Thread by @LizanneFoster

🧵 Teachers in #bced, in the absence of adequate protections from the @bcndp gov't, let's crowdsource best ideas to keep safe when there's no mask mandate.

1. Wear an N95 mask or equivalent that fits tightly around your face or if you don't have these, double mask.

#bcpoli

2. Follow the advice of Dr. Fauci and the mandatory rule of the Peel School District: wear goggles or a face shield. The virus is airborne. You need to keep it out of your eyes.
#bcpoli

toronto.ctvnews.ca/peel-district-…

3. If you are lucky enough to have windows that open, keep them wide open. The virus is airborne. Don't give it opportunities to accumulate in your classroom.
If you're not, for the sake of survival, get a HEPA filter air purifier for your classroom. #bcpoli

4. Take your classroom outside. At our school we're lucky to have admin who bought a bunch of picnic tables so that
a few classes could be outside. Check out ideas for outside learning here: takemeoutside.ca
#bcpoli

5. Communicate with your students & their parents this weekend and implore them to wear masks and also to be prepared to be outside next week. You can reference this article for ideas of how to dress for outside learning during a pandemic:
#bcpoli
nytimes.com/2020/07/17/nyr…

6. Use the videos in many languages - Tagalog, Punjabi, Spanish, Croatian, Korean, etc. - that @SurreyTeachers created to appeal to parents to send their children to school with masks.
#bcpoli

youtube.com/channel/UC-0tO…

7. Get hula hoops to demonstrate to students how far from you they need to be to talk to you personally.
There is no replacement for distance when it comes to protecting yourself.
Do the best you can in overcrowded schools.
#bcpoli
Image: Global News

8. Do not gather with other staff. Just don't. A number of recorded transmissions in schools have occured when staff have had meals together. Even if you've had a vaccination, you are not protected until your body has built up antibodies which takes weeks.
#bcpoli

9. Move teaching content online. Even though my morning class is in-person, I treat it like a hybrid class since many students, terrified of coming to school or sick with Covid, have been staying absent. Having a hybrid set-up makes isolation due to Covid easier. #bcpoli

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