Blog Post

The time of year has come when teachers are soaking up those last days of summer, and using the summer nights to cool off and start planning and adjusting things for the upcoming school year. Not only do teachers start longing for class roster lists, they begin to reflect on last year and how it all went. One of the most important things to plan for before arranging desks and reorganizing every book in the classroom library is deciding what to present to parents and students for Back to School or Meet the Teacher night. Read on for some helpful things to think about when introducing yourself to parents and students!

1.   Create a Welcoming Environment

The school itself should of course be ready and open to the public to come on in and check things out–but more importantly, when introducing oneself for Meet the Teacher night it is highly recommended the classroom is also ready and open. Parents and students coming in should not only see the teacher right away to greet them and invite them inside, but also be able to look around and get a sense of what learning will be taking place here, and feel comfortable in the space. A classroom–especially in an elementary setting– is a space where a child spends most of their time and therefore should feel like a second home, where it is safe and consistent. Organized desks and shelves should be easily accessible and labeled so that everyone knows what they’re looking at. Young learners enjoy color and texture, and even music playing while they work. Many students also get a kick out of having a classroom “theme” for the year. Some teachers choose to decorate the room like a farm or a campsite–or even the beach! Show them on that first night how your room will look on a typical learning day when they come in to set them up for success.

2. Important Talking Points

As any parent coming into a new classroom for a new school year will tell a teacher, they know their child better than anyone. They also want the best for their child and they want to feel like the teacher created the environment they are walking into on Meet the Teacher night is one of care, respect, and safety. Make sure to tell parents about yourself–consider having a poster with your picture hanging upright inside the door or on your desk that tell some basic information. Good items to include would be your teaching experience in years and grade levels, What you love about teaching at the school, Sharing about your own family and vacations, and what you like to do with your students for learning and for fun. Having a poster like this hanging allows parents and students to read through it together, talk about any questions they might have for you, and it allows you to continue welcoming people into the room rather than stopping to give a speech to each person. This method will also show you’re a thoughtful manager and respectful of others’ time.  Make sure you have business cards with your name and contact information printed out and ready to go for families to keep posted on their fridge. Social media and texting apps have become a wonderful way to easily communicate rather than making phone calls daily, so be open to using those and having those accounts on your card as well.

3. Have Something Interactive To Do

Not only are the families coming to meet the teacher, but the teacher is also meeting the families on Back to School night. Being thoughtful about gathering information about Parents and Students on this night can set you up for great relationship building. Use your bulletin board to have parents write post it note messages to students for the first semester goals or have them fill out a short wishlist for this year to leave on their desk for you. Designing welcoming first day of school activities can be easier with the information you gain on Meet the Teacher night. Have signs around the room inviting children to explore the books or games. Even a “Guess How Many Pencils” in the jar game is a great way to make a memory of meeting their new teacher. to Have stations set up for school supplies to be dropped off and sorted. Also, consider having students leave with a memento from you, like a friendship bracelet or coloring sheet to bring back on the first day.

These tips are just some of the important things to consider when you are using the waning summer nights to plan your Meet the Teacher Night for the upcoming school year. Take the time to get your room ready so that you’re comfortable welcoming families into it on that first night, and make a great first impression.

How to Motivate Students with Classroom Rewards?

Using a money reward system in classrooms can be a great way to motivate students to achieve goals and behave in the best ways for learning to happen in a group setting. Whether you are thinking about using real money (some people use coins and dollar bills!) fake school or classroom cash, or tickets and tally charts, there are many options to choose from. What is most important before planning out your classroom money reward system is that you get to know your students and what is most likely to motivate them for learning.

Why Consider Money Rewards for the Students?

Especially in the younger grades, students respond best to feedback when teachers can make that feedback visual. Rewards are a wonderful management tool when students are given the chance to earn them for positive things, without the pressure of losing them for making mistakes. In other words, if they earn a penny you can’t take it back later. The idea is to reinforce positive behaviors rather than recognize poor behavior. If the teacher stays consistent with the rewards for the same few parts of the scheduled learning day, then the students learn to trust the teacher and that positive behaviors will yield positive results for them.

Options for How to Use Money Rewards in the Classroom

One of the best ways to introduce an earned reward system in the classroom is by implementing the rewards as incentive for silent reading time. As a teacher, this avoids the feeling you have to reward all kinds of different things all day long, and it is a great place to start money or classroom cash rewards at the beginning of the year. Silent reading time is an integral part of all Reading and Language Arts instructional time, so letting the students know they can earn tokens, tickets, or money for their time spent reading and being engaged with text really gets them willing to spend some quiet time. Consider having the students earn a set amount before getting a bigger reward (i.e. 5 “book bucks” means you earn a free book from the classroom library to keep at home). Kids love knowing that you’re on the lookout for positives during their reading time.

Group work participation is another area that can benefit from a classroom money or reward type system. After instruction has taken place and practice time directions have been given, a teacher can spend their time “floating” around to different groups of students to give out tickets or check marks for a variety of behaviors they’d like to continue. For example, students completing learning tasks correctly, positive interactions with peers and “helping” each other out during the work is another really positive behavior a teacher would want to continue to see happen. When you give positive recognition and rewards for that behavior, students are happy to engage with content.

Money rewards for following directions can also be effective. Using tally marks or stickers on a chart to demonstrate to students when they have followed directions quickly and accurately is a quick and easy way to keep track of positives. Later, they can count up the number of tallies they have earned in order to get more of your classroom cash!

Another reason to consider rewarding students with a classroom money system is for their motivation toward setting and achieving individual goals. Perhaps once a week, you can call students over to talk about a personal goal, and give them your agreed upon currency to use toward a chosen item. Some teachers use treasure boxes to pick treats from. There are also options to have a classroom or school store with supplies and fun toys, or even homework passes and lunch with the teacher are things kids love to earn. Students will collect their classroom money if they know they can earn some free time to talk, also!

Types of Tokens Leading to Rewards or Celebrations

The many items a teacher might use as “tokens” or “classroom cash” as mentioned above is limited only to their imagination. There are digital platforms that allow you to assign virtual points to students for meeting your expectations throughout the school day. Some teachers use tickets on roll, to enter into a drawing held at the end of each week–more tickets equals more chances to win a prize!  Tally marks can be traded in for stickers, stickers can be crossed off toward a homework pass, and dollars and coins can not only be saved up for the school store, they reinforce important economics and math learning standards.

Items and things that students can “pay for” with their earned rewards can also vary by teacher, classroom, and school.  Free time for talking with friends or game playing is a great way for teachers to save money on a class prize. Braver teachers may allow students to earn the right to sit by a friend for the day, or chew gum in class for 30 minutes. There are also the more concrete reward options, like a pizza or ice cream party, class movie day, toys from the treasure box, or a new book from the class library. Whatever currency and reward system a teacher chooses to use, it must be motivating for the students and be consistently used and revisited in order to be important to the class. Teachers can manage their classroom effectively if they use these or other types of classroom money ideas.

Best Tips for a Teacher Interview

The field of education is a very crowded one depending on your preferences about where to teach and where you happen to live. Many say you need to be willing to relocate or work your way up as a tutor or substitute teacher first. All of those options and more are relatively true and manageable suggestions. Whether you are applying to a neighborhood public school close to home or any public or charter further out. Here are 5 tips to help you toward a successful interview process.

Tip #1: “Pleased to Meet You” is Different on Paper

When introducing ourselves in person, we have the benefit of smiling warmly at the person we are meeting and shaking their hand. However, our teacher resume doesn’t have a personality unless we infuse some into it when it is written. Make sure to use teacher resume template examples to structure the formatting in an eye-catching readable way, and to set the tone for a cheerful meeting even though you’re not physically there.  Maintaining a tone of confidence about your work, and listing things you have accomplished, rather than things you were doing ten years ago will make the best impression on your resume.  Teacher Resume Templates can help you make sure you include everything that should be presented, without getting to lengthy with the information– it is already next to impossible to keep it to the old “one page” rule! 

Tip #2: First Impressions In Person

Once you do get a call for a scheduled interview, the best thing you can do is be thoughtful about your appearance and what you plan to take with you.  Business casual attire, a tidy hairstyle, and a breath mint will do wonders to make the first impression in person. You teacher portfolio should also accompany you. It is often helpful when deciding how to present your teacher portfolio, for you to select some of the items from it to have printed out for each member of the interviewing team. That way, you can easily refer to your best work, and you don’t have to worry if technology will cooperate. People also like to be able to make notes while you’re talking, so this will keep your information and their notes about you all on one sheet. If you have created a digital teaching portfolio, make sure you have your personal hotspot on your phone set up with whatever device you plan to use to show the demonstration on, so there are no hiccups with wifi.

Tip #3: Digging Deeper into your Teacher Resume Talking Points

Before you arrive at your interview, you need to make sure that you familiarize yourself not only with the job description for which you’ve applied but also with how that description matches up with things on your teacher resume and things included in your teacher portfolio. Highlight those items for your reference just before you go in, and be prepared to talk about how you have filled needs like theirs in your other experience. Be prepared with examples of your professional struggles as well as your strengths, as interview teams tend to want to ask about problem-solving and personal growth you gained–you may highlight those things in your teacher portfolio in a special section. Be sure to have chosen ahead of time the things you plan to highlight, so you’re not using every slide or example you have and creating a longer meeting than necessary. Small meaningful impressions are the ones that last. Remember, these folks are probably in the middle of a long day full of interviews! 

Tip #4: Several Questions to Ask the Interviewer(s)

Toward the end of your teacher interview, you’ll surely be presented with an opportunity to ask questions that you might have.  Always ask a couple of questions. It shows that you are taking this meeting seriously and that you want to know about their learning community.  Asking things such as, “What are you looking for in a team member for 3rd grade?” or, “How does your building-wide plan for discipline work?” will get them talking about their school. This allows you to chime back in making connections to things you’ve mentioned on your teacher resume or in your teaching portfolio. Be attentive to not only their questions to you, but to their answers to your questions also. This helps to build rapport at puts everyone more at ease. 

Tip #5: Before You Go, and After You’re Gone: Making Impressions Last

At the end of the interview, make sure you thank them for their time and mention what a great team of people there seems to be working in the school already. Genuinely tell them you’re excited and ask when you can expect to hear about the next step. Leave the copies of your teacher resume and anything from your teacher portfolio presentation behind. Make sure you get a contact email address so that later that evening, you can send a thank you email with a link to your blog or online teacher portfolio. Keeping a line of communication open will allow you to follow up if you’re nervous about hearing something.

Good luck with your teacher interview process! Remember that the teaching profession is all about what is best for children and their families. It is a competitive field depending on what you’re applying for, and it could take time and lots of letdowns before you find a good fit. If these tips help you or you have anything to add, share this blog and write us a comment!