On Monday, April 6, 2020, ETT members will begin to support their students through remote learning. To provide assistance as we undertake this new and challenging endeavor, ETT has prepared the following FAQ.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your Executive Officer.
FAQ For ETT Members
I have contacted my Principal and I am still without internet access and the hardware I need to facilitate remote learning with my students. How can I begin on Monday, April 6?
The Board says it will facilitate what is needed for those without internet access.
By communicating your internet and hardware needs to your administrator, you have followed the procedure by which the Board is to provide for your IT needs through home drop-off or other methods of safe delivery.
If you are unable to begin remote learning on Monday, April 6, please inform your Principal of the situation so that families may told that programming will start as soon as systems are enabled.
I have had to upgrade my internet service, but the cost to do so is much more than I would ordinarily choose to pay. How do I address this?
Again, please communicate to your administrator the internet service upgrades needed to facilitate remote learning and keep any receipts for services installed for this reason.
I wasn’t able to register for the webinar training offered through Key-to-Learn. How can I begin on Monday, April 6 without the training for Brightspace?
The Board has shared that there have been additional training sessions beyond those originally posted.
Some webinars that have already taken place have been recorded and can now be accessed through Key-to-Learn.
If you are still unable to access the webinar training you require, please let your administrator know.
I was planning to live-stream a hands-on component of my math lesson via Zoom. Since I subscribe to my own service, am I allowed to do this?
We are advising that lessons are best presented to students in a posted, pre-recorded video format, with any feedback to be provided later.
ETFO has made it clear in its FAQ #3 that we must exercise professionalism and caution in our online engagement with students. As such, we are not live-streaming lessons/activities to students via virtual platforms.
The Minister stated in his press conference this week that we will be required to complete Term 2 Report Cards. Growing success states that we don’t evaluate (summative) work that is completed at home. How will I approach reporting?
The Ministry has stated that all K-12 students in Ontario will be issued Report Cards in June.
The understanding between the Ministry, boards, and the union is that we will be using assessments prior to the March Break as the basis for Term 2 Report Cards.
More information will be forthcoming on reporting procedures.
I am a non-regular classroom teacher. How am I participating in teaching and supporting the classrooms I usually work with on a D2L and Google Classroom platform? How do we ensure equity in workload with our colleagues?
ETT has been in conversation with the Board throughout the week and we have put forward our recommendations regarding equity of workload for members and have emphasized that even with a collaborative approach, a template is necessary so that the lion’s share of the work does not fall to the regular classroom teacher.
Contributions to remote learning should be balanced, address the whole of student learning needs, and be designated equitably and proportionately to the teachers and education workers who engage with students in classrooms for the 5 or 10 hours of learning time allotted.
What will special education support look like for my students requiring modifications and accommodations? Will education support staff be included in our remote learning platforms?
This is one of our greatest concerns and the Board has said that the vision they have for modifying and accommodating students on remote learning platforms is forthcoming.
At this time we are not certain how the Board intends to address this concern. We are eager to see what differentiation will look like as the Board states that it is paramount.
How many hours of learning time activities are we required to provide to support our students online?
- Kindergarten to Grade 6: 5 hours
- Grades 7 to 8: 10 hours
Does the Collective Agreement language around Staff Meetings still stand? My Principal has been requesting several staff meetings this week along with the monthly staff meeting in our calendar.
The 75-minute monthly staff meeting, as described in our Collective Agreement, will continue to be an important time for communication amongst staff members and administration.
In establishing our remote teaching and learning platforms there may be a need for communications between administrators and individuals, or clusters of teachers. As we all want our days to be as seamless and efficient as possible in this new context, the approach to those extra meetings and communications should be reasonable and in no way excessive.
If there is an issue regarding staff meetings, please contact your Executive Officer.
Should my Principal be included in my Google Classroom list of attendees?
We are using our own expertise and professional judgment in designing, creating, and posting activities for our students.
There is no directive from the Ministry to indicate that administrators need to be present on learning platforms.
Is the regular staffing procedure going ahead? Allocations should have been shared with staffing committees on Tuesday.
Staffing committees should be working on this now. Superintendents are to approve models by April 15, so models need to be submitted prior to this date.
This is a hard-fought for Collective Agreement right. If there are difficulties, please contact your Executive Officer immediately.
What should I do if I am ill and cannot participate in remote teaching?
The Board is asking that you notify your Principal if you are ill and cannot perform your tasks on a given day.
As Smart Find is locked and inaccessible, absences for illness need to be reported to your Principal.
