Preparing For a Successful Back-To-School Night

One of a series of discussions by Maryland's Teachers of the Year about new teachers. This topic gives some hints and tips on having a successful Back-To-School night for parents.

Question: Whether you are a brand new teacher or a veteran of many years, Back to School Night can be stressful! Careful and thorough preparation helps teachers to present themselves with confidence and clarity. Back to School Night is one of the most important events on the school calendar. It is the night that sets the tone for the entire year with the parents. It is the event that can open the door to trust and cooperation. What are some tips, strategies, secrets, or advice you could give to new teachers to help them prepare and survive Back to School Night.

• Create a welcoming classroom atmosphere by:
  • Smiling at parents as they enter the room
  • Providing refreshments
  • Offering alternate times to meet if parents are unavailable
  • Displaying student work
  • Being yourself  - the way you are with the students
    
• Initiate communication with parents and get parents involved by:
  • Asking parents to sign in and write their email/phone number
  • Trying to talk to each parent personally
  • Asking parents introduce themselves and say who their child is
  • Creating and sharing a classroom website so parents can review it or if a parent couldn't come, they can see what they missed
  • Sharing upcoming resources like extra-curricular activities, web resources, or any other resources that relate to the subject matter
  • Sharing dates for parent/teacher conferences
  • Sharing class expectations
  • Providing extra copies of important documents for parents like the course syllabus, book lists, etc.
  • Sharing strategies for working with their students at home (reading strategies, etc.)
    
• Approach Back to School Night as a team by:
  • Preparing a team PowerPoint presentation
  • Allow parents to meet all teachers since many schools teach in the content areas and allow for flexible grouping throughout the year.
    

For more information, try one of these links:

• Bright Ideas for Back-to-School Night…and Beyond
• Teachers' Guidelines for Standards-Based Back to School Night
• Paula Moore's Back to School Night Presentation (Wicomico County’s Teacher of the Year)