It is officially 'Back to School' time! I wrote this blog last year and am posting it again so you can get my FREEBIES and check out a few other things I use at the beginning of every school year!
I can't believe it, but the beginning of the school year is quickly approaching! In my district teachers report back on August 14th and the student arrive on the 20th! It's going to be here before I know it! (insert anxiety here)
I have recently spent some time preparing for our Back to School Night. I absolutely LOVE Back to School Night but it can be an absolute nightmare if you're not prepared! There are a few things that are VERY important to me that I must do at the beginning of each year. The first and most important thing I do at Back to School Night is make sure parents get my welcome packet! Before the students arrive on Back to School Night I put this packet on each student's desk. That ensures that the parents get it, because they will often pass over a stack of papers that say "TAKE ONE"!
Below are the contents of my Back to School Night Welcome Packet... If you want a copy of my ipad contract (I made it generic by taking my name off), or my Parent/Student Info Papers you can get them for FREE HERE!!!!!!! (The years have been updated to reflect the current school year!)
1. The first page in my Welcome Packet is my 'All About Me' page. This helps the parents and students get to know me a little bit. I find that the parents are more relatable when they know their child's teacher is an actual human being with a family and interests outside of school!
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The black boxes are personal information such as names, places and contact info. They are blacked out for online purposes only, not in the actual packet! |
2. Right behind the 'All About Me' page is a page for the parent to fill out their contact information. (I use that constantly through out the year!) On the back of that is a page on which I ask the parent to answer some simple questions about their child. Reading these in the first week of school has helped me immensely in the past few years. I truly believe that knowing a little background on your students is key to building relationships. :-) (The years have been updated to reflect the current school year!)
3. Up next is my iPad contract. I have every single student read and sign the contract before they can even touch one of my iPads. If a student breaks a rule on the iPad I can bring this bad boy out and show them which rule they broke and ask them how they can be sure not to break it again. Holding my students accountable with this contract has helped the iPads be a huge success in my room! 4 years with NO broken screens!!!! (crossing my fingers--knocking on wood) (The years have been updated to reflect the current school year!)
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| In my TpT store you can download the generic version of this with my name removed! |
4. Next is my F.A.Q. page for parents. This is a list of commonly asked questions I get through out the school year. I explain my grading policy, behavior management, how I hand back papers, my classroom food/drink policy, etc. Very useful for parents to know this information right off the bat!
5. And lastly, I give parents a copy of my classroom procedures. In a perfect world the parents would go over these procedures with their student during the first week of school, but I'm pretty sure that is just wishful thinking on my part! I like that no matter what, I KNOW the parents received the basic procedures of my classroom so they kind of have an idea of how an average school day in my room is run. Of course I cover these with my students in the first week of school, but I like the parents to have a copy as well.
Well, there ya have it! I hope this post has given you some ideas of what to include in your Back to School Packet for parents! Grab the Parent/Student Questionnaire and iPad contract for free from my TpT Store HERE! Oh, and follow my store while you're there!
