Back to school night is formatted differently for every school, but for every teacher, this is your first chance to make an impression on parents and guardians. Even though it might seem intimidating or a slog to get through, it is an amazing opportunity to show everyone who you are and what your class is all about.
Before Back to School Night
If you have a few days with students BEFORE back to school night, a fun activity to have them do is a back to school night welcome letter mad libs. It’s good for a laugh if you leave it on each student’s desk for parents to discover when they walk into your classroom for back to school night.
Back to School Night Presentation
At my school, students and parents rotate through each of their class periods and get a short presentation from every teacher for about 10-15 minutes. If you have time to do a presentation, you can let them know about yourself and your expectations for the class. Some things I always make sure I cover are:
- Grading breakdown
- Texts we’re reading
- Homework expectations
- Classroom procedures, like how to make up absences or late work
- School supply list or materials needed
- How to contact me
An editable Google slideshow template is included in this resource if you want something low-prep and ready to go!
Back to School Night Packet
I also create a packet to pass out to parents on their way out of the classroom. Here’s what’s in my packet:
- Syllabus: Always good to have students sign off on what you covered in your presentation. Your syllabus should be informational, but also easy to read. Bonus points if it’s visually appealing too! Here’s an easy and editable template to use!
- Parent Survey: Start building rapport with your classroom community right away by having parents fill these surveys out and bring it back to you. Parents always have an insightful perspective on how their child learn best, so this in conjunction with student surveys, can give you a bigger picture of your students.
- Recommended reading book list: For ELA specifically, one question I get all the time is: How do I get my kid to read?? This handy dandy list of recommended books for middle and high school students in included in this resource. Books are separated by genre, so it’s easy to find books that are within students’ interest.
- Classroom library permission slip: In the same above resource, there’s also a permission slip to use my classroom library. You can never be too careful these days, especially with new state laws banning certain books in the classroom. This permission has got you covered, and it’s editable!
- Scholastic Book Order Form + Tag: Scholastic has some AMAZING back to school deals. If you get enough parents to buy books for their kids through Scholastic using your teacher code, you get FREE books for your library! Get this tag for free and staple them to your scholastic book catalogs!
How does your school do back to school night? Let me know in the comments if you do anything special for your students and parents!
Stacey
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