It’s Meet the Teacher Night!

Jul 12

The week leading up to Meet the Teacher Night feels like one big giant marathon. You’re trying to finish up last minute classroom details, you’re waiting excitedly for your class list, and you and your teammates are running in between each other’s rooms making sure you’re not forgetting to do something! There are a few things that I do to make sure that I have a smooth and successful Meet the Teacher Night Event.

Before organizing your Meet the Teacher Night, you’ll want to think about how you want the traffic to flow based on how your classroom is set up. I greet families at my door and they immediately enter and sign in at the table that sits at the back of my room (closest to the door). After instructing them to sign in, I tell them that they are able to find their first grader’s desk and begin working through a checklist together.

The sign in sheet FREEBIE that I have created for you is linked here. I place the sign in a plastic frame that I bought at Dollar Tree.

Also at the back table, there is a sign up for Star Student of the Week. I like to feature one student each week in our classroom as the “Star Student.” It’s a good way to get to know the students in our class and celebrate them. My Star Student of the Week Pack can be found here.

I pre-fill this sign up sheet with dates and allow families to choose the date that they would like their student to be the star. This is usually easier for families because they are in control of the week that their student will create their star student poster.

I like making all my copies on Astrobrights Paper so that they “pop.” This also helps me keep track of forms that families turn in to me before they leave Meet the Teacher Night. (Ex: I might print the student transportation form on pink, and the student information form on green. I’ll easily be able to sort those forms and keep them handy during the school year in case I need to refer back to them.) The Astrobrights Paper that I use can be found at the affiliate link here.

When thinking about what you’ll put on desks or tables, you don’t want to overcomplicate things. Try to streamline things as best as you can. I know that families have a lot of questions about the First Day, and I try to make sure that they have all of the information that they need before they leave for the night so that they can take it home to look over.

Here are the things that I put on student desks:

Meet the Teacher Checklist linked here- This is a checklist of alllll the things for the family to do before they leave Meet the Teacher night (where to put supplies, fill out the student transportation and getting to know your child forms, sign up for student of the week, etc.) This serves as a good guide so that families don’t have to keep asking me what to do next.
First Grade Transportation Form linked here- I need to know how students are going home on the first day, as well as the rest of the school year. I have families fill this out and turn it in to the back table bin before they leave.

To cut back on the cluttered desk look, I fold a large piece of construction paper in half and glue a little sign that says “Things to Take Home” on the front of it. Inside this folder, I include all of the informational notes for families to take home with them. The makeshift folder allows families to keep everything together (keep in mind they may have multiple children and could be attending several Meet the Teacher rooms in the same night so they’ll be getting a lot of papers. That’s why I give them the little folder.)

Getting to Know Your Child Form linked here- This form is for families to fill out about their student. It gives me lots of information about their child (ex: likes, dislikes, strengths, etc.). Some families fill this out and turn it into the bin before they leave, but some families bring it with them so they have more time to fill it out. They send it back to school in the child’s backpack on the first day.
Backpack Daily Checklist and Change of Clothes Handout FREEBIE linked here- I want families to know what should be kept in student backpacks (change of clothes, take home folder, etc.) so I’ve included this informational note for families to read over.
Snack Time Handout FREEBIE linked here- I have rules about what students can/can’t bring for snack. I want families to know about snack time in the classroom, and I also want students to be prepared to pack their snack on the first day of school to bring with them.
Sweet Dreams Ready Confetti Gift FREEBIE linked here- This is just something cute that I leave on desks each year. There’s a cute poem inside, and I staple a small ziplock bag filled with some “ready confetti” for students to sprinkle underneath their pillows before the first day of school.

All of the forms that I use during Back to School season are linked in this pack on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. It includes editable options for K-6th Grade. There are a few options shown above. This pack can be found here.

After families have worked their way through the checklist and have filled out the necessary forms, they are able to visit our Wish List Board that is projected on my white board. My digital Wish List Board can be found in my Teachers Pay Teachers store here. The board above says “My Class Already has a PIZZA my heart.” It has a giant pizza on it, and I wrote wish list items (glue sticks, googly eyes, pom poms, stickers, etc.) on red sticky notes (like pepperoni) and put them on the pizza. Families can grab sticky notes and donate items to our class. This Wish List Board resource also includes other pun options like a tree, donut, and popcorn!

I realize that the rules around wish lists are different in each school district. This is simply a suggestion if you are able to share wish list items.

After visiting the Wish List Boards, families turn their Student Transportation Forms and Getting to Know Your Child Forms in to the pink bin on the back table (next to the Place Forms Here sign) before walking back out of the classroom. The pink bin is from the Target Dollar Spot.

Gift Tags

I think it’s fun to send home a little gift with students when they leave, or you can also send something small and sweet home with them after the first day of school together! These cereal tags and cookie tags are easy to edit, print, and pair with any mini cereal box/bar and cookie pack. Find the cereal tags HERE and cookie tags HERE.

By the end of the night, you’ll be exhausted from nonstop smiling and chatting with new “littles.” It really is one of the best nights! I hope you have a fabulous Meet the Teacher Night with your new group of cuties!