I cannot believe that I am already blogging about meet the teacher! Where did the summer go? Could I REALLY have watched that many Netlifx shows to pass the time? Raise your hand if you watched Gilmore Girls this past summer…guiltyyyyyy 😉
To be honest, my meet the teacher night has not happened yet. However I almost kept mine similar to last years meet the teacher because, why shake a good thing?
I will be adding to this post after my actual meet the teacher so you can see the functionality of it. I already put some elbow grease in it, so there’s lots to see!
Every desk has stacks of paper work on it, what fun!
On their desk they will find:
My school’s mandated paper work
All about their teacher handout
Dismissal survey
Parent contact form
A letter writing activity for the parents
A magnet with MY contact information on it for their convenience
A school supplies checklist
AND a zip lock baggie…WHEW!
I like having the half page contact sheet because let’s be honest, I’m lazy.
When they turn in these contact sheets, I have ALL of their information and I don’t have to search for it on the school’s website. I can easily enter all their information into my e-mail system and have it ready to go for the year.
I have received warm feedback in regards to the “parent’s writing assignment”.
Each year, I ask the parents to write a letter describing their child for me, along with their struggles and the parent’s goals for the child this coming school year.
This letter really helps me gauge how they feel about their child, and let’s me know upfront with any important notes I need to make.
If I can help it, I want my parents and student’s to help me in all ways possible.
This includes sorting school supplies.
I have this check list sheet on every desk. When the parents and children come with ALL their supplies, I give them a very detailed checklist regarding what they put where. This saves me MOUNDS of time doing it when they all leave. I’m willing to have my parents and students stay in the classroom a few extra minutes if it means saving me a few extra hours 😉 What’s great about this checklist, is that the parents immediately notice if the forgot to bring something. I let them take the checklist home as a reminder.
Where do all those forms go?
I have lots of parents waiting to meet me, so why can’t they knock out some form writing while they’re waiting? 😉 I have a table that has tons of signs. Each sign is for a specific form. They lay down the form next to the designated sign. Before meet the teacher, I will tape down a sample form next to the sign just so the parent’s aren’t confused with what form I mean. This saves me from answering so many questions.
While I am walking around, I am also helping parent sign up for our classroom Twitter account. Every parent of mine sees every update even if they don’t want to create a Twitter account. Want to know how?
This year, I also started a classroom blog. I’ll let you know more about that as I learn more about that so make sure you are following me to receive updates!
I also have a Powerpoint that I customize for meet the teacher (& the first day of school)
So parents can glance over at it while they’re filling out paper work or waiting to talk to me.
Amber is veteran teacher that built a successful TPT business before being recruited to lead social media and content marketing strategy for two Ed-Tech brands.
She loves using her unique knowledge of the teacher marketing space to help teachers grow and scale their business with the right digital marketing strategies.
I love your blog! Quick question about Twitter. So, some parents sign up or just follow you if they already have Twitter and then you help others sign up with fast follow?
Ashley Cohen
August 4, 2015 at 8:57 pmI love your blog! Quick question about Twitter. So, some parents sign up or just follow you if they already have Twitter and then you help others sign up with fast follow?
TeacherGal
August 30, 2015 at 11:35 pmAre your back to school forms available anywhere?