Hosting a Back to School Night

Back-to-school night can be one of the most nerve wracking events of the school year! There's a classroom full of parents waiting to meet you and you're doing your best to make a great first impression! I'm sharing with you some inspiration and tips to host a stress free back-to-school night.

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TIP 1: PREP WORK

I find that if I do as much prep work in advance as possible, the least amount of stress and pressure I am feeling the day of back-to-school night. Once I get my class list (usually not until the very end of the summer), I am busy updating my files with new names and school years. While I am working in my classroom during the summer, I copy, label, cut and sort for the big night!

Each year I have distributed informational flip-books to families. I find it to be very effective. They are eye catching, while also secretly storing a large amount of important information! I use the flip-book product from Learning In Wonderland. You can find more information on where to purchase it and how to set it up here.  Maria Gavin from Kinder-Craze also has shared a free template to create your own personalized flip-book. You can find more information about it on her blog here. 

However you choose to organize and present your information, a great tip is to print it on various hues of bright colored paper. This will grab the parent's attention and it will be harder to lose the most important information in the "back to school" shuffle of papers. 

I find Astrobrights to have the best color combinations! Keep an eye out for low prices all summer long on Amazon.  You can find this assortment pack of 150 sheets on sale now here! 

In addition to the flip-book, I provide families with a 2-pocket folder found in a pack here on Amazon. During my presentation, I encourage parents to keep this folder in a special place in their home. I explain it is intended to be "home" to any papers that leave their child's take home folder. Therefore, parents can keep all our classroom information that comes home in one safe place. 

In the picture below, you can see all materials are also labeled with each child's name. Often times parents can feel a little crowded in our classroom space and may move their child's materials to a different place in the classroom during the presentation. I wanted to be sure there was no mix up between materials. As I mentioned before, I have a file for my class list labels that I update as soon as I get my class list each year. 

Another tip: I print many extra copies of the class list on labels at the beginning of the year. That way I always have extras on hand if any child comes in with supplies without their name. They are printed on Avery 5160 labels found here. 

TIP 2: PERMISSIONS & SIGNATURES

I can imagine that parents often times feel overwhelmed if they are given too much information sent home in their child's backpacks at the start of the year. I try to send home just enough information the first few days for parents and students to feel comfortable and confident for a great start to the school year! 

At back-to-school night, I do my best to thoroughly go over the routines and procedures for both the students and parents during my presentation. This addresses everything including homework, birthdays, notes, dismissal... you name it! This allows parents the opportunity to ask questions if needed. 

While parents are in your classroom, it's the perfect time to get their prompt response. I set out any important papers that need to be filled out, signed and returned. By doing this at back-to-school night, I usually have a 100% return rate by the end of the night! This includes parent volunteer forms, classroom permissions, etc.

You can find these forms and more in my Back to School Forms and Letter pack on TPT here. 

TIP 3: CLASSROOM COMMUNITY

Establishing a positive classroom community with parents is just as important as establishing it with your class. At back-to-school night, I welcome parents with a fall themed display and mints as a thank you for their com-"mint"-ment. There are so many great ideas online and on Pinterest! You can find the "Thank you for your com-"mint"-ment" printable here. 

This display is usually in front of our "Classroom Promises." I like parents to feel the comfort of our close knit community as a class. It's also super cute to see their portrait creations. :)

Last year, I chose to have an "apple themed" back-to-school night. I display a "giving tree" for parents to pull an "apple of the tree" as a way to have supplies donated  to our class. I attempted a "chalk board" look for the apples to match the com-"mint"-ment sign.  You can find these Giving Tree printables for free in my store here.  

I also display it with the book "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein, which happens to be a gift from a family in the years past. This year I hope to make a more detailed tree with paper and laminate it for the future. Drawing a tree with Expo marker is more difficult than it looks. :)

I turned the apple craftivity from First and Kinder Blue Skies into a card that students wrote for their parents. Jen is fabulous, I love all her stuff!! 

Inside the apple, they each wrote the most precious note to their parents. I loved reading all their sweet responses. As I write this post now, it reminds me of how long and hard they have to work in order to complete just this one simple craft. They grow so much in first grade and it's amazing to remember how and where they started. 

This letter has my whole heart! :) 

After a few years of presenting professional development as one of my school's math coaches, I've learned how important it is to engage your audience. At the start of the year, I always ask my students to draw and describe their hopes and dreams for first grade. I thought it would be cool to welcome this addition to my back-to-school night presentation. 

I have post-its for parents to fill out their hopes and dreams and they trickle in and wait for me to begin. I post this chart in the back of the room for them to place their hope and dream for their child. I especially found it beneficial at the start of the year by not only learning about my students, but also their families.

If you're looking for a product to help you incorporate hopes and dreams in your classroom, click here to find the resource below!

I hope this post inspired you to prepare for a stress free back-to-school night! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post below. Good luck this year, you will be great!!