Hey VTA members,
     I hope you are doing as well as you can, and that you and yours are all healthy and home.  This is a surreal time and I have to turn off the news every now and then, go outside in the sun, take a deep breath, and remind myself that this will pass. I miss my students, and coworkers, and my routine and I’m looking forward to returning to it.  But for now…
     We’ve been working with the District on the Distance Learning Plan that was released earlier this week and I wanted to give you some information about it.  Some districts near-by have been very heavy-handed and rigid in the working conditions they are demanding and we have tried to avoid this.  We wanted to keep the requirements on you flexible and reasonable and the District has been cooperative.  We did this because we know a lot of you have challenging conditions of your own at home and so do some of our students.
     With this in mind you’ll notice that the schedules listed in the plans sent out are all listed as suggested or optional.  You need to be giving your kids work, but it doesn’t have to be the same work you would have given them if we weren’t closed.  The District doesn’t expect you to recreate all of your curriculum on-line.  It also doesn’t have to be the same amount of work you would have given.  The District knows that we won’t get through as much material as if we weren’t closed and their expectations have been reasonable. 
     Also, please work together.  There is no reason a lesson created for one class can’t be used for another.  This should be a way to reduce the workload on you, not create another burden.  And please save the work you create.  We want to save the work that is created and use it after this is all over to create packets for kids going out on ISP’s so that we can reduce the effort we spend filling out ISP Requests Forms. 
     Thank you to everyone who jumped in and started assigning work and contacting your students remotely right away.  The District has mentioned numerous times that they were very impressed with all the effort that was exerted in the beginning and this made them a lot more open to our suggestions as we talked.  Thank you again.
    Please take good care of yourself and those close to you.  Also don’t work on Spring Break.  You deserve a break during all this. Hopefully we will be back at our sites at the start of the next year and we can talk about all of this as history.  Stay home.  Stay healthy.  Stay kind.
Todd Blanset
VTA President

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis there are organizations that are undermining our efforts to advocate for you and provide you the resources you need to serve your students. One is the Freedom Foundation, a Washington-based anti-worker organization funded by out-of-state billionaires that opposes paid sick leave and collective bargaining. Remember: Everything they stand for is in contrast to what you’re doing right now. Learn more about them here.   

What you can do if you are contacted by such an organization: If you get an email, mark it as spam. If you’re called, tell them you’re sticking with your union, and your colleagues who are actually helping you in this crisis.  

Find distance teaching strategies, lesson plans, FAQs and more at CTA’s COVID-19 Resource Center.   

Join the conversation and share with your peers in our new Facebook Group: CTA Teaching, Learning & Life During COVID-19.  

Brand your virtual Zoom classroom with these educator-themed backgrounds (see one of them above).    

Find out how the CARES Act could impact your student loan debt. Watch NEA’s recorded webinar “Student Loan Relief: What the COVID-19 Relief Law means for Student Loan Borrowers.”    

CTA also offers the webinar “Generation Debt: Student Loan Forgiveness,” with info on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and how qualifying educators can get a portion of their Stafford and Perkins loans forgiven. Check here for the next offering.

Hone your distance teaching & learning skills with CTA webinars! Among the topics:   

• Classroom/Behavior Management in a Digital Setting (K-5, 6-12)   
• The Science & Mathematics of COVID-19   
• Teaching Students Virtually in a Moderate/Severe Program   
• Teaching Reading Intervention   

Sign up for one today here. Can’t make the live trainings? Watch them on CTA’s YouTube channel, on the Instruction & Professional Development playlist.