Open House Night: A Step By Step Guide With Free Resources

Today we had open house.  Here's a step-by-step guide to everything that I do:

I stand at the door and greet parents.  I have a podium outside the door with a framed 8 x 10 class picture, a sign in sheet/volunteer sheet, and a plant.

I have a powerpoint rolling when the parents walk in the room.  It's class pictures on a loop.  I used this Powerpoint background:

This background came somewhere from the site Brainy Betty, but I can't find the exact link.  If someone has it, send it to me!

How to Loop a Powerpoint slide show:

1. On the Slide Show menu, click Set Up Show.
2. Select the Loop continuously until 'Esc' check box.

The parents would enter the room, look around, and find their child's desk with their letter on it.  This year I had the parents reply, but I only had 11/18 parents show... so next year I'm ditching the parent's reply portion.  Third grade is a little different... less parent participation than 1st.

When everyone arrives, I start a formal presentation with Prezi.  Prezi is a free, beautiful and easy to use site!  I highly recommend it if you haven't tried it yet.  They have a really cute owl design too!  The whole thing takes less than 10 minutes- don't ramble on and on!  Short, sweet and to the point.

Back to School Prezi

You can click here to get your own editable version.

Open House 2012 on Prezi

I had folders on the students' desks.  Inside, I added:

• Class Handbook 

• Scholastic Parent Letter stapled to an order form
• TCAP Skills 
• Parent Questionnaire (From Beth Newingham)
• AR login information

In the past I have also done a raffle drawing for a free scholastic book or give a homework pass for the students.  

Here are some shots of my classroom from tonight (it's darker than normal!):

What do you do for your open house?