Welcome to the Teachers Named Teachers Podcasts, the podcast for teachers who don't want
to just survive teaching but actually thrive. Open House, back to school Night,
Meet the Teacher, whatever it is that it's called. At your school,
there's always a night when parents get to come in and meet teachers,
and it's just a really informive time and it's kind of a big deal.
Parents and teachers get to spend some time together and then parents can ask teachers
some questions and then they can get a feel for what the coming school year
is going to be. Like. I've definitely held many of these as a
teacher and been to quite a few as a parent, and let me tell
you, there are some ways to make this a really informative and helpful event
or just something that's kind of cringey and one that kind of crushes and burns.
So today I'm going to be going over five things that you should never
ever do at open house, and more importantly, five things that you should
do. This will not only ensure that parents feel comfortable leaving their child in
your capable hands, but it will also set a positive foundation or a good
working relationship with the parents and be sure to stay until the end because I
have a bonus sit for how to hold question and answer sessions so that they're
not awkward, because they can get awkward. Now, I'm not going to
go over specific activities that you should do or handouts that you absolutely must give.
I mean, you can go on Pinterest or teachers pay teachers and get
some fabulous ideas, and honestly, open house looks different at the elementary,
middle and high school level. Instead, I'm giving you general tips for a
successful open house regardless of what grade you teach. So the first thing that
you should never do at open house is overload the parents with information. While
I know that this is a perfect time for you to give them important information
that probably their child isn't sharing with you, you definitely don't want to give
them too much. You have to remember that, like you, they're coming
here after work, they're probably tired, and they can only handle so much.
When it comes to things like handouts, you want to focus on things
that you know that you want to physically give them because maybe it's not making
it home in their child's backpack, so maybe any kind of federal forms that
they're supposed to fill out or information sheets with contact information. Maybe you want
them to sign up for parent conferences right then and there, and hey,
if they showed up to open house, they get first DIBs on the times.
You can hand out your syllabus anything like that that you definitely want them
to have right then and there. But if you do have a lot of
information that you want to give them and you don't want to overwhelm them with
a packet of stuff, then you can split that up through emails or other
types of messages or even I've created videos for parents and then given those out
over a period of time via email or through our learning management system. That
way parents can get these bite sized pieces of information that they can actually absorb
and understand. So this is definitely a time when less is more, simple
is better, and especially when it comes to paper, because I'm going to
tell your right now, there have been many times when I've just recycled the
majority of the papers that a teacher has given me. The next thing that
you definitely never want to do an open house is use a lot of educational
jargon. I remember going to my daughter's second grade open house and the teacher
seemed really competent, but I was kind of turned off by the fact that
she was using a lot of educational jargon, like a lot of big words,
And mind you, I am a teacher and I understand what all of
this jargon is. But I was sitting there trying to come through the lens
of a parent, and I just knew that it was going over a lot
of people's heads. I mean, maybe you're trying to prove to them that
you know what you're doing and that you know what you're talking about, but
really, all you're going to do is get them to tune you out because
they don't get it, and they get bored, and again they're tired.
So you want to use clear and accessible language with them. You want to
talk in a way that even their students would understand, or maybe, let's
say middle school students would understand. And it's not that we're dumb things down.
It's just that parents don't need to know what the standards specifically are.
They don't need to know what r L seven point one is. They don't
need to know exactly which concepts their students are going to be learning. In
math. You can give them a general idea, like their times tables,
they're going to be learning about dividing fractions things like that, but you don't
have to get into the nitty gritty because they don't understand it and probably they
don't care. The third thing that you never want to do at open house
is promising unrealistic expectations. Now, you can definitely discuss goals that you have
for them and how you'd like to help them improve their reading and writing,
or help them improve in math, or memorizing their times tables, or have
them past the ap biology tests or something like that, but don't make promises
that you absolutely know that you cannot uphold. For example, you can't promise
that all the students in an APUs history class will get a five on their
test. You just can't. Don't promise that students are going to reach a
certain reading level, that they're going to get a certain score on a standardized
test. These are things that definitely you can communicate that you are going to
be working with the students towards and that there is going to be a push
for that, but don't actually tell them that you can guarantee it. Sometimes
I feel like teachers they have these lofty ideas of what they can do,
and again they feel like they have something to prove. But you're just going
to be setting yourself for failure and you're going to be setting up yourself to
be attacked by parents who said, you promise this, but you didn't follow
through. The next thing that you should absolutely never ever do at open house
is talk about your personal issues. So you definitely want to avoid getting too
personal with the parents and talking about things that are happening in your life.
I mean, yes, you can talk about the fact that you have a
family, maybe you have five kids and a dog something like that, but
you don't want to go into anything overly personal. You don't want to talk
about how you're going through a divorce or a death and the family or just
anything like that. This include it's bragging about anything that you've accomplished. I
mean, you don't necessarily need to tell them about your curriculum vitae, or
you don't need to tell them about all the places that you've taught. You
just want to keep it brief when it comes to the things that are about
you, because you are going to be under magnifying glass anyway, and honestly,
they didn't come to hear about you. That's that's not why they're here.
If they want to know more about you, they'll probably stock you on
social media. The most that I really like to tell them is that I've
been teaching for twenty two years and how much I love teaching seventh grade and
I love teaching their students. That's about it. That's what they get out
of me. I don't tell them about my daughter or my divorce or anything
like that, so just keep it to educational issues and focus on the students.
And the last thing that you definitely don't want to do at open house
is to be negative the whole time, which is funny because this part of
the video is kind of negative. So we want to refrain from being negative
about certain students, about the school, administration, district, things like that,
Yes, maybe you are unhappy at that school, maybe something is really
unfair in terms of your situation at work, but we don't want to bring
that into open house. You don't want to sit there and try to get
them to sympathize with you or anything like that. We want to keep things
positive at open house because again, the parents are here to get to know
you. They're kind of sizing you up, and they just really want to
know more about their child's education and what's going to be like for them during
the school day. So we want to focus on the positive aspects of school
and the learning environment. Even if a parent tries to bring up something negative,
even if they try to bring up something that they saw on a Facebook
group or that they saw in the news, just redirect it to what you're
focusing on in the presentation, that you're focusing on the students in front of
you now, and that what happened in the past is the past, but
you're looking forward to the school year. Just something like that. Now,
let's focus on the good stuff, the things that I really think that everyone,
regardless of what great you're teaching, should do at open house. So
the first thing is discuss communication channels. This is really important because parents want
to know how they can get ahold of you, whether or not you want
them to get ahold of you. So what is the easiest way for them
to get in touch with you. Do you want them to email you?
Do you want them to call you during certain hours, call and leave a
message with the school with the time to call you back. Do you want
them to reach you through your learning management system? How do you want them
to get ahold of you, because they are going to have questions and you
want to make it easy for them so they can feel at ease and honestly,
having a working relationship with parents, no matter how difficult they are,
it's really going to make the school year easier in general. Now, if
you are using some kind of online learning management system, this is a really
good time to demonstrate it for them. I typically do that, but actually
what I do is I make a video and I send it out to the
parents because I only have ten minutes with them, But if you have a
longer amount of time, I would definitely show them how to log in,
maybe even have them go through the steps with you and just show them around
so that they know what they're looking at once they're there. And then I
also like to be honest about how long it takes me to get back to
them. I tell them within twenty four hours I will return their message,
because sometimes parents want you to get back to them right away. Sometimes they're
messaging you at ten o'clock at night and they think that you're going to apply
them, which, by the way, do not do that ever, But
be honest with them and they will respect your time a lot more. Another
thing that I definitely think that you should discuss at open house is your teaching
approach. I really think that parents want to know what kind of a teacher
their student has. So are you a teacher that is a little more strict
or maybe you're a teacher that is a little more and bubbly and fun and
just sort of you like organize chaos. Maybe you like a lot of group
work. Maybe you like students take a lot of notes. You like to
have lectures and then have students break out into groups and then do individual quizzes.
The reason why this is important is because again, parents want to know
what their student is kind of getting into, and also it allows them to
better support their student. So if a parent knows that you are someone who
does not like a lot of talking in class in general, and then their
student gets in trouble for doing that thing, when all the parent can say,
well, you know, miss Slapri doesn't like it when kids talk out
a lot in class, So why are you answering without raising your hand?
Do you see what I mean? You can get more support if the parents
know this about you. I would also discuss how you differentiate for diverse learners.
So maybe you have a different way of how you handle students that have
behavioral issues that you already know about. Maybe they have something like an IEP
or their NERD divergent. How are you accommodating for them? And what is
the school policy in the school plan? What is the supports that are built
in? The parents are definitely going to want to know that, and during
that time when you're talking about your teaching approach, I'd also encourage parents to
email you if they do have any known concerns about their own students, or
if their student has some kind of a disability that they want to discuss with
you. Invite them to message you or maybe even set up a time with
you so you can get someone on one time and get to know their student
better. In that way, you can also support them better. Now,
the next thing that I really think is important for you to do at open
house is to give an overview of the curriculum. Now, in the beginning,
I said, don't tell them the specific standards that you're teaching or use
a lot of the jargon, but you can tell them the general things that
they're going to be learning that year. So if you have something like life
science, Well, what does that mean? What are you teaching them in
life science? If you're teaching them seventh grade English, like I am,
what are some of the things that they are going to be doing that year?
So maybe you tell them about the novels that you guys are going to
be reading, or what kinds of essays or other writing projects that you're going
to be doing. Are there any field trips? Parents do want a general
idea of what they're going to be learning. Don't just assume that because you
teach math that they're going to know that it's just math. Sometimes they do
want to know. So maybe you're teaching geometry and the parent knows that they
can't help their student with geometry. So some parents will find a way to
get them a tutor or just find some way to support their student because they
know at home they're going to be out of luck if the students get stuck.
But just make sure that you keep it simple. You keep it in
terms that maybe like a sixth or seventh grader would understand, so that it's
easier to grasp again when parents are tired and when they just want the basics.
Now, the next thing that I definitely think that you should go over
at open house. Are your homework and grading policies? Now a lot of
elementary teachers don't necessarily use the same kind of grading system that they do in
middle and high school, but parents still want to know. How can they
tell if their student is progressing? How can they tell if their student needs
more help in a certain area. Sometimes the codes that are on report cards
and progress reports just don't make any sense. So I would definitely take time
to go over grading and homework. So definitely go over the school's policies if
there are any regarding late work or if they're absent, anything like that,
because you kind of have to go with what the school or district policy is.
And then I would go over your individual policy. What's your late policy?
Do they lose points after it being late a certain number of days?
They only get a certain number of days to make it up if they were
absent? What are your policies? Do students have an opportunity to redo assignments
or do they only get one shot? I know that some teachers students can
only redo or revise an assignment if they get a certain grade like a C.
And then when they have the redo they can't get above a certain grade,
So let them know that. Be very transparent and clear so that there
isn't any confusion later on when their student doesn't get a score or a grade
that they were expecting. I also like to give them an idea of how
much homework they should expect their student to have. That way, their student
isn't saying, oh, I have no homework in math, when really you
assigned math homework every day. So the last thing that I definitely think that
you should cover at open house are academic support services. So you should explain
the availability of any kind of tutoring, whether it's in person or online,
any academic interventions or special education services that are offered at your school. I
mean, part of why parents are even there at open house is to find
out how their students needs will be met. And so let's say that there
is tutoring at your school, maybe even you offer it. Give them the
schedule, let them know the hours and the days so that they can plan
for it. Because chances are their student doesn't want to have to stay extra
for tutoring and their parent is going to have to tell them to do it.
So what's the protocol. What are their dates and times? Now,
my bone is to pass a dou with doing an answer and question session at
the end of open house. You definitely want to satisize some time for this,
even if it's just a couple of minutes. And here's why. First
of all, if you don't actually build in time for it, you're going
to be bombarded with a line of parents staying after to ask questions. And
let me tell you, you might even end up staying an hour after open
house is over because the parents will wait their turn if you don't get them
a chance to ask during a Q and A session. It also leaves a
really negative impression if you're unwilling to answer questions, because it's like you're hiding
something and honestly, parents will have questions if you didn't answer it during your
present. And another reason why I like to have these Q and A questions
is because if a lot of parents are asking the same ones, then what
I like to do is write them down. So I'd like to send out
an email or a newsletter or a video that I send to all the parents,
regardless of whether or not they made it, that covers those questions.
But you want to do this the right way. Don't leave too much time
for this because they will ask a lot of questions. Give them maybe five
minutes. I mean, if it's too much time, it's going to be
never ending. Even if parents don't want to go home because they have more
questions, just insist that time is up or open house, and that you've
answered a lot of questions and that you're more than willing to answer more questions
via email or a phone call or some kind of a conference. Here's the
thing. If a parent starts asking you specific questions about their student where they
go into a whole life story about their student, you need to cut that
off. So just gently stop them in the middle and let them know that
this sounds like a sensitive topic and you don't have time left for questions and
answers, and that you would love to meet with them again. Open up
those communication channels and give them some dedicated time at a later date, and
plus be honest that you want to be able to give them a more detailed
answer rather than answering on the fly. And it also allows you to take
notes and really focus on what the parent is telling you. So basically,
be really positive about it and They're going to feel more reassured if you're saying,
yeah, this really is a concern. So I think this deserves something
that's more of a dedicated time rather than here in front of everyone. So
definitely redirect those types of questions, and I promise you they're going to come
up even when they come and see you after open house. When that line
forms, just tell them again, like now really isn't a good time because
there's a lot of people around, and also you have to get home to
whatever, your dog, your family, just you have to be there early
the next day. Things like that. Doesn't make sure that they don't hijack
all of the question and answer time and they don't hijack your time after open
house. I've talked a lot about parents in this episode, like a lot
about parents, and I definitely think that it deserves its own episode. So
be sure to subscribe to this podcast so that you don't miss out on my
next one or talk about how to deal with parents, because you guys,
it is a topic that is pretty rough for a lot of us, but
it could also be really really positive. I really hope that you enjoyed this
episode and gotten a lot out of it. I would love to hear from
you about how your open house went, so be sure to email me at
Kim at teachers Need Teachers dot com. Thanks for hanging out with me today,
you guys, and I will talk to you next week.