Welcome Back to School!!
Strategies for a Successful
Open House/Back to School Night
WGU’s Classroom Tip of the Month
September, 2009
Introduction
For most veteran teachers, Open House/Back to School Night
is just another night in the school year. They’ve been
presenting to parents year after year and their public
speaking jitters have long become a worry of the past. For
new teachers however, this night can bring feelings of selfdoubt and worries of parental approval.
This presentation is designed to help you prepare for a stress
free evening. This is your time to meet your students’ parents,
to display your confidence as a new teacher and to shine as a
great educator. So, dry off your sweaty palms and let’s get to
work!
Pre Open House – 1 week before
• Promote Open House to your students all week. Some
schools allow you to award extra credit to students if their
parents attend. Before doing this, check your school policy
or ask your administration.
• Invite parents to attend via letter sent home, email or
automated phone call.
• Create the handouts you will need. Turn them in to the
office with plenty of time to have them photo copied and
returned to you so you can sort them and prepare them
for distribution at Open House.
Pre Open House – 1 week before
•
Prepare a shopping list of items you’d like to purchase
for the evening. You will be shaking a lot of hands and
talking with a lot of people. I highly recommend a bottle of
hand-sanitizer and individually wrapped breath mints for you
and the parents.
•
If you are an elementary school teacher, have a project
prepared for students to work on during the week
preceding Open House. For example: decorative name
tags for the student desks, a wall mural, etc.
• Sketch out an agenda of topics you’d like to cover.
Learn how much time you have for your presentation and
do a practice run through. Make adjustments as
necessary.
Open House – Suggested Handouts
Sending parents home with handouts about your class is always
a good idea. I recommend the following documents:
a) Rules/Class Policies/Class Syllabus – this will vary depending
upon the grade level you teach.
b) Class Wish List – a list of supplies/items that parents could
donate if they (or their place of business) had the means. I
got a new photo copier for my department this way!
c) Volunteer Opportunities – provide a list of class field trips,
school plays or anything where you know you could use
parental assistance. Providing them the dates now allows
them to get the time off of work and gets you volunteers early
on.
Open House – Suggested Handouts
d) School Supply List – Most parents have this before school
starts, but it doesn’t hurt to remind them of the required
supplies needed for their child during the school year.
e) Helpful Hints –List your top ten suggestions for being
successful in your class. I recommended flash cards for
vocabulary, announced my tutoring days/times, suggested
ways to study, provided parents the link to my on-line
grade book so they could check their child’s progress.
Parents loved this hand out!
Open House – Two hours before
• Arrive early and be dressed professionally.
• Lock your classroom door and if you have a window in your
door, cover it. Many parents like to get there early to have
more “one-on-one” time with the teacher. While their
intentions are good, parents don’t realize that when
they do this, they are intruding on time you need to plan
your evening. Don’t feel badly about doing this or about
having parents waiting for you outside of your classroom
door. If Open House begins at 7:00, keep your door locked
until 6:50. This allows you time to prepare, time to use
the restroom and you can open your door when you are
ready.
Open House – Two hours before
• Completely clean your classroom: wash your boards, clean the
student desks, empty your trashcan, straighten the student work
area, vacuum/sweep the floor and clean off your desk.
• Set up your “check-in area”. Set up a table or counter area for
parents to stop at as soon as they walk in. Include the following:
your business cards, a parent sign in sheet (with name, phone and
email contact), hand sanitizer and breath mints/snack. Do not put
your handouts here, unless you want the parents to read through
them during your presentation.
• Write your name, email and phone number on the chalkboard. Be
careful to not write down your internal phone extension or parents
will call you in the middle of class. Provide your voice
mail extension, instead.
Open House – Two hours before
• Write down important dates/information on the chalkboard that
parents might need to know. You also might want to include
district wide testing dates for your school.
• Prepare a play area for children/toddlers. It is inevitable that
some parents will bring their toddler aged children/babies to Open
House. Do your best to keep them entertained so they don’t
interfere with your presentation by having a separate area for
them with activities, blocks, crayons, etc. Be sure to point out the
play area to parents as they arrive and again as you begin your
presentation, so your expectation is clear and to the point.
During Open House
• If you school has an audio enhancement system, use it to
project your voice throughout the room.
• Shake hands and smile. Be personable and approachable.
• Relax and talk slowly. Speak professionally and avoid
using educational jargon or slang during your presentation.
• Introduce yourself and provide a brief overview of your
background. (Good evening! My name is Mrs. Ryan and
I’d like to thank you all for coming to Open House. I have
been a 2nd grade teacher at this school for the last three
years and I really enjoy teaching students at
this age. I’m looking forward to sharing our
curriculum with you this evening.)
During Open House
• Review your classroom rules, policies or syllabus with the
parents. If possible, use your overhead projector or ELMO
projector to blow this information up for parents in the back
to see.
• Display your textbook(s) for parents to see. Tell them what
chapters are covered. Inform them if there is an
accompanying workbook. Do they need to purchase it?
This is your time to tell them what their child needs.
• Provide an overview of this year’s curriculum. Parents
want to know what your expectations are and what their
child will be learning. Explain to them about any
big projects or upcoming events, as well.
During Open House
• Tell them about your educational philosophy. You don’t have
to read your entire philosophy to them, but give them the
condensed version. How do you teach? Are you a big
proponent of group work or individual assignments? Do you
create lessons that support differentiated instruction? (Hint:
Most parents don’t know what differentiated instruction is...
you need to explain what that is in laymen’s terms.)
• Discuss any upcoming changes that could affect this year. For
example: Are you leaving mid year for maternity leave? Will
you be accepting a student teacher/intern that their child will
have to adjust to? Do you team teach with another staff
member who isn’t present? Parents prefer to know
this information up front so they can prepare their
child in advance.
During Open House
• Announce any assistance available to the students:
Possible Announcements:
a) Do you tutor after school? What days/times?
b) Is your grade book online for parents to check student
performance? If so, provide them the link and how to
get their account and password.
c) Do you send out progress reports? How? When?
d) What is your homework policy? Do you allow late work?
Discuss this in detail. This is always a big topic.
e) When are parent conferences? Provide dates,
times and locations.
During Open House
• The four most important tips for a successful Open House :
1) Keep your computer off or your grade book out of view.
This will prevent you from discussing students’ grades. This
evening is about an overview or introduction to your class, not
about what Johnny or Jane got on their last test. If a parent
approaches you about grades, recommend that they
schedule a parent/teacher conference.
2) Do not let one parent monopolize your time or corner you.
If this happens, have a creative strategy planned in advance
to get you out of that situation. If all else fails, excuse
yourself to the restroom. Remember, you must
be fair to all parents in attendance. They all want
to hear what you have to say.
During Open House
3) Refrain from answering questions midway through your
presentation or you will never finish your presentation.
Ask the parents to jot their questions down as you go
along and then allow time at the end of your speech to
answer them.
4) Distribute your handouts last. Every teacher knows not
to give out homework in the middle of class or the
students will attempt to complete it during the class period.
Parents are no different. If you give them your class
literature early on, they are going to read through it, attempt
to ask you questions about it and not pay attention to your
presentation. Hand out papers as they leave the
room---always!
Can’t attend Open House?
If you are unable to attend your school’s Open House, I
recommend the following:
a) Notify your principal of your absence and get his/her approval.
b) Tape a note to your door stating that you are not available.
c) Write a letter to the parents covering all the topics you would
have covered had you been there, photo copy them and put
them in a large envelope taped to your door. Make a sign that
says “Parents, please take one”.
d) If possible, hold your own “Open House” the following week by
holding open office hours for parents to come and meet you
after school. Include this information in the letter you post on
the door.
Post Open House
• Send a “thank you for coming” email to all the parents who
attended. Use your sign in sheet for easy contact information.
• Input parent email addresses into your contact information so
parent communication during the school year is quick and easy.
• Jot down some notes on your Open House Agenda of what
went well and what you might want to change for next year.
• Make a file labeled “Open House/Back to School Night” and
drop your agenda, sign in sheet and any handouts you created
in it. Next year’s Open House will be a breeze since you have
already created and saved everything you will need!
Comments or Questions?
If you have any comments or questions about
this presentation, please contact Marcella Ryan,
WGU Mentor for Teacher Alumni.
mryan1@wgu.edu
If you would like to provide your own ideas,
please visit our WGU Teacher Blog and share
your thoughts at http://alumni.wgu.edu.
Click on “Teachers College” and then choose
“Teacher Blog” to post your ideas.