Open House or Meet the Teacher?
Posted by Sharon M. Tresino on 27 Aug 2009 | Posted in: Classroom Routines, Teachers and Teaching
As I drove to work one day last week, I passed an elementary school with a sign out front signaling that open house was scheduled for that afternoon. It caught me by surprise because school has not yet started here. I always thought of open house taking place a few weeks into the school year. It was a time for parents to visit the classroom, ask questions, and learn about routines and the curriculum for that grade. So I figured that the open house I saw advertised was probably what I would have thought of as Meet the Teacher Day—a chance for the kids to meet their teachers before school starts. I brought this up to a few of my coworkers and we all seemed to have had different experiences. That’s why I’ve decided to ask you: do you have both events at your school? And what do you call them? I’m curious!
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57 Responses to “Open House or Meet the Teacher?”
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More Comments Pages: « 1 2 [3] 4 5 » Show All Comments
We have a fun day on the playground (parents included) just before the start of school. We do facepainting, free play, snack, a couple games such as ring toss or duckpond. New students get a tour of the classroom a couple at a time where I show them where things are such as bathroom, cubbies, snack area etc. The next day we have orientation. There are 2-3 sessions of an hour where children are in the classroom with assistants while I meet with parents and go through all important info, sign up volunteers, answer ??’s etc. Then regular classes start either the next day or next week, depending how labor day falls. Open House for us is held on a sat during the school year sometime after we open up registration to the public. We don’t do it unless we are short on sturdents for the following year. We allow prospective parents and children to arrange a classroom visit so they can see how a school day goes and if it would be a good match. These occur throughout the year as people become interested.
At the school where I attended grade school, they now have a PTO Cookout type of event where the kids and parents can come and interact with the teachers that they will be working with throughout the year. Then, a few weeks or a month into the year, an Open House event takes place.
At my Open House, I have all forms ready, the Handbook, and all information I can give. Usually parents ask the same types of questions so I also have a FAQ sheet they can look over. I try to keep many interesting things in the room so kids can read or look at maps. I find this helpful because kids usually have an older or younger sibling with them.
We usually have our Open House 4 or 5 days before the start of school. This is done right after the announcement of class room assignments. At our school we usually have a very good turn out, and everything is very organized.
I do know that most schools around where I teach all it Open House. I find it strange sometimes that schools do this on the first day of school of after school starts. I thought the purpose was to allow the kids and parents in before to ask questions, get information, and know where the room is. We have always had alot of activities such as prize drawings or art activities. This keeps the kids busy while I talk to the parens about the upcoming year. In my experience, the parens who attend are usually the ones who help in the classroom the most!
We have “Back to School” night a few weeks after school starts for the parents to come into their child’s classroom. In Kindergarten though there is a special night set aside before school starts as well for the parents and students to come in and explore their classroom, meet the teacher and fill out any forms necessary.
We always have Open House before school starts. We have all the forms, information ready, let the students see their room and desks and have fun activities for them when they get there. Sometimes we have small prize drawings to get parents interested in coming to Open House. I always have a binder of previous years’ students wishing the incoming class well. It work because alot of students look up to the older kids and think “wow” they enjoy being in the class, look what they did!!
We only have Open House, and that usually is 3 to 4 weeks into the school year. Our schools are always “put together” late (rooms being cleaned, floors waxed and polished, etc..), so the teachers aren’t even allowed to get into the schools to set up our classrooms until a week before the kids come back, so having any “Meet the Teacher” events are out of the question. We meet the parents the same day we meet the kids. Day 1 of school.
I teach preschool and we always have a meet the teacher night two days before school starts. I have a scavenger hunt set up for them on a sheet of paper for them as soon as they arrive. Example woud be find your cubbie with your name on it, find the science table, find the flag, find the bathrooms,find your teachers! This gives them all something to do until everyone arrives. Then I go over the curriculum and rules and give an overview of a typical day in pre-k. Then I have a open question and answer time. A quick snack and then I have a small reward like a plastic animal cow, horse dinosauretc. that follows my room theme, to give them as they leave. I found by giving a small token at the end of the meeting, helps the ones that don’t want to leave to exit sooner!!
I have worked in schools that had a Meet the Teacher event before the start of school, a time to see where they will going and to bring in supplies so the first day isn’t so chaotic. Then the Open House was several weeks into the school year.
I now work at a school that only does an open house about 2 weeks into the school year.
I like the Meet the Teacher events. It helps me get organized, put the extra supplies away so the room is neat. It also gives me a chance to put parent faces and children together, I teach kindergarten by the way.
My school is K-4. We only do Open House the third week of school. Parents come and listen to the teachers discuss curriculum, rules etc. I would much rather have a Meet the teacher night or day before school. Three weeks into the school year is not early enough to go over all of the procedures and policies that we have been working on.
I teach at a K-6 public school with close to 700 students. Our kindergarten teachers hold a “meet the teacher” night a couple of nights before school begins but the rest of the faculty participates in an Open House about 2 weeks after school starts. The families meet in our cafeteria where the principal and the president of the PTA speak to the parents before they are dismissed to their children’s classrooms to meet the teacher and check out their child’s classroom.
We host an Open House 2 days prior to the start of school. It’s basically the same premise as Meet the Teacher. Students bring in and unload their supplies, while parents complete paperwork. It’s really helpful for getting people to sign up for fall conferences, volunteer at the school, and give transportation information. Also, the kids have a little less timidity on the first day.