Meet the Teacher Night Tricks and Tips

Meet the Teacher Night can be one of the most stressful evenings of the whole school year. A room full of parents staring at you is very intimidating. Here are some tricks and tips to make sure your Meet the Teacher Night is a success!

All schools run Meet the Teacher Night a little bit differently. At my school, it runs from 7:00-8:00. If parents start to trickle in early, there are booths set up in the lobby with Spirit Wear and volunteering opportunities. Around 6:45, they are allowed to start coming upstairs.

At 7, there is a short video from our principal and our Home-School Association. Then, we have 2 twenty minute sessions. That allows parents to go to two classrooms if they have more than one child in the building. We used to do 3 sessions for parents who had 3 children, but by the third session, there were only one or two parents in each classroom.

Over the years, I’ve improved my presentation. Here are my top tricks and tips to have a successful Meet the Teacher Night.

Meet the Teacher Night Tricks and Tips

#1 – Put up a hallway display with student work.

If parents arrive at your room early, they can find their child’s work in the hallway. They usually spend a few minutes looking at other students’ papers, too. This also gives parents something to do if another session wraps up early, and they are waiting to enter your room.

Check out some of my favorite back to school activities.

#2 – Give the parents something to do when they enter the room.

I put a message for the parents on my Smartboard. It welcomes them to Meet the Teacher Night and invites them to look around the classroom. I also have the students write a letter to their parents telling them about some of the special things about third grade. Then, the parents write a note back to their child.

This keeps the parents busy until I’m ready to start my presentation. It also makes for a fun entrance the next morning. The students love finding notes from their parents in their desks!

#3 – Put all handouts on the child’s desk.

When parents enter they room, they find their child’s desk and sit there. If both parents are attending Meet the Teacher Night, they just pull up an extra chair from the back of the room.

I put together a folder containing all the papers the parents need. Here are the things I include:

• Class Dojo parent login information
• EnVision Math parent login information and directions for how to get to the homework if their child forgets it
• A business card with my name, email address, and phone number
• A trifold with all the information from my slideshow

#4 – Take the parents through their child’s typical day.

I’ve organized my Meet the Teacher Night presentation many different ways. Now, I organize the subjects in the order I teach them. I tell a little bit about each subject. Then, I share behavior information and anything else they need to know at the end of the slideshow.

Possible Meet the Teacher Night Problems

#1 – A parent asks a question, and I don’t know the answer.

Be honest. Say something like, “I’m not sure about that. Let me check into it, and I’ll get back to you.” Then, just make sure you email or call the parent when you do have the information.

#2 – A parent wants to have a conference about their child.

Some parents think Meet the Teacher Night is the perfect time to tell you all about their child, the issues they’ve had in past grades, and to ask you for input on how the child is doing in every subject. They want to have a 30-minute conversation while ten other parents are waiting to talk to you.

Very nicely say that you’d be happy to set up a phone conference with them to continue the conversation.

#3 – A parent won’t leave.

At the end of the night, you might still have some parents hanging out in your room. Some will want to continue talking to you. Others will want to keep looking around the room.

My first few years of doing Meet the Teacher Night this was a huge problem. It was close to 9 before all the parents left. Then, we asked our principal if she could make an announcement at 8:00 telling parents they needed to start leaving the building. This worked really well, and the teachers were able to leave at  8.

Meet the Teacher Night Success

I’ve found that being prepared and practicing my Meet the Teacher Night presentation helps me feel less stressed. Using these tips and tricks makes it easier each year. I hope you have a wonderful Meet the Teacher Night!

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What Do You Think?

What are your best tips for Meet the Teacher Night? Are there any other problems you’ve encountered?

Let me know in the comments below.

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