Meet the Creature Night

Your school may call it Curriculum Night, Meet-the-Teacher Night, or Back-to-School Night. Whatever it's called, most teachers breath a sigh of relief when its over!  

This year, I was really looking forward to curriculum night.  I’ve learned it is not just a time to inform families about what their child is going to learn, but it’s also the perfect opportunity to connect with one of my most valuable resources: my parents. It's a connection I keep going all year long.

Since I had met all of my parents previously, and each child in on their own Individualized Education Plan, I knew my Curriculum night would look a lot different than the other presentations in the school.  My focus was to have fun, and show the families some of the amazing things their children do on a daily basis.

We started our evening off with Morning Meeting:

1.  Good morning (or in this case evening) greeting to all members of the group

2.  Calendar time

3.  Daily weather report

4.  How do you feel today?

5.  Question of the week - This week's question is "What is your favourite animal?"

6.  Dance break - and yes…. even the parents danced!

After our morning meeting, each student/parent completed a classroom scavenger hunt:

This was a great way for the students to show their parents the different areas of our classroom and feel a sense of pride and ownership of the room.  

Take a look at the resource below (I use Boardmaker for absolutely everything).

We ended our evening with Free Choice:

The boys hangout in our break area and the parents chit-chatted with each other and the EAs in my room (who stayed late for the special night!)

I couldn't let the students leave without a special treat!

Overall, the night was a huge success!!

Keep calm and teach on!

- S

Parent Communication

Parent communication is a topic that I believe really differs from teacher to teacher.  Am I communicating with parents too much?  Not enough?  Is there even a way to find a balance between making parents happy and not completely stressing yourself out.  

Home-school communication is even more essential in a community classroom.  Imagine how frustrating it is to have your child come home each day and not be able to hear about his/her day?

I have chosen to use a daily note home with my parents and so far, it has been working wonderfully.  I love the picture format because my students can help fill it out.  Even my non-verbal students can assist in the process!  See an example below.

I make an effort to call my parents about once a week to check in.  I also am a HUGE believer in sending home photos with anecdotes.  It's a quick and easy way to show parents work examples, celebrate an accomplishment or even share a funny story throughout the school day.

I also really recommend tracking all communication with parents. It may seem like extra work that is not necessary… but there will be a day when you will be happy to have crossed your t's and dotted your i's.  It's also a great way to take note of which parents you haven't connected with in a while.  I've included an example of the template that has worked for me in the past!

Keep calm and teach on!
- S