Back to School Night

Is there anything that can make a four day week feel longer than Back to School Night?

Last night was the night.  For the second year in a row, I was sick.  As in, I'm only going to school today because it's Back to School Night sick.  And around noon, I lost my voice.  My voice is almost completely back now.  It just took a vacation for the time I had to talk at all of the parents.

Enough of my pity party.

Last year, our back to school night was a full month after school started.  This year, it was two weeks.  It was a very different dynamic.  It also meant making my room perfect way sooner!!!

I wanted to share with you (and document for myself) some things that went well and some things I'll do differently next time.

Went Well:

• Having a power point, but not just reading from it.  I love that this year I know enough of what's going on to not just read from them.  One parent told me this morning that it was the best Back to School night she'd been to for just this reason.
• Side note:  I HATE just talking at the parents the whole time.  It feels so strange to hear my own voice for 40 minutes straight!
• Giving handouts of the powerpoint.  Made it less of a big deal that I didn't get through all of the slides (see below). Also, parents aren't frantically writing.
• Having lots of student work and class made charts on the walls. Most of the parents didn't even try to talk to me before because they were so engrossed with the room!
• Having two copies of everything on my kiddo with divorced parents' desk.  I thought they were going to hug me they were so happy to each have their own copy!

Change:

• Have someone else proofread my power point and handouts.  I found two mistakes during the presentation (embarrassing!)
• Open my door a few minutes earlier so that everyone is in, signed in, and ready to go right when it starts
• Time myself better.  I still had about 7 slides to go when it ended!
• Tell parents that they have to write a letter back to their child.  The kiddos all had letters on their desks to their parents, and there were some sad faces from the kiddos whose parents didn't write back this morning.

Major TGIF this week for me!  :)