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Open house is your time to shine with your students' parents. You are inviting them into your classroom, so of course you want to be the hostess with the mostess!
Planning a success and memorable open house doesn't have to be difficult. With these fun ideas, you'll make your students and their families feel right at home and excited to be a part of your class!
Who doesn't love a good checklist. It's easy to forget small details like making copies of an important paper that needs to go home on open house night, or putting out your volunteer sign-up sheet.
A simple checklist will help you dot all you "i's" and cross all your "t's."
Guide parents as to which forms they need to grab, what sign-up forms they should be filling out, and any other information they need to collect. Having these prepped signs will free you up from repeating the same information over and over, as well as allow you to connect with more parents. (PS - I've prepped a bunch as part of my Open House Survival Kit , if you're looking to save time. I've even made them editable!)
Create a simple contact card that parents can take home to have on hand in case they need to reach you. They can easily put their contact card on their fridge at home. Include the best email and phone number to reach you at.
While your students' parents are visiting, why not have them fill out some important information that YOU need! For example, have parents sign up to receive text reminders. In this post learn about a really cool app that you can use to send messages and reminders via your phone.
Have parents fill out a self-addressed envelop for you to send home a thank-you note for coming to open house. You can include positive notes about what you have noticed about their child so far this school year.
Send parents home with important information about your classroom. A simple flip book that even your students can help prep before the big night is an easy way to compile all the information you'd like to share with your parents about your classroom management systems, homework policies, your daily schedule and more. The one is part of my Open House Survival Kit and it completely editable!
As families enter your room, greet them with a slide show displaying helpful information about the night and fun facts about your classroom. Again, this will free you up from repeating the same information over and over and will give families guidance on what to do in your room during their visit. Have the slide show planning on auto-repeat (an easy feature inside of PowerPoint) throughout your night and families won't miss a single slide!
(These slides templates are also available in my Open House Survival Kit)
