Back to School Open House Night

Hey there!  It's Gina from Miss Peluso's Kindergarten.  I'm here at One Sharp Bunch to guest blog about how I get ready for back to school!  Thanks, Ashley, for letting me take over your blog today!

As a first year teacher last year, I know first hand how important it is to be organized and prepared for your back to school night, open house, visitation, or whatever you call it!  While I prepared for kindergarten open house last year, I was constantly adding different elements.  I found myself searching for new things and rushing to get ready right up until the first parent walked through my door!  Well, I am NOT doing that again! Let me give you a sneak peak into my favorite parts of open house.

First up, I just really adore chevron.  Any time I can add a little chevron {or sparkle}, I do it!  So, I made a cute little chevron banner to welcome families to my classroom.  I think it's important to create a safe and welcoming environment for both students AND parents.



I think it's also important to have signs to direct your families around the room.  I didn't have signs last year, and there wasn't great flow around the room.  I do a scavenger hunt at open house, and with no signs and an unfamiliar room, it was hard for students to find where the next stop on the scavenger hunt was.  So this year, I am going to use signs to direct traffic flow through my room and accompany my scavenger hunt. {This is just an example of how the sign would look, and does not correspond to the scavenger hunt below.}

Last year, I had a bunch of piles out on my first table for families to take as they signed in.  This was not the best system, because some families did not take all of the sheets or misplaced them during the scavenger hunt.  This year, I am going to have the students find their seats at the end of the scavenger hunt.  I will have confetti waiting for them at their seats and an information packet for their families to take home.  This will be my big change for the year. By using large envelopes or file folders instead of having families responsible for taking all of the necessary papers, I can label them with student names.  This will eliminate the need for a sign in sheet because I will know that a family did not come if their folder is still left at the end, and all important papers will be in one organized folder!

One of the things inside the folder is my favorite project for back to school night… teacher contact magnets!  How many times do you write down someone's contact information or get a business card and then have no idea where it went?  If you're like me, the answer is all the time!  That's how I thought of this idea.  I put all of my contact information on these cute pencil images that I print on card stock.  (I whited out my phone number, but you get the idea!)

Then, I attach a magnet to the back, and voila!  Families can take these magnets home and keep them on their refrigerators so that they always know where to find your contact information!  I got so much positive feedback on these little magnets last year, and I am so excited to be sharing them with you today.

So, are you ready for back to school?  If you're not, I'm glad you stopped by today!  I compiled all of the materials that I will be using for my open house into one bundle.  It's everything you'll need: editable teacher information magnets (color & b/w), back to school information sheets, sign in sheets for back to school night, classroom website permission/information form, photography permission slip, editable volunteer information sheet, editable classroom scavenger hunt, editable folder/communication bag labels, welcome to pre-k through 5th folder covers, editable helping hands, welcome bunting banner, editable full page open house signs, editable half page open house signs, & parent note to student template.

If you head on over to my blog {here} and follow me, I will give you the editable teacher magnets in both color AND black and white for FREE as a thank you for being my newest followers! 

Leave me a comment to let me know that you are my newest follower, and I will pick one winner to get my Back to School Teacher Must Have bundle for FREE!

Happy BTS!