BCTLA Members,

At this uncertain time, your BCTLA executive would like you to know that we are thinking of you. Many of you are currently on Spring Break, trying to enjoy yourselves, entertain children and care for loved ones, all the while wondering what the indefinite school closures mean for teachers in the province. While we do not have any inside news to share with you, we wanted to take this opportunity to share links to various resources you many find helpful in the coming weeks.

Teacher-librarian Richard Beaudry has shared a document containing links to free resources he’s Tweeted out since the announcement of school closures. You can access it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R6N85coSKkURdNEI7UxAELe5k6EVhN2c/view?usp=sharing  Thank you so much, Richard, for sharing this with us.

The BCTLA has affiliations with other library associations, including the IASL. They have shared the following: http://www.amazingeducationalresources.com/ I have not had an opportunity to vet all of these links, so please preview before using.

Many online resource providers have arranged free access to their products either during school closures or until the end of the school year. A few are highlighted below:

Gale:

Free access to Canada In Context and PD books on virtual learning.

More information and access details can be found here https://www.gale.com/covid19support

Curio:

CBC’s subscription-based education streaming platform.

https://curio.ca/en/

Follett e-Learning (Lightbox ebooks and more):

Register for free access to Lighbox at https://cloud.k12edu.follett.com/lightbox-av2-offer?utm_campaign=Follett%20Covid19%20Britten%20letter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=MarketingCloud&utm_content=https%3a%2f%2fcloud.k12edu.follett.com%2flightbox-av2-offer

Audible:

Audiobooks

https://stories.audible.com/start-listen

If you are looking for resources to help you speak to your children about COVID-19, you may find this Brainpop video helpful:

https://www.brainpop.com/health/diseasesinjuriesandconditions/coronavirus/

You may want to preview this video before sharing. You know your children best.

Many TLs have been sharing links via social media. We ask that members continue to share links on Twitter using #bctla and on our Facebook page. Globally, parents and educators are looking for suggestions of non-digital activities for children, too, so consider sharing any brilliant things you’ve done with students. If you come across a particularly great resource and would like to see it added to our website, please email us at psac49@bctf.ca.

A few other things to keep in mind over the next few weeks:

• We will be working on our next newsletter in late April. If you have stories to share, please send them to psac49@bctf.ca.
• Our chapter councilor meeting in April has been canceled. More information on rescheduling will come out at a later date. As the BCTF has currently closed its building to non-essential staff, the meeting may have to wait until the fall.
• We are still looking for session proposals for our fall conference. If you are interested in presenting, please fill out the proposal form at: https://bctla.ourconference.ca/index.php?Page=WorkshopProposals Don’t worry about the deadline as it has been extended indefinitely!

For those of you who are still off for another week, we wish you a restful and rejuvenating break. For those of you ‘heading back’ tomorrow, we wish you smooth sailing in these choppy waters.

BCTLA Executive