Open House Archives - Teacher's Brain

Open House That Is Sure To Open Eyes

July 29, 2022 teachersbrain Back to School

Summer is quickly coming to an end which means it’s time to start preparing for back-to-school night or back-to-school open house. This night is a great time to get to know your new students and their parents and kick off an amazing year.

This is likely going to be your first time meeting your new students and their parents and it’s natural to want to make a good impression. If you are looking for some school open house tips, you’re in the right place!

How do you prepare for a school open house?

Open house or back-to-school night is going to be different for each teacher depending on the school you’re at. So first things first, you’ll want to see what the school expects of you. Generally, parents and students will filter in and out of your classroom to meet you and get acquainted with the new classroom.

Think about things you want to make sure parents and students know before the first day of school. You can create a short presentation on Google Slides or put together a short “About me” document that covers all of the basics.

Some things to include in your presentation:

Fun facts about you
What they can expect from you and your classroom
Any fun plans for the school year
Daily Schedule
Class rules and behavior management basics
Contact information

You can make the most of this time by setting out important forms that parents need to fill out, volunteer forms, and other important hand-outs. While parents are occupied, students can take this time to do a quick little “about me” activity themselves so that you can learn a little about them as well.

What should teachers do at an open house?

Open houses are generally very busy and you will have a lot of people wanting to chat with you. This means that you likely won’t have a lot of time to talk to each parent. Having everything important set out ahead of time along with your preferred method of contact information will give families everything they need regardless of how much face-to-face time they are able to get.

Remember, the best thing you can do is be yourself! Parents and students will love seeing your personality shine and they will feel more comfortable when they feel like they know a little about you.

Looking for some back-to-school open house activities for your students?

I have you covered! This cute, personalized people Mini-Me Craft is the perfect activity to keep students occupied! These printables will help personalize a little mini-me for your students just in time for school.

You can also use them for measurement or All About Me Projects. Students can design their own shirt, use their own colors, cut, paste together, and add yarn or doll hair to help make their Mini Me special.

What is this download?

Heads

Boy Shirt

Pants

Girl Shirt

Skirt

Girl legs (pants) and arms

Boy legs shoes and arms

Accessories (hat, glasses, bows)

Shirt Choices

Girl legs with shoes (for the skirt and dress)

I hope you love these back-to-school open house ideas! What are your favorite open house tips? Let me know in the comments!

For more open house tips, check out my post here!

Tips For An Amazing Meet The Teacher Night

July 2, 2021 teachersbrain Back to School, Teaching Tips

If you are here, chances are you are planning out your Meet The Teacher or Open House event for the next school year. Back to school night is a great time to meet and greet with parents and students, introduce yourself, show everyone around the classroom, exchange important information for the school year, and more.

Needless to say, it’s a big night! We all want to make a good impression on parents and our new students. Don’t worry, I have you covered whether you are doing an in person event or virtual!

Last year, a lot of teachers had to learn to do everything online. It was a huge learning curve for many but we made it through and now we know the magic of Google Slides. Google Slides is now my new GO TO resource when teaching. It is perfect because you can use it virtually or in person. You can easily customize them by adding your text, photos, videos, music, and more. This makes it the perfect teaching tool.

My Virtual Meet The Teacher Resource uses Google Slides to create a beautiful, cohesive, presentation.

It is so easy to pull your event together with this template for back to school. Just edit the text boxes, add a video or some personalized pictures.

This resource comes with 28 colorful and fun Google Slides with titles, edit text boxes, directions and ideas as well as 28 Google Slides with cartoon characters with the same titles so you can decide what you want to use and delete what you don’t. This resource also comes with a French version as well.

meet the teacher

The best part? It comes together easily and quickly so you can get it done and keep your weekends to yourself!

Check out my video tutorial on how to use this resource and your back to school event will be ready to go in no time.

Looking for more resources for the school year? Read my post here for everything you need to survive kindergarten!

Tips For Your Back-To-School Open House

July 10, 2020 teachersbrain education

Back-to-school Open House night is very exciting for students and their parents because after a long summer, they finally get to go and see what the new school year will be like and meet their new teacher. For teachers on the other hand, it can be a little stressful, especially if talking in front of groups of adults makes you a little nervous! This is completely natural. These are people you are going to have a relationship with for the next school year and you want to make a great impression, while not showing how nervous or overwhelmed you might be.

Your goal for an Open House is to meet your students and their families, establish rules, explain how your classroom will run, and most importantly, make a great first impression! This is a huge day for everyone. The key to a smooth open house is to make sure you plan ahead so you are prepared and make sure there is plenty for the parents and students to do besides just talking to you.

Here are some tips to make your Open House night a success

Have a slide show ready for the parents to watch. Include in your presentation a little about yourself, what they can expect for classroom structure and routines, rules, and expectations. This is great because it not only saves you from having to do a lot of public speaking, but it also helps set the tone with the parents from the start so you are all on the same page.
Take family photos of each child with their family. This can be a fun way to help break the ice and get to know your students and their family. You can use these pictures in fun crafts with your students later in the year. You can even use them in some classroom decor to help your students feel more relaxed and comfortable when they start the school year and see a picture of themselves with their family.
Set up some fun crafts and activities for the students to do with their families. This will help build excitement for the actual school year and it may ease some of their nerves.
Have volunteer sign-up sheets set out for parents. Trust me, this list will come in handy later when you need help with classroom parties or activities. You’ll have a list of parents ready to go!

Don’t get too overwhelmed. I created some fun Open House activities to help make the whole night easier for you!

All About Me Mini Me People Activity

These printables will help personalize a little mini me for your students to make during Open House. You can also use them for measurement or All About Me Projects. Students can design their own shirt, use their own colors, cut, paste together, and add yarn or doll hair to help make their Mini Me special.

Open House Scavenger Hunt

This is an easy way to help your students show their families the important locations in the classroom! Use these print and go templates or personalize it with the editable PowerPoint!

All About Me Printables Back-To-School Quilt Squares

Quilt Squares are a great way to get to know your students! After children fill out the squares, you can hang them up to make a cute quilt type display in your room. Put a border around and some ribbon on all four corners to make it extra cute for Open House. There is a suggested plan and a blank one you can use for any topic.

Back To School Toolkit

This back to school toolkit has everything you could need for your open house and the rest of the school year! It has student information sheets, open house sign in sheets, student passes, parent sign up forms, class rules posters, name tags and so much more.

Do you have any tips for your back to school open house? Let me know in the comments!

For some first day of school activities, check out my post here!

Making a Great Open House

August 31, 2016 teachersbrain Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

Making a great Open House for parents is actually pretty easy with all the tools and technology today. I like to use simple scavenger hunts for students to help show their parents around the room. Taking pictures of families helps keep you busy and not be too available for any “parent conference” type of conversations. I direct parents to the conference sign up sheets. I also don’t let volunteers come in the room until after Open House. In kindergarten, this helps the kids learn the routine without relying on parents. Some teachers create easy slideshows to show rules, routines or student’s pictures. I usually have a few All About Me items out, including an All About Me Journal where the parents are encouraged to sit and write a note to their child at the end of the night. Students make Mini Me Persons that I tape to their chairs that help the room look adorable! Smile a lot, and show off what you have helped their children learn in the short amount of time they have been with you.