OECTA is encouraging members to share stories & perspectives on SM using #OntEdReality. Let’s bring awareness to the issues educators are facing & continue to be vocal about what is really happening at school in terms of safety & learning conditions. 1/12 @OECTAprez @OECTAProv

Our classrooms are full, so there isn’t adequate room to properly distance from each other, but that doesn’t even matter because for almost an hour each day students eat without their masks on for snacks and lunch. Over the course of a day, there are up to 10 adults in and

out of my room for supervision and for planning time. There are no extra custodians to help keep up with the supposed cleaning regimen. Current custodians are allotted mere minutes to clean each room. We have yet to see one nurse, but those nurses would be stretched so thin

anyway, I am not
sure they could offer any real meaningful help. Anxiety levels amongst educators are through the roof as there is a daily deluge of emails thrown at us by the Board about the new Hybrid model, combined with the back-handed slap about taking care of our mental

health. In 20 years of teaching, I have never felt so disrespected as an employee as I have this year. I try my very best every day to keep my students engaged and safe. To be knocked down every step of the way is disheartening and disgusting. I have a hard time swallowing this

month’s empathy message, when the Board lacks this amongst their own staff. Lecce and his daily pressers about nonsensical issues add to the growing unease amongst staff. He offers ZERO reassurance, along with other members of this Ford government. Their do-as-I-say-not-as I-do

approach doesn’t sit well either, as many educators aren’t able to visit with loved ones because of all the people they are exposed to during the week. Teachers are exhausted, but continue to work hard at making things work. The new hybrid model, about to roll out in two weeks,

is a new twist in our story. With more questions than answers, we are left scrambling as to how we are going to provide the same quality of education to those learners at home. There are so many issues with this format from tech to privacy issues, safety and equity issues, this

is yet another layer of anxiety and an entire thread on its own. I have asked parents in my class to prepare their children for another reorganization. The routines that we have settled into and the world we have all acclimatized to is about to be upended once again and we

will be forced to start ALL over. Some students will have to move to a different classroom, while some teachers moved to a different grade entirely. The online teachers will be reshuffled too, so even the virtual students will not be left unscathed.

We are listening to the stories of parents and educators out of the York Board and they are telling us that it is not working, but yet we soldier ahead anyway. To erase 10+ weeks of hard work is infuriating, especially when the gov’t had 6 months to come up with a sensible plan.

This is the #OntEdReality Are you listening? @fordnation @Sflecce the education system is crumbling around our feet. But that’s what you wanted anyway, right?
@OECTAProv @OECTAprez @oectagovernor @OECTAHawk @oectaottawa @YorkOECTA @elemdp @dpsuoecta @oecta_pvnc @tsuOECTA