Open House Recap

My school's Open House is held on a Thursday night the week before school starts, with Curriculum Night held on the same night.  Needless to say, I get a little stressed out trying to get the classroom to look perfect, all while trying to come up with creative ideas that will make a great first impression on the students and parents. With this year marking my sixth year of teaching, I seem to have finally figured out a pretty good game plan.

This sign greeted students and parents as they entered the classroom last week:

 

These are the papers I left on each student's desk: A 'Meet the Teacher' sheet, volunteer form, scavenger hunt for the students to complete (find your coat hook, mailbox, etc.), a student information card, and specials schedule for the first week.  The student info. sheet and volunteer form were both borrowed from another teacher, and the classroom scavenger hunt was self-created but is a very easy activity to replicate.  It keeps the students busy while they're exploring the classroom, so that I can mix and mingle and have a chance to meet everyone.  Students find me for a "prize" (usually a sucker) once they have completed the checklist.  

I also leave a cute owl-themed "Welcome" certificate on each desk with a pencil attached.  

   

This sign-up was placed on my reading table, along with other P.T.O. volunteer sign-ups for parents to check out.

How cute are our new staff t-shirts that we got to debut at Open House?!  

I was so happy with the way the room turned out!  It was so nice to leave a finished, clean room that night knowing it was ready for the first week! 

I have an awesome group of 26 kiddos, 17 boys and 9 girls, and I always get more excited for the first day once I have had a chance to meet my new students!

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How do your structure your Open House / Meet the Teacher night?  I'm always up for new ideas!

Here are some of my favorite looks from Instagram this week, pink polka dots on Saturday night (Old Navy tee available in stores), this cute Loft dress for the first day of school, and coral and navy paired with my fan fringe statement necklace (similar here) for a cute second day ensemble.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  I plan to be back on Monday for another Monday Made-It link-up, and I'm hoping to have a classroom tour post up in the next few weeks.  In the meantime, have a GREAT week!