Meet the Teacher Night is a valuable opportunity for teachers and school staff to connect with students and families, establish rapport, and set the tone for a successful school year. Traditionally, our Meet the Teacher Nights are held after about two weeks of school. This usually means students have settled into the classroom a bit. Come learn some of the easy ways we organize our night where families meet the teacher.
Some of our ideas will only work depending on how your school runs these events. Typically, we have an open-door policy for a two-hour window. Since we have many families who will need to visit multiple classrooms, we don’t have a specific ceremony or time for presentations. Instead, our principal stays in the office area to chat with parents. They schedule appointments to meet with families that need more time. Teachers who teach specific subject areas stay in their rooms so students and their families can drop in.
Our school uses the library as an area with some supervisors who will watch young children if single parents need a bit of help so they can meet teachers without interruptions. We are also lucky that there are announcements reminding families to wrap up their visits about fifteen minutes before the night ends. This means our time is respected.
Before Families Come
In our experience, anything that you cherish should be tucked away on nights like this. Younger siblings have accidentally broken personal items, and we’ve had things walk away with the open-door policy. Protect your keys, purse, and any other personal items like phones that could walk away. We are, of course, not blaming our families, but sometimes others enter the building with larger school events.
Keep an extra outfit available just in case something happens during the school day or at dinner. We will not talk about where the food lands and it’s only when you have something important to do.
Dig out your school name tag and, if you have them, contact cards. We include our school email addresses along with our business hours so parents know when to expect to hear back.
Tidy up. It is worth your time to tidy up your desk and put away any materials that you don’t want people digging through. We leave out some of our math manipulatives so students can show families or younger siblings can keep busy.
Use a Warm Welcome
Teach your students how to make a proper introduction. This is often a special surprise for parents and sets the tone that students will be leading the meeting. Greet families with a warm and friendly smile. Regardless of how things have been with their child thus far in the school year, say something positive about the student.
Create a welcoming atmosphere by playing soft background music. We often take pictures of events in the classroom over the first few weeks and make a very simple slideshow where the pictures just cycle through while parents peruse the classroom.
Information Stations
Set up information stations around the classroom with essential materials and resources for families to access. Include handouts with important dates, classroom policies, and contact information, as well as sign-up sheets for volunteering opportunities or parent-teacher conferences.
Use this snack list sign-up to organize your classroom events for the year. We’ll send it to you for free when you sign up for our email list. If you’re already on the list, you can find this list in our Resource Library.
Classroom Tour
Have students take their families on a brief tour of the classroom. Show off key areas: their student desks, classroom library, and bulletin boards. Have students talk about classroom routines and procedures to help families feel more comfortable and informed.
Encourage families to visit other parts of the school or ask where they have already visited. This helps keep families moving. As a parent, I always appreciated learning about the school, but I also needed to get through all the kids and still get home for dinner and nightly routines. As a teacher, the day is long enough, so try to keep the pace upbeat and moving without rushing people too much. Make sure you connect with as many of your families as possible without letting one family dominate too much time.
Student Work Display
Showcase samples of student work on bulletin boards or display tables to give families a glimpse into their child’s learning experiences. Encourage students to contribute artwork, writing samples, or projects to be displayed proudly during Meet the Teacher night.
If you’re looking for some easy art activities for the beginning of the school year, check out Simple Art Projects for Back to School or 9 Spectacular Art Projects For a Pen and Paper.
Interactive Activities
Engage families in interactive activities that promote communication and collaboration. Set up stations with fun, hands-on activities such as a “get to know you” activity to break the ice and encourage meaningful interactions.
We use these “Would You Rather…? Questions. It is very fun to see students and their families asking and answering the questions. The unexpected benefit is that you will see how students and their families interact. We’ll send you this set of questions when you sign up for our email list. If you are already on our email list, you can find them in our Resource Library.
If you’re looking for even more questions, we use these Back to School Discussion Cards with our students. You can find them in our TpT Store ($USD) or BN Shop ($CAN).
Parent Information Packets
Typically, we send home information packets with students in the first days of school, but this is a good time to have some extra forms on hand so parents can sign them. Provide families with parent information packets containing important documents and resources to take home.
Why is Meet the Teacher Night Important?
Use your Meet the Teacher Night as an opportunity to establish positive relationships with students and families from the very beginning of the school year. If you have genuine concerns about a student, use the meeting to be positive and suggest getting together for a meeting at another mutually inclusive time.
Are You New to Teaching?
If you have student teaching or have a new classroom this year, these posts might be helpful to you:
- How to Thrive During Your Student Teaching
- You Got Your First Teaching Job…Now What?
- Getting to Know Your Students
If you have other ideas for Meet the Teacher events, we’d love to hear them. Leave us a comment below.
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