Ideas for Meet the Teacher Night

As a teacher, you may be feeling apprehensive about the upcoming meet-the-teacher night. You’re probably wondering what ideas to prepare for this event with your students’ parents. There are many Ideas for Meet the Teacher Night that you can share on this important evening, but here are 5 things that you should share that might help make it more successful.

1) Students’ expectations

2) The school’s policy on homework and grading

3) Parenting skills (e.g., how to praise their child, how to deal with sibling rivalry)

4) Valuable teaching tips for home(e.g., classroom management techniques, teaching tools they have found useful in the past year of teaching)

5) How they will communicate with you

I know how nerve-wracking it is to prepare for Meet the Teacher Night. It is one thing to stand in front of children and teach all day, but another thing entirely to have a room full of parents.

Something that works for me to feel prepared is to over-prepare. It helps calm my nerves personally. I’m always thankful that I was ready instead of standing there looking or feeling like I don’t know what I am doing.

Also, because I don’t like to stand in front of the room and give a “presentation,” I find it helpful to have a slide on the board with main things. I usually list the instructions such as, “1. Grab your paperwork, 2. Fill out and Turn it in. 3. Sort Supplies 4. Take a photo 5. Ask Me Questions. I find that if I try to give a presentation, it never works because parents are coming in and out at different times.

Setting up a rotation helps tremendously. That way, you can visit with different families that may want to discuss private matters and give you a heads up of IEP’s or other things that may be in store for you.

This is your first impression to parents and you want to look professional, prepared, and let them know that you are a team working together for their child’s education.

I have a packet that helps cover most of the main things you’ll want to do to feel prepared for your parents. This packet includes: