The COVID-19 information on this page is no longer being updated.
Safety continues to be the priority for California Teachers Association. For information about advocating for safe schools, please visit the School Safety page.
Key Education and General Health Resources
CTA is committed to ensuring the health and safety of its members and the students they serve, and will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and provide updates. Find resources below on working and staying well during the pandemic.
- Short Videos: Quick answers to questions about COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5-11
- View the playlist of all 7 short answers to questions about COVID-19, or view each question separately at the links below.
- Are There Long-Term Effects from the COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids?
- Are There Side Effects From the COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids?
- Will Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine Help Us Return to Some Kind of Normal?
- If My Child Had COVID-19 Already, Should They Get Vaccinated?
- Can My child Get Their Flu Shot at The Same Time as the COVID-19 Vaccine?
- How Effective Are COVID-19 Vaccines for Kids?
- Are the COVID-19 Vaccines for Kids Different Than Adults?
- View the playlist of all 7 short answers to questions about COVID-19, or view each question separately at the links below.
- Parent Q&A video with Dr. David Bronstein
California Department of Education
California Department of Public Health
California Governor COVID-19 website
U.S. Department of Education: COVID-19 information
National Association of School Nurses: Coronavirus resources
NEA
- What you should know about schools and coronavirus
- EdCommunity Forum – Coronavirus help for members
General Health Resources
- CDC: COVID-19 Webpage
- World Health Organization: Coronavirus Outbreak
- Johns Hopkins University: Mapping COVID-19
Distance Learning
CTA Distance Learning webinars, including Classroom/Behavior Management in a Digital Setting (K-5 & 6-12), Online Math Assessments, Teaching Specialized Populations and more. Sign up for live webinars or get links to recorded webinars, including Best Practices for Virtual Teaching (with FAQs). ***
Restarting and Reinventing School, Learning in the Time of COVID and Beyond Learning Policy Institute
Strategies
- Teach From Home, information & tools for teachers, Google
- TED-Ed@Home, with lessons and ability to customize your own lessons (section for students, parents), TEDEd
- What to think about when your school is closing due to coronavirus, NEA Today
- Transitioning to online learning: Pro tips, ASCD Inservice
- 10 strategies for online learning during a coronavirus outbreak, ISTE
- Online classroom quick-start guide, La Canada Unified School District
- Checklist for distance learning, with interactive/printable handouts, AFT
- Tips and tools for teaching remotely, FreeTech4Teachers
Lessons, Lesson Plans
- Ideas for children to learn at home, WeAreTeachers
- Instructional continuity resources, San Diego Unified School District
- At-Home Learning: Daily K-12 educational programming on PBS member TV stations throughout the state, with accompanying digital resources
- Pre K-12 resources for emergency closings, PBS Learning Media
- Teaching resources organized by grade level and subject
- Free drawing lessons from famous artists, Fast Company
- BrainPop: Coronavirus explainer video for kids
- NPR: Just for Kids – a comic exploring the new coronavirus
Special Education
- Supporting students with disabilities during COVID-19, CTA Wakelet
- Educating all learners during the COVID-19 disaster, Educating All Learners Alliance
Physical Education/Adaptive Physical Education
- PE and APE distance learning resources, CTA Wakelet
Resources & Advice
- Custom Zoom & WebEx backgrounds for educators
- Resources for online learning during school closures, NEA Today
- Digital learning advice from NEA’s Education Policy & Practice division, NEA (scroll to end for resource links)
- Resources for teaching & learning during this period of social distancing, Mind/Shift
- Updated list of resources for educators, Amazing Educational Resources
- 6 lessons learned about remote learning During the Coronavirus Outbreak, EdWeek
- Collected resources during COVID-19 school closures, CTA Wakelet
- Coronavirus: Latest updates and tips (including Special Ed), Understood
- Distance learning resources at the Smithsonian Institution, including STEM webcasts, American history podcasts and lesson plans.
Higher Education
- How to make online learning work, Wired
- 8 tips for setting up and teaching online classes during coronavirus closures, Dylan McLemore
- How to be a better online teacher, Chronicle of Higher Education
- 7 guidelines for successful teaching online, Inside Higher Ed
- Preparing for emergency online teaching, Chronicle of Higher Education
- How to make your online pivot less brutal, Chronicle of Higher Education
Articles & Information
- How to talk to students about coronavirus, California Educator
- How learning will change across California’s K-12 schools amid coronavirus, EdSource
- Remote learning takes stage amidst coronavirus concerns, CUE
- Zoom CEO gives K-12 schools the videoconferencing tool for free, Forbes
- Coronavirus special report, Chronicle of Higher Education
Join our Facebook group to connect with fellow educators and to share your own lesson plans, advice and strategies.
Coronavirus-Related Anti-Racism Tools
- Stop AAPI Hate, reporting tool in multiple languages, Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council and Chinese for Affirmative Action
- Hate Incident Reporting form, OCA Asian Pacific American Advocates
- Tell Your Story, help us track hate, Asian Americans Advancing Justice
- Share CTA’s Pacific Asian American Caucus statement.
- Learn about and support the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.
- Learn about and support API organizations in California like Asian Americans Advancing Justice.
- Have courageous conversations with your family about violence against Asian Americans and how you can fight against stereotypes and racism.
- How to respond to Coronavirus racism in the classroom.
- Check out the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance’s Resource Guide on Anti-Asian Violence.
- Share activist and NBA star Jeremy Lin’s video urging an end to violence and racism against Asian American Pacific Islanders.
- Research #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate on social media.
Statements & Resources
- Community care during COVID-19: A message to and from AAPIs, AAPIs For Civic Empowerment
- COVID-19 resources for undocumented Californians, California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance
- Racist incidents, Next Shark
Media Coverage
- Spit On, Yelled At, Attacked, Chinese-Americans fear for their safety, New York Times
- Speaking up against racism around COVID-19, Tolerance.org
- LA educator: “My Chinese students are not the face of this virus,” The Guardian
- An Asian American educator’s experience in the classroom, Hechinger Report
- The xenophobia virus, SEIU- Asian Pacific Islanders Caucus and SEIU Healthcare Minnesota
- When xenophobia spreads like a virus, NPR
- CTA Member Benefits: Important Resources
- CalSTRS: Updates on coronavirus
- CalSTRS: COVID-19 school closures circular
- CalPERS: Coronavirus & CalPERS
- CTA: Social media during COVID-19
Self-Care
- CTA infographic on self-care for educators
- Manage anxiety and stress, CDC
- Educator self-care tip sheet, California Educator
- Taking care of you, California Educator
- Recommended meditation apps, California Educator
- The science of well-being, cultivating healthy practices and routines, most popular class at Yale University offered for free at Coursera
Explaining COVID-19 to Your Child
- From the National Association of School Psychologists
- From the Child Mind Institute
- Hmong Resources for COVID-19
At-Home Learning Ideas
- At-Home Learning: Daily K-12 educational programming on PBS member TV stations throughout the state.
- High-impact home strategies, San Diego Unified School District
- Teaching with tech: How iPads and tablets can help your child learn, ADDitude
- COVID19 Camp: Free Resources to Educate and Entertain Your Kids During Quarantine, Ever Clever Mom
- 25 Ideas For Little Ones Stuck Indoors, E. Ito
- Take a Digital Trip to Over 500 Museums, Google Arts & Culture
COVID-19 Resources for Leaders
Leader Resources is a one-stop-shop for all the training materials, documents and forms to support your students, colleagues and the profession.
Leader Resources is a one-stop-shop for all the training materials, documents and forms to support your students, colleagues and the profession.
Go to CTA’s Leader Resources (login required) for COVID-19 information, which includes:
- CTA Advisory – Bargaining
- CTA Advisory – Special Education Concerns During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Sample Cease & Desist letter
- Legal advisory for primary contact staff
- Distance learning during the coronavirus outbreak
- Sample MOUs for K-12, community colleges and ESP
General Covid-19 Resources
Additional resources for chapter presidents, bargaining, and organizing chairs may be found at CTASearch.org and through your local CTA staff person.
CA Dept of Public Health: COVID Guidance for Schools (updated on an ongoing basis)
Report a COVID Concern to the CDPH Safe Schools for All Team
CTA C4OB-IPD Advisory-Bargaining Changes to Independent Study for 2021-22 and Beyond (7/22/21)
Organizing Resources
Additional resources for chapter presidents, bargaining, and organizing chairs may be found at CTASearch.org and through your local CTA staff person.
Organizing Advisory 3.0: Organizing to Win (Escalation)
Organizing Advisory 2.0: Organizing to Win (Kickoff & Foundation)
Remember to talk to your CTA Primary Contact Staff.
Connect
Be sure to join our Facebook group CTA Teaching, Learning and Life During COVID-19, a space to support each other and our students, and to share resources, ideas, feelings, stories, laughs and memes.
We are trying to answer questions that come through social media, email and other means. But please note that your best resource for assistance with local issues regarding district directives, leave questions, etc. is your local CTA chapter and CTA primary contact staff.
