Saturday, August 17, 2013

Open House!

I'm back!!!!  Sort of... lol.  It has been insanely hectic around here trying to get back in the swing of things for school with remodeling/moving into a new home during preplan week.  Needless to say, I recommend picking ANY OTHER week than that one, haha! 

We had Open House last week and I have to say it was probably my most successful Open House yet!  Not only because ALL my students and parents showed up (that has never happen to me before) but I was super prepared and had cute little folders full of information thanks to my Back to School Packet and Pinterest finds :o)

I used my Cameo to create the large "Welcome" letters and I LOVE how they came out!  I got so many compliments on the door and entrance.  I'll show you more of what our hallway looks like on my next post: Room Tour.


I saw this idea on someone's blog, she was in second grade, and lord if I can remember where!  If you know please leave a comment so I can give credit where credit is due!  I loved the idea though and had to make one for our class!  I printed it off on an 11x17 size paper so it would be more noticeable when parents walked in.  There are four QR Codes: Our Class Website, Sunshine State Book Trailers, Our School Website, and Our School Facebook Page.  My contact info along with codes that parents can text to me to get classroom updates is added on the bottom.  I use Remind101.com for classroom updates through text messages!  They give the parents a random number to use but you control it.  This way parents can get all the goods and information you need them to without having your phone number :o)


Here is just a quick shot of my room before they all showed up.


Here is what parents found on their child' desk.  The different colored labels can be found in my Editable Back to School Packet.  I wanted to type in their names but we kept getting new kids up to the last minute so it was just a hand written kind of night.


Inside there was a student information sheet that parents needed to fill out on the left and all about our class and myself on the right.  As I showed you a couple posts back, my Vistaprint business card magnets came in just in time and I added those as well!


Here is a closer look at the items on the right: a smaller version of our "smart phone" poster, FAQ for our Class, and a Meet Your Teacher sheet.  I snagged the Meet Your Teacher letter from Suddenly in Second and just put in all my information and added a banner on top.  Such a time saver!


What do you do for Open House/Meet the Teacher?  I'm off to paint my craft room and then our master bedroom!  Finally a real bed to sleep in!!!!!!!!!  All our master bedroom furniture has been covered in drop cloths and what not while we try and find a color and I think we have found a winner which means I get my bed back!


19 comments:

  1. Sounds like a wonderful open house!!! Love all of your ideas, and I really love the WELCOME letters! :) I think I need a Cameo! lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh I LOVE my Cameo! The hubs got it for me for Christmas and I love to play with it :o) GET ONE!!!

      Delete
  2. Great ideas for your Open House! We did a brochure this year with some FAQs and information about our team since students see 3-4 teachers. The QR codes are a really great idea to get parents instantly linked up -- I'll have to remember that one for next year.

    Thanks for sharing,
    Amanda
    My Shoe String
    Follow me on Bloglovin'

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nice your open house was so succesfull! I made the same Welcome-letters on my classroomdoor as you did. I found the idea here http://learningenglish-esl.blogspot.nl/2010/09/welcome-door-display.html Maybe you did too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh how funny! I hadn't seen that one yet but I love it! What a coincidence! The door was just so blank and boring that I had to put something up and that was the only thing I could think of. Great minds ;o)

      Delete
    2. LOL! I read too quickly the first time and I didn't see you were looking for the person who made the QR-codes! sorry!

      Delete
  4. Wow! You were so organized! I love the folder and all the info inside. I'm making some letters like that for my door using the Silhouette!! Do you remember what font you used?
    Courtney
    Polka Dot Lesson Plans

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So glad you like it! I used MTF Jumpin' Jack (I love it and use it for SO MUCH!).

      Delete
  5. I'm glad it was a HUGE success! Have an AWESOME year!

    Kathy
    First Grade a la Carte

    ReplyDelete
  6. How exciting! I'm a teacher-turned mom-racking up ideas while I wait to return. I am in love with so many of your ideas! I hope your year is fantastic and I'm so looking forward to following your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love your WELCOME letters! I've got a Cameo, too :) What font did you use??

    Lauren
    The Sweetest Thing
    Follow me on Bloglovin'!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love your setup! Would you be willing to share your Student Information page?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The students information page can be found in my Editable Back to School Packet in my TPT store :o)

      Delete
    2. Can you send me a link to your sheets that go inside your welcome back folder. My email is

      A.marie.mulholland@gmail.com

      I couldn't get the link to work that you listed above.

      Thanks!

      Delete
    3. Can you please send me a link to your store. I LOVE these forms and would love to have them for this upcoming year!

      Please email me at
      A.marie.mulholland@gmail.com

      Delete
  9. Love your setup! Can you sent me the parent letter. Suddenly blog is not there anymore. Harmonyjls@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not sure what Parent Letter you're referring to...? Did you see it in a picture?

      Thanks!

      Delete
    2. I am pretty sure she means the Meet Your Teacher letter. When you click the link, it takes you to a page that says Blog Not Found.

      Delete
    3. Would you mind emailing me your FAQ sheet? I'm trying to read it to get an idea of what I should include in mine. I think it's great! Thanks :)
      haley.ryland@rpsb.us

      Delete