Open House

This past week was my the Open House at the school I work in. It was my best Open House yet. I realized that I have been teaching longer than many of these parents had been teachers - and this gave me some confidence that I had never had before. Usually when I give my 20 minutes talk I am nervous and almost giving my speech like I am asking for their permission to be doing certain things. This time, I was confident and telling them it's my classroom - my way. It helps that many of the parents are now my age. When they were all older than me, it was a different vibe.

Here are some tips for all of you who are parents and will attend an Open House soon. Open House is not a time to conference about your child. It is a time to learn about what is going on in the classroom. If you have concerns about your child e-mail the teacher and set up an appointment. When chatting with the teacher on Open House night keep the conversation to how happy your child is. If your child is not happy - you should have already had a phone conversation with the teacher about this. Tell the teacher some of the positive things your child is coming home and saying. And....keep it brief!!! Everyone wants to talk to the teacher and if you "hog" his/her ear for too long than someone else misses out on a quick hi. Anyway - hope that helps:)

CS and I are going to CJ's Open House on Monday. Let's see if I can remember the above advice for myself:)