Back to Class

::via::

Well our Teacher Work week was not as productive as I had hoped simply because of obligations that required us to be in other places besides our classrooms (e.g. in-services, trainings, etc.) I am glad to say however that I had a pretty successful Open House. 14 of my 16 students showed up and most of those came with their supplies. This allowed for me to get everything put away prior to Monday morning.

Thanks to Reagan at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits, I came up with a new system for my families. For the most part, the parents complied with my instructions and the sorting and structure worked fairly well. Of course you'll always have those who choose to do their own thing and well, I worked around that.

I altered a couple of her stations, but overall kept the same idea. I believe I'll learn from this experience, tweak the system and use it again next year.

Here was my setup:

Station 1: Student Folder
Parents picked up their child's folder, filled out the remaining forms, and compiled all of their signature pages into the folder. (Most parents did this...some had to be redirected despite my GIANT sign.)

Station 2: Supply Drop Off
This worked pretty well. It was an easy way for me to get the new students involved while their parents filled out paperwork. The students seemed to enjoy sorting their supplies and for me it was a big help. A couple of parents wanted to simply put all of the supplies on the counter or their child's desk...::sigh:: However, once redirected, this was corrected.

Station 3: Backpacks
Students found their backpack hook. It was here that they left their backpacks and placed their binders.

Station 4: Meet the Teacher
At this station the parents asked any questions they had, handed in their folders and were offered a little treat.

Overall this was a successful evening. Like I said, I have a few tweaks to make but ultimately I'd say it was a positive experience for everyone.

I'm always trying to make improvements. As a parent/guardian, are there any particular things you like to see at your school's Open House? Any ideas for making a "meet the teacher" night more successful?