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Open house is one of the many responsibilities that teachers have in addition to the traditional school day. It is often scheduled within the first few weeks of school. It is an opportunity for parents to get to know their child’s teacher, the school, and the course expectations. Below are some thoughts on how to have a successful open house.
Introduce yourself and background: It is always good for the parents to understand a little bit about your educational background and teaching experience. Where did you grow up? What school did you attend? Did you want to graduate degree? How long have you been teaching? Do you supervise any athletic teams or clubs?Parents want to understand who you are and why you teach.
Method of presentation: This is a very philosophical question for all teachers on how to present material in a classroom. We recommend that a teacher presents in the same manner they would present to the students. Be consistent with your teaching methods. If you use pen and paper, ask the parents to write down some information with pen and paper. If you use technology use Google slides for your Open House presentation so the parents get a sense of how you deliver information to your students.
Know your audience: Try to place yourself in the shoes of a parent of a student in your class. During the high school years, each grade has a unique set of challenges and areas of concern.
For example, freshman parents want to be reassured that the students are acclimating to the school and they are adjusting well socially. So if you teach freshman, make some observations about the freshman class as a whole. How do they seem to be making the adjustment?
If you teach seniors, recognize the biggest concern for this group of parents. For some it may be making sure a child is able to graduate. For others it will be the decisions that they will make after graduation. Each school is different, however, the college application process is often the biggest concern for this age group. Talk to the parents about how everything will be OK, but the process will be stressful and the students will also be filled with anxiety and concern. Be sure to reassure the parents, that all students will find what they need, with with the military, the workforce, or post-graduate education. If they choose post graduate education, they will find a school with committed professors, motivated students, and great opportunity.
Know who attends: Along the lines of knowing your audience, it is good to make sure that you are fully aware of what parents have attended. One easy way to do this is to handout notecards and ask the parents to fill out
- Their name and relationship with the student
- Their student’s name and
- Any concerns or additional information they would like to share with you.
This old school method for gathering simply requires providing pens and pencils and a note card. It is always good to know what parents made the effort to attend a school event.
Know your administration: Know exactly what your school administrators expect at an Open House presentation. If your administration wants you to hand out course expectations, or syllabus, hand out a course expectation and syllabus. If you use Google classroom, you can save paper and post it in Google classroom. But be aware of what the administration feels is important for this night and satisfy their requests.
Know the lenght of the period: Just like preparing any lesson, it is important to know the length of time you will be in front of the parents. Each school will have a different schedule. One high school has 10 minute period. If this is not your first rodeo, you can adjust based on previous years so you can share all the information you would like in the allotted time. Best to go bell to bell to avoid any awkward questions your might not be prepared to answer.
Stick with the presentation: Remember this is an open house for the parents to get a general understanding of what the students will be learning, the content of your course, and how the students will be assessed. This is not a parent conference, although you will have at least one parent who would like to speak to you after the presentation about their child. Listen briefly to the parent and remind them that they can schedule a parent conference which will be held in a few weeks and all those concerns can be addressed there.
Celebrate the completion of the night: No matter how your open house presentation goes, it will end and you will not have to do it for another year. It is one of the measuring points of a school year. It signifies the end of the preseason of the school year. School is now in full swing, you have assessed your students a little and have a sense of their starting point for the year.
Now your task is to move forward with the curriculum and develop the skills that will help them succeed this year and later in life. It takes a special individual who can teach students and then return at night and put on a show for adults with the expectation that you return the following day and keep your students motivated, engaged, and moving forward.
Next Day Lesson plan: Remember one of the most important lesson plans are the ones that follow, long, time consuming, and out of the ordinary days for teachers. Be sure to have a lesson plan that takes into account the fact that you have worked a double shift the day before. Some Open House nights are on Thursday, so a teacher may be a little tired and run down so plan accordingly. And……
You can take a Personal Day! There are many veteran teachers that use personal days following an open house or parent conference.