Meet the Teacher!

Where did summer go?! Like, seriously, where did the time go?!

The end of teacher planning week drew to a close very quickly and before I knew it...Meet the Teacher was here! Ahhh! Every year it seems to never fail - as much as you "think" you're ready to show off the room and greet your new students and parents there is ALWAYS (and I mean, always) something else that could be done, added, tweaked, etc.! Is there anyone out there who can relate? I hope so.

I have been very fortunate to join a new team with teachers who are SO welcoming and quick to share any and all ideas and resources! In the day or so leading up to Meet the Teacher, they literally banded together and made sure that I would not be "left behind" in my preparations and planning for meeting my new kiddos and parents. They provided me with so many great ideas of what they have done in the past for Meet the Teacher, what they were thinking of trying differently, and even went to the store to buy necessary items for the whole team! WOW! Aren't they awesome?! Below you will find pictures taken from the behind the scenes prep work for Meet the Teacher along with pictures of my room taken just moments before my new firsties arrived!

My team shared with me that they enjoyed centering the theme for the first day of school around the book, First Day Jitters.  I absolutely LOVE this book so was completely on board!  Each teacher, including myself, had a Meet the Teacher tradition of sending home goody bags with new students on the day of Meet the Teacher.  In addition to the sweet treats and goodies in the bag, we included a Jitter Glitter poem and a Ziploc bag of glitter enclosed in an envelope that instructed parents to read the contents the night before the first day of school.  What a fun idea!!  

                

Here is the Jitter Glitter assembly line.  

Materials included: Jitter Glitter poem, Ziploc bag with small amount of glitter (varying colors), envelopes, and labels that read "Please read this to your child the night before the first day of school."

In keeping with my own Meet the Teacher tradition, I wanted to provide students with a goody bag of treats and fun items that would be taken home and enjoyed after their visit with me.  After browsing pinterest, I found this super cute idea by Katy Lumb with easy to follow instructions (shown below) and decided to re-create it using FREE labels from Beth over at Simply SWEET TEAching!

I was very pleased with how my goldfish treats and labels turned out!

Lastly, here is everything that I included in my Meet the Teacher goody bag.  

Contents included: Jitter Glitter poem, goldfish treat, All About Ms. Gartman letter to parents, stickers, pencil, and a couple of candy pieces like Laffy Taffy and a Tootsie Pop.

To wrap up this post, I've included a few pictures of how my room looked just moments before my newbies and their parents/guardians arrived.  One of my team teachers, Shelley (she is an AWESOME teacher!), shared with me an idea she found on Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits for incorporating numbered stations within the classroom to keep everything organized and orderly.  This is an absolutely wonderful idea and one that I will be using every Meet the Teacher from now on! 

  

Station 1 asked parents to complete a Google information form on the computers. Our team created a student information form using Google docs that was emailed to parents when announcing we were their child's new teacher.  In the event parents did not complete the form prior to Meet the Teacher, Station 1 allowed the form to be completed within the classroom and information stored directly on my Google Drive.   

Station 2 was organized to receive school supplies.  The blue baskets would each hold separate items and were switched out for empty ones throughout Meet the Teacher when full. 

Station 3 asked parents to complete a sign-in sheet, verify their email address and transportation arrangements for their child.  Although much of this information could be found and stored electronically, I am still a little old-school and like to have hard copies on hand (just in case!).

Station 4 was the last stop for parents/students and my personal favorite because this is where students chose a goody bag to take with them and enjoy!  Seeing the big smiles on my newbie's faces when picking out their goody bag was totally worth all of the time, money, and effort spent putting these bags together!   

I was so thrilled with how Meet the Teacher turned out and completely overjoyed with how precious each of my new firsties were during the visit.  I can't wait to watch each of them learn and grow throughout the school year!  FIRST grade here we come!!!