It’s time to talk meet the teacher ideas. The week before school starts my school organizes a meet the teacher night. Although an informal couple of hours where parents can drop in, meet me, and check out the room, meet the teacher is my first impression on families.
These ideas will take out the stress and have you feeling ready to start your back to school season off on the right foot.
1. Supply Stations
First, I like to organize supply stations for my families to drop off all the school supplies they bring in. Having a designated space for this helps keep your room organized - especially if your meet the teacher night is right before the first day of school.
Before you can figure out your stations it helps to decide which supplies students bring in that they will be keeping. Examples of non-shared supplies might be pencil boxes, headphones, and folders. For these, I’ll ask students to pick out their desk and place these supplies there.
Some teachers will label and place bins for supplies. I like to use tables around the room. A small sign is all that’s needed for parents to know where they should go. As soon as the night is over, I can quickly put the items into cabinets before I leave.
Bonus tip: print labels for folders or notebooks that students can sticker with their student name and subject.
2. Parent Handouts
In my experience, people in your room can accumulate quite quickly during this event. Sometimes parents will be standing in line to speak with you personally. Having something to hand them to look over (and that might answer their questions before you’re free) is a great idea. These Parent Guides are a great way to provide parents with the grade level expectations for the end of the year. Parents are often surprised to learn how tough the academics can be!
For me, this means having a meet the teacher flipbook. Inside this flipbook I put a short paragraph about myself and my experience and then include my classroom management plan, classroom rules and some procedures (like the restroom policy), class schedule of specials, and how to contact me.
I also love to give out my sight words at home booklet and the second grade skills guide for parents. Since sight word practice is an important component of my word study, this booklet sets the tone for the coming year. I also like the skills guide because it helps provide families with a brief overview of what we will be studying for the year.
3. Pick a Seat
As mentioned earlier, students put their supplies at their seat. I like to have students (with their families) choose their seat. They label their seat with a simple printed name tag with a bubble font. On the first day they will color their names while we wait for our friends to arrive and school to start.
I like having students that come to meet the teacher pick their seats because it can help alleviate first day anxieties. It also provides families a choice in where their student sits as this is a primary concern by many parents at meet the teacher.
4. Office Paperwork
During meet the teacher is a great time to try to get families to complete required paperwork. Often this is forms the office or nurse are requesting to be turned in. Some families will appreciate being able to complete them early, while other families will want to take them home and bring them back. Either way, I love having these forms available.
5. Student Pictures
The last of my meet the teacher ideas is to take a student picture. These pictures can be used to learn student names quickly and they make a great display. I like to print the pictures on cardstock, label them with student names, and hang them up. Students love seeing their picture displayed and it helps them learn about their new classmates as well.