If you’re like me, then Meet the Teacher Night (Open House, Back to School Night, Orientation, whatever you call it at your school) can be overwhelming and may never go exactly the way you planned it. Even with all of the best preparation, planning, and intentions, I always seem to end the night questioning myself, “How did I forget to have ____ write down their contact/dismissal transportation/fill in the blank?” Or, you just have some families who are in a hurry and don’t make it to each of the papers you are asking them to add their information on. I’m never really sure how it happens, but I always seem to have something go a little awry.

So this year … Google Forms for the time saver!

Heres what I’m doing. I’ve created a Google Form with all of my questions in one place. I’m sticking to the most necessary information – transportation, birthday, parent phone numbers and email, volunteer interest, etc. I’ll have computers set up at a station in the classroom with the Google Form loaded and ready to be filled out. All of that information will be automatically entered into a Google Spreadsheet, and voila, I have what I need.

I used my free Canva account to create the banner, which can be uploaded into the Google Form using the paint palette settings tool box. Or, just use one of the options Google already offers.

Then, just for cuteness, I edit the style of my spreadsheet to fit my style and classroom theme. (I want it to match when I print it for my teacher binder.)

For the families who don’t show up at Open House night, I can send the form by email or text message after a quick call home before the first day of school or during the first week of school.

I’ll even add a link or QR code to the form on the “Welcome to Our Classroom” postcard that I send before Open House Night! Talk about convenience, efficiency, and time-saving! It really doesn’t get any better than that!

Once the spreadsheet is filled out, I’ll print it for my teacher binder OR create a QR code with my ChromeStore Extension, “Quick QR Code Generator,” and print the image to hang on my teacher badge for access anytime and anywhere I need it! P.S. – Your iPhone has a QR scanner in the Control Center or you can easily download one from your app store.

As always, if you’d like to incorporate this time-saving tip but would like a little more help doing so, or have any questions, please use the Contact page to get in touch! I’m happy to help!