Open House Freak Out

Don't even try to tell me you haven't been there.

I freak out every year. Every. Single. Year.

Open House night.

It's a mix of being so excited to meet my newest students and their parents and this fear that it's also a first impression of my skills as a teacher. Kind of a big pressure. Mix in the chaos, craziness and overall panic of all the PD, classroom cleaning and organization and uncorrected summer sleep schedule and you've got manic city.

This year I decided that I was not going to have the freak out. I was going to plan and work and organize and these three things would be my saving grace.

Well, and this...... The Open House and Meet the Teacher Event Survival Kit.

It has absolutely everything I need to pull this event off with a smile and minimal deodorant. 

It has invitations to make my new Fab Fours and their parents feel welcome and wanted. I want to meet them all, I really really do! It's important that they know that. 

The Survival Kit has a welcome poster, step-by-step task cards to control the flow of the evening and labels for everything my new friends are bringing with them or filling out. It also has a display poster that explains how my donation center works, with cards that list a few items on our wishlist.

I always forget about asking about volunteers, so I made sure that there is an explanation poster for that as well as a sign up form. I like parents to shed a little light on their learners, so I included a short questionaire. My favorite thing, though, is the contact half-sheet that lets my parents tell me when the best time to contact them is, what phone number they prefer to be reached at, and a preferred email. These are all the little details that send me digging into the emergency forms.

Lastly, it had to be easy for me to use. I included a table of contents and section covers to help me navigate and quickly find what I need. 

The best part is everything is customizable so that I can make it seamlessly flow into my classroom design. It's important to me that I be able to add text and edit files for my own information, and this Kit delivers. It comes with a print-only .pdf that can be customized with hand-written specifics, and also with a Word .doc with editable text boxes. 

Did you notice that it coordinates with the Dots and Chevron Classroom Design Kit? I love that. 

I'm already feeling a bit calmer towards open house night. 

You can grab your Survival Kit for 28% off today and tomorrow. Don't miss out on the big Back to School TPT sale!! Use the promo code BTS13 to score big on deals!