This past Tuesday was my 'Meet the Teacher' night... I can stand in front of a room and kinders and 'put on my show' day in and day out, but when it comes to a room of adults, my nerves take over! So I try to prep everything ahead of time so I am super prepared! This year, instead of my traditional packet, I went for a 'flip book' style handout. It did not take long to prep and was very easy for parents to follow along during my presentation! I minimized handouts I always give out to put on the backs of some of the pages to help save paper and keep everything neatly contained! I had taken pictures of each of my kids on the first day of school holding a sign that stated: 'First Day of Kindergarten,' the date and the year they graduate! So I printed/glued each picture to the front of a clothespin and glued a magnet to the back of the clothespin. I typed up and printed this little 'poem' and put it in each clothespin. I told parents they can use the clothespin magnets to hold the informational flipbook and/or work that comes home throughout the year! Another parent 'gift' was this M&M poem I created: These were a hit! So when each parent came in, this is what they found at their child's seat (which was easy to find because of the picture magnets!): That morning, for morning work, I had my kinders color the bear printable and draw mom/dad a picture. It reads: 'It 'mint' a whole lot to me and my teachers that you came tonight!' and I taped a starburst mint to each paw! New this year were my contact list, parent/teacher conference sign up and parent volunteer sign up boards: In the past I had parents fill out a contact slip and I would then compile them. This year I had them sign up (if they wanted) and will copy/send home the list they filled out as the contact list- no compiling/typing for me! I also had parents indicated a time frame that works best for conferences to minimize rescheduling! Since we don't have teaching assistants this year (they were cut due to budget cuts) I also asked for parents who are willing to come in 1x/week to assist with centers. To 'thank' them for coming/volunteering I had a raffle and some candy! After signing in, they filled out a raffle ticket to try and win a gift certificate... ...and grabbed a sweet treat! I usually do a 'giving tree' but for some reason it is always overlooked and I have parents mention days later that they forgot to pick something! So this year I came up with something that was sure to grab their attention: And it worked! I had so many superheroes removed that night! You can find the sign, programmed tags and editable tags HERE! You can find the magnet poem, M&M poem and bear printable for FREE HERE! I wish you a successful night and hope the goodies help make a very stressful night less stressful! I know I rambled and I forgot many things I wanted to mention, but overall it was a successful night! Until next post,