No need to panic. As a matter of fact, if you are a veteran teacher, you are likely a high-functioning adult used to pressure. Go be a good example for others.
Go in on Monday and get your school ready. Get your students ready. Do not wait. Remember, this is what we do. We prepare. We teach. We check for understanding. We motivate. We praise. We develop teamwork and individual responsibility at the same time.
We take care of young people.
Ask an administrator about emergency plans. If they are not up to snuff, volunteer to help fix them.
Get everybody who enters your site to wash their hands. Start now, not when infections show up nearby. Use your school to demonstrate to the community. Use this teachable moment.
Find funds to get every classroom a bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Make sure you have plenty of tissues. You’re smart people. What else should you have on hand?
If your school were to close, would it actually close or would it operate without students? Schools provide meals. Schools can provide online instruction to allow a school year to be fulfilled, especially for graduating Seniors in high school.
And, let’s face it, schools will be where young people go when they do not have anywhere else. They will look for people they know and trust. They will need our help.
Please use the comment area to suggest good ideas, or just to link up with other teachers.
Getting prepared. Help young people. Show what the grown-ups can do cooperatively. This is what we do.
What CDC recommends:
www.cdc.gov/…
Situation summary dated 2/29:
www.cdc.gov/…