will be your turn soon {if not yet already!}.  Today I am here with another "8 Tips" post with a focus on Open House or Meet the Teacher Night.  *If you missed the prior "8 Tips" posts, see them here:  8 Essential Books for Back to School and 8 Essential Books for Classroom Management

Our Open House has evolved over the years from us having to do a formal presentation to an informal meet and greet.  I have to say that I LOVE the meet and greet format. Each year, I try to tweak the Open House to make things go a little more smoothly than the year prior. Today, I am sharing some of my best tips for Meet the Teacher/Open House with you!   

Tip #1: Have your room looking presentable and clutter-free-Remember, this is the first impression your students and parents have of you and your classroom.  Your classroom is a reflection of you.  Showing them that you took time to get your room ready and organized will show that you are care about them and your job.

Tip #2: Have all forms from the office on student desks & anything from you organized on an Open House Board or student desks-If you're like us, we always have tons of papers to send home from the office.  Those are put together by our secretary {PTL!} and in envelopes.  In addition, I like to send my own few letters and forms {grab these FREE here} home.  Those are not in the office envelope.  I use my "Open House Board" {editable to meet your needs} to organize all of those. Parents just visit the board and grab what they need.

Tip #3: Have a sign-in sheet for people as they arrive-This can be combined with tip #4 if you wish.  I like to keep the sign-in sheet for my own record.  This helps me know who missed Open House and who I need to send forms/papers home with on the first day.

Tip #4: Find out how students are going home on the first day-I can not stress this tip enough! I've made it a habit of asking people right as they walk in my room after I've introduced myself.  As soon as I write down this information, I write out a Transportation Tag and ask parents to pin it on their child's book bag the first day.  This way, if someone is confused, any adult can quickly identify who they are and where they are supposed to be going!  There is nothing more chaotic than not knowing how someone is getting home at the end of the day.

And YES, I do have more students than this.  Not everyone came to Open House!

Tip #5: Have name tags laid out on desks but NOT taped down-This is something I started this year...the reason I decided to do this is because many times, parents will come in and say that their child is best friends with the child I randomly chose to put them next to.  They will also say the opposite!  I will be keeping the name tags "loose" the first week of school.  That way, I can quickly relocate children whose current seating situation isn't working.  No more sliding desks around and making tons of noise {and tearing up the wax job on the floor!}.

Tip #6: Have labeled bins out to collect supplies in-This is a game-changer!  Get those bins out and ready!  Label each bin with a large sign.  You will love yourself when the parents/kids leave and your supplies are already sorted!

Tip #7: Ask parents to unwrap and sort supplies {using a directions sheet}-I print out a sheet with explicit directions for parents and leave one on each desk.  I used to just project the directions {which you can still do} but that didn't work so well because most people wouldn't see it.  Printed sheet=amazing.  Why do we spend hours unwrapping and sorting through everything for 20+ kids? Why not have the parents unwrap!?  This is a game-changer, people!

Tip #8: Show your enthusiasm-You've just spend days and many hours setting up your classroom. You are exhausted.  BUT, you must put on your game face and show your excitement for your new students and their families!  Greet everyone with a smile and a "I am SO happy you are here!"

Well, there you have it!  My best tips.  I hope you found this post useful!  Have a great year!

xo
Megan