Monday two weeks ago was officially my first day back to
work. That means my day was full of
meetings and in-service. Luckily I’ve
been in my room the two weeks before getting all my crazy organization issues
under control and getting a little craft on (as seen with my crate storage and
crate seating posts).
My team this year has 2 first year teachers and a teacher
who has moved down from another grade level.
I’m SUPER excited about the new team!
Our school had in-service this entire week. The kids started back today; however, we have
Meet the Teacher / Parent Information Night on Tuesday of in-service week. That means the room has to be ready by
Tuesday evening and so do all of our handouts.
So I’m sharing what I do for Meet the Teacher / Parent
Information Night and hopefully you’ll get some good ideas and share yours with
me.
Meet the Teacher is from 6:00-6:30 and the kids come in with
their parents and wander around the room.
I take a picture of each student there for his / her locker tag and
lunch choice card. This also helps me
get most of the names memorized by the first day of school.
I have a checklist on each student desk so parents know what
to do while I am taking pictures and meeting other parents. This keeps me from having to repeat the same
thing 24 times or be dominated by one family.
One of the first thing my parents do is sign in. This helps me remember who was there that
night. If you notice my sign in also has
how the student is getting home the first day.
It happens every year – little Johnny will ride the bus, but on the
first day of school mom really wants to pick him up. That section is a life saver with figuring
out who is getting home how on that first day if it deviates from the routine.
My school uses Continuous Improvement and so we have certain
requirements. One of those is that the 3
questions be asked of parents on Meet the Teacher. I have found sticky notes and posters are the
easiest way to get the information. I
then create a document listing all of the answers and my responses to
those. I included last year’s document
in case you wanted to try something like that.
It is time consuming but parents seem to appreciate that you listened to
them and responded.
One of the items on my checklist is to pick up a heart from
the helping hearts pocket chart. I am
always surprised how many people will grab one and send the supplies that first
week of school. I usually request things
that are not on our school supply lists – sharpies, address labels, etc.
At 6:30 the students are taken to the gym to watch a movie
and the parents sit down for Parent Information Night. We used to do this a couple of weeks after
school started (which I prefer), but have combined the two nights into one
crazy-full one. During Parent
Information Night I use a PowerPoint to guide me through all the topics I want
to cover – discipline, student binders, homework, grade level shirts, grading,
data folders, etc. I get off track if I
don’t have something to guide me and so I’ve found a PowerPoint is perfect to
help me focus.
This is a little handout I give the parents that night. I have found that making it different – a
little flip book instead of just stapled sheets of paper – seems to give a nice
touch. I started using colorful paper as
well. Little details like that let
parents know you put in the extra effort.
You could use any headings you want with the same basic idea. I like adding a class list in there – that is
helpful for birthday invitations and valentine’s cards.
It took me a while to get the spacing just right and the page layouts to look nice for these pamphlets. Hopefully you can download and edit from my GoogleDocs links above and save yourself some time. You will just need to copy the Cover and Discipline front to back, Contact Information and Reading Program front to back, and Class List and Schedule front to back. It takes a bit of preparation to do this, but the impact on parents is worth it.
I also give each parent a magnetic business card. Again, little details like a
business card with your contact information and conference times helps set up
that you are a professional. I would
highly recommend that you also invest in magnetic business cards. You peel the paper off and can stick your
business cards directly onto them.
We used to send home t-shirt notes the first week of
school. But I have found that some
parents will actually fill out the form and return it with money that night or
the first week of school instead of waiting until the last minute. I’m really excited about our shirts this
year. If you think they are super-cute
(like I do) and want to look into them you should visit CustomInk.com. They have awesome designs and are always
super-sweet when you talk to them about orders, etc.
Another note I have out that night is the photo / video
release. I’ve found that if I show them
my class website with all the cute pictures and videos they are more likely to
sign that waiver. Also, this note never
has to go home – it can be signed and left on the desk and that is one less
thing for me to worry about once school begins.
And to finish off the evening I send the parents and
students home with some cookies and a poem.
The cookies make the kids smile and the poem gives parents warm
fuzzies. I am a very professional /
organized personality. Sometimes the
moms just want to know that I care. The
poem reassures them that we will work together to help those precious little
first graders.
Hopefully you got a few ideas to add to your Meet the
Teacher bag of tricks. Let me know if
you have any other great ideas – I’m always looking to improve. Arrggg…I must have drank the Continuous
Improvement Kool-Aid!
