Running a Successful Meet the Teacher Night

Going into my first ever Meet the Teacher, I was wildly unprepared. (As was the story with most things that year!) I realized I needed a system for keeping track of all the questions parents asked, papers that needed to be handed out, and supplies that get dropped off.

I have done Meet the Teacher two ways – one evening where all families arrive at the same time and I give a presentation before talking with individual parents and students and collecting supplies. The other way is a “open-house” style where parents are free to show up anytime in a 2 hour block.

Both ways involved preparing the same types of things: my meet the teacher letter, donations, preparing student gifts, and so on.

I have made a FREE editable to-do list for some things you will want to prepare for ahead of time.

Click HERE for the instant download!

I make sure to have a few things at each student’s spot before Meet the Teacher begins. This way I don’t need to hand out anything and accidentally miss someone!

Most importantly, I have a nametag on each students table spot or desk. Students instantly feel more comfortable finding their name on something in the classroom.

I also have a gallon size baggie for extra supplies already labeled with their name. After parents are done putting away supplies (read more below), they place the extra supplies into the gallon size bag that I will store and use as the year goes on.

I also have another gallon size baggie filled with papers I want the parents to take home – All About the Teacher letter, students nametag for the first day, donation list, directions for signing up for our classroom communication app, and any other paperwork my school needs to send home to families. This gallon size baggie is also labeled and parents will return the baggie with extra clothes for their child. You just never know in kindergarten!

If you want a FREE set of labels – click here!

**Tip! While you are making these baggies, make a few extra for new students that might join your class later in the year.

One thing I found insanely useful was signs for parents. My first meet the teacher night, I did not realize what was obvious to me on what parents needed to do or where they should put things, was not obvious to them. Especially in kindergarten when it is many parents’ first time at a Meet the Teacher night!

My students bring their supplies at Meet the Teacher night, so I put signs throughout my room telling parents where the supplies belong or how to organize things.

This saves me SO much time by having parents fill up their child’s pencil box or putting extra supplies in specific spots. This also alleviates answering the same questions and allows me to answer other parents’ questions.

You can get these free, editable signs in my TPT store HERE.

I have a scavenger hunt for students to do while they are at the school. I have two versions – one for things or places in the classroom.

The classroom hunt really helps orient students with the room and helps them find special places like their desk, my desk, their cubby, etc. I love seeing how excited they get when they discover our stuffed animals in the reading corner or pattern blocks on the math manipulatives shelf.

**This version might also make a great first day of school activity!

The other version is for places around the school. I almost always opt to do this version, because I feel like it puts students (and parents!) much more at ease at seeing where all the places are in the school. This way when they come in for the first day it is a little less overwhelming.

Grab these editable scavenger hunts in my TPT store HERE. These are a hit with families year after year!

This is something I have done every single year and it is such a time saver when conference season rolls around. Plus as a parent, I also appreciate when my children’s teachers do this!

I have a conference sign up form on one my tables where parents who like to plan ahead and already know their schedules can already sign up for a conference slot. Not every parent does, but about half of my class does! It’s so nice getting this done right away and I know the parents appreciate being able to put it in their calendar.

If you utilize something like SignUp Genius or another online platform, you might want use a QR code generator to make a scannable station where parents can still sign up.

Read more about how I prepare and run parent-teacher conferences here!