Meet the Teacher is always a stressful (and exciting) time. At my school, we have an entire week to get ready before the kids come. Meet the Teacher is typically the Thursday before school comes back. I feel like I spend half the week making my room look presentable, and then just end up changing it in the first couple of weeks of school.
With that said though, I do not feel like I go over the top for Meet the Teacher. I try to make my room look inviting and I ensure everything is set up for easy organization. The night is busy and crazy with families coming in and I like to be able to spend time talking with the kids about their summer and upcoming school year. I do not like having to spend the whole time telling parents where to put supplies and what papers I need signed.
Here are a few pictures to share how I set up:
I picked up this Hooray balloon from Target a few weeks ago. I think it was about $5. It was super easy to blow up and just added a little bit of fun to Meet the Teacher.
On the left you can see a big crate I set up for Klennix students turn in. The black reading bulletin board is no longer there, and I’m slowly organizing the materials in those white cubbies. Oh, and I definitely moved that Target bag on the floor before parents came in.
Through the windows you can see parts of my office. Every classroom at my school comes with a very decent size teacher office. My office is currently a disaster. I basically just kept moving things in there that I did not have a location for. Oppps. I’ll work on cleaning it later.
We have a lot of bus riders at my school, so the first week of school students must have dismissal tags. The bus tags indicate how they go home, and has all the contact information for parents. In the past, I spent way too much time filing these tags out after parents told me their child’s transportation. This year I got smart and asked parents to fill them out for me. Winning!
I did not have a fancy sign for “please leave completed bus tags here.” It’s okay. Everyone lived.
The last thing I do is leave large bins around the classroom for students to organize the supplies that will be used by the entire class. This allows me to put them all away before the first day of school. I also put a (not fancy) anchor chart on the board to tell students which items go inside their desk.
The anchor chart was very useful because students were able to easily (and quickly) get their items organized. The first day of school was still a bit chaotic, but at least most of our supplies were taken of.
That’s a wrap for my Meet the Teacher night. It’s very simple, but it works.
Do you do anything special for Meet the Teacher? I’d love to hear your ideas! Leave a comment and let me know.
Thank you for the real look at your classroom and open house. All of these perfectly decorated and labeled rooms are quite imposing. I like to see something more realistic and do-able, especially when my room needs to be done tomorrow.
Do you ever have parents complain about having community classroom supplies? I have a pencil jar for dull/sharp pencils and have had parents complain when they buy their kid some fancy designed pencils. However, I can’t have them keep them in their desk and sharpen their own in the middle of class because it’s disruptive. I’ve also had a parent mention that they bought the giant pack of glue sticks for a reason and want their kid to have those all year. It’s too crowded to put 10 glue sticks in their desk all at once!
At my school, we request yellow pencils only. The parents learn quickly that some items go into a class sharing center. Items such as binders, folders, composition books, and scissors stay with the students.
I purchased plastic stackable mini drawers. These fit in a cabinet in my classroom. Each student has their own drawer.Each student puts a few items in their desk and their extra supplies (glue sticks, post-it notes, pencils, pens, highlighters and erasers in their personal drawer. Periodically when they need more supplies in their desk, they just ask permission to get them.
We have a crate that holds all extra supplies. Supplies are in large ziplock bags with their name or number on them. I personally do not like shared pencils because some kids chew on them, etc. They must sharpen two pencils when they walk in and then must borrow if they forget.
I've never had a parent complain, but sometimes I can pick up on a vibe from students if they are going to be particular about pencils. It is usually when they want mechanical ones. I allow them to keep/use mechanical, but they also keep one of mine as "back up" If a student gets a "fancy" pencil (like birthday one), they leave it on their desk at the end of class and I sharpen it. Once again, if it breaks they use one of class pencils because I won't sharpen during instructional time. It's never been a huge issue 🙂
Hey! I love your ideas and especially love the bus tags for the students. Could you please tell me where I can find them? Thanks!
These are actually from my school. I have no idea where they came from! I'll see if I can find out 🙂
Love this! I’m a fourth grade teacher also and trying to find new ideas for back to school night. One thing I noticed specifically are your RACE cards on the students’ desks! I would LOVE to know where you got these! Thank you!!
I love the RACE cards, too! Do you know where to find them, Katie?
Hi,
I also love the bus tags. Please tell me where to find them.
I'm not sure. Sorry! My school gives them to us each year. I'll see if I can find where they came from.
The transportation tags are genius!
Can you post your checklist?
hello, how do I get this foldable? the one featured in this post… Thanks!
I got it from a seller on TpT 🙂 I can't remember which one at the moment, but I'll look it up! If you search "back to school foldable" a lot will show up