According to research, greeting your students every day can promote student involvement, and many teachers have discovered that classroom greetings can lead to improved conduct, a more positive classroom environment, and a sense of community among students. Greeting and welcoming your pupils on the first day of school (and every time they enter your classroom for the rest of the year) is a great approach to practice preventative discipline and create a healthy classroom culture where students are engaged, focused, and kind. Check out these reasons why greeting your kids each day is a great approach to get your classroom off to a good start:
It’s a great way to learn names and faces – The first few weeks of school might be stressful as you try to memorize every one of your students’ names as quickly as possible. Try to stand outside your classroom during the first week of school and greet every one of your kids individually with a warm greeting, an elbow bump, or even just a grin. Introduce yourself, then invite pupils to share their names before welcoming them into your classroom.
- It saves time – You’ll be surprised at how effective training given as students prepare for class can be after you get into the habit of welcoming them at the door or when they join an online meeting. While engaged in such activities as hanging up their backpacks and getting out their schoolwork, reminding your pupils of their daily expectations as they arrive into the room will help you make the most of your time. Your pupils will be ready to begin at the same time as you, and you will not have to waste class time repeating instructions as they settle in.
- It contributes to the development of a sense of belonging – You may urge your pupils to welcome each other as they enter the classroom, in addition to greeting you. This is a particularly common practise for younger classes, as it is an excellent approach to teach pupils good manners, self-confidence, and mutual respect.
- It is an excellent opportunity to exercise preventative discipline – This entails establishing classroom procedures and standards to prevent misbehaviour before it occurs. Delivering pre-corrective remarks, or statements that highlight correct behaviour you would like children to demonstrate, as you meet pupils in the morning is one technique of preventative discipline.
- It’s a nice chance to do some informalevaluation – Prepare a few formative assessment questions ahead of time to ask your students as they enter the room. It’s a great method to get a short overview of the content and see what areas you might want to go over in the first few minutes of class.
The main takeaway from all of this is that welcoming students at the door at the beginning of class helps to set a positive tone for the rest of the day, enhancing their sense of belonging, increasing academic engagement, and lowering disruptive conduct. This is especially true on the first day of school, and so you may want to go the extra mile to make the students feel welcome in this new environment that they are venturing into. You can do this using warm welcome decorations designed to soothe the kids and relieve them of their back-to-school or the first day of school anxieties.
For this, what better place to start than by hanging a cheerful welcome sign on the door or on the classroom wall! If you are looking for some aesthetic designs, look no further, because we got you covered. These are some of the best-looking welcome signs/posters we found on Amazon.
Table of Contents
1. Creative Teaching Press Pom-Poms 2-sided Welcome Banner
These have the quote “Think positive, be positive” written on one of the two sides of the banner. This will be your mantra for the entire school year and beyond. Cheer on your students with a warm welcome to the classroom and a positive message to carry them throughout the school year as one side of the banner provides a welcome at the beginning of the school year, while the back offers a motivational message for the remainder of the year. By hanging this bright banner, you’ll be sure to bring a smile to the faces of your students. Designed for use in classrooms, day-care centers, or home-school learning displays, this vibrant banner is more than 3 feet long, measuring 39 inches by 8 inches.
2. Ceiba Tree Welcome Banner for Classroom Decoration
What you get in this is a 7 letter, 48 round cut-out, plain and simple. This is perfect for decorating bulletin boards, doors, windows, chalkboards, whiteboards, and even the walls of your classroom. The whole welcome banner is 8 feet long with big but funky colorful font and an aesthetic black backdrop. The multipurpose cut-outs, of which 48 is provided, can be used to write the names of the individual kids, making each feel special and warmly welcomed.
3. KMUYSL Welcome Back to School Banner with Extra Large Fabric
If you have a large space to spare, maybe this one is the best option for you. This massive 9.8 x 1.6 feet first day of school backdrop banner shows oversized multicolor letters that spell out the words “WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL”. The elegant design also includes cartoons of drawing boards, pencils, stars, rulers, class bells, etc. which will bring a fun atmosphere to students. This one is a great choice for preschoolers, kindergarteners, 1st-12th grades, and even college students entering the campus, and students will be proud of it because of your careful arrangement.
4. JOZON Welcome Burlap Banner with Apple Sign
This rustic natural burlap material adds a different cozy feel to your welcome. The sign is made of 9 pieces of burlap flag which each measure 5 x 7 inches, and the whole banner string is about 8.2 feet long so that you can hang it anywhere you want. It spells out the word welcome in 7 of the flags, and the other two contain a fun apple sign, symbolic of the first word that kids learn while learning the alphabet. The Welcome Burlap Banner comes pre-assembled so that no DIY is needed of the buyer.
5. 13 pieces Motivational Welcome Sign for Students
This is for the kind of teacher who is willing to put in the extra effort for his/her pupils. And this also will make sure that the students go the extra mile too. The package includes 13 pieces of the poster in total, including 7 for the letters of W-E-L-C-O-M-E and 6 pieces dedicated for a quote. The quotes include uplifting and encouraging words such as “every mistake you make is progress” and “A Journey of 1000 miles begins with one step”. These inspirational posters for young teenagers come with double-sided flush lamination which is water-resistant and dry-erasable so that the sign lasts throughout the year, pushing your students to do great things in class and beyond.
6. Sproutbrite Welcome Banner for Pre School, Elementary and Middle School
This is yet another design that is meant for more than the first-day decorations. This pack includes two banners each measuring 13.5 inches x39 inches. The banners are printed on slightly thinner paper than you might be used to seeing on older school banners, but this is on purpose. Colors, brightness, and contrast are on par with the most expensive picture paper on the market. The first banner welcomes the kids, while the second one exclaims “make way for a great day!”. Buy one of these for your class today.
7. Blulu Back to School Banner for Kindergarten Pre-school Primary High School Classroom Decorations
This banner is designed to hang on either side of your classroom door along with its entire height. There are 7 pieces on each side, containing “WELCOME” on one side and “Ready to LEARN” on the other. The vibrant colors and the enthusiastic design will certainly make the students feel like the latter. The package includes 40 glue dots and rope so that you can assemble the whole thing very easily. Each sheet is made of thick cardboard and is surface laminated.
8. Chiazllta Welcome Poster for Preschool Middle High School Classroom Decor
This design comes up with a creative expansion for the word welcome, which reads: “When you Enter this room Learning is fun, and Cooperation is expected. Our positive attitude and Mutual respect are part of Everything we do and say” What a terrific message for the students to live by! 11 x 14inch is large enough for a welcome poster and it fits in an 11 x 14in standard diploma frame.
9. Sproutbrite Welcome Banner II for Pre School, Elementary and Middle School
This is another great design from Sproutbite stores. This is also a dual banner pack and gives off a very warm and inclusive vibe for your classroom. Against a black backdrop, the first banner reads: “Everyone is welcome here” and the second of the pair reads “Everyone belongs”. This comes with stylized heart symbols, silhouettes of kids holding hands, and stars rising from all directions, all of which are symbolic of a diverse, yet unified classroom of superstars.
10. CARISPIBET Welcome Poster with Funny Decorative Sign
This is for the teachers with a sense of humor. The design reads “Wizards welcome, Muggles tolerated”, which is in reference to the Harry Potter movie franchise, which will no doubt pique the interest of students. It comes with a rope hanger pre-assembled and can be hung on the wall or above the classroom door with ease.
