TORONTO -- Teachers around the country are struggling to plan for unknown timetables, class sizes and situations ahead of an unprecedented first day of school amid a pandemic.

The challenges range from facilities unfit for the new health regulations to the simple fact that teachers don鈥檛 know what to expect.

In London, Ont., one art teacher has had to move her entire classroom between two rooms in order to accommodate the amount of students she has with the requirements of physical distancing.

鈥淚鈥檓 nervous about what my day is going to look like, because it is completely different from what I鈥檝e been doing for 29 years,鈥� Christine Buechler told CTV News Channel.

The high school art teacher said she only just got her schedule on Friday, and still doesn鈥檛 know what her 鈥渄aily timetable鈥� will look like.

Compounding her problems is the very landscape she works in.

鈥淚 teach in a rural high school that鈥檚 over 150 years old, with four additions on it, so every part of the school is different,鈥� she said.

鈥淢y particular part of the school does not have air conditioning. I have a very tiny classroom that, at best, when I鈥檓 four at a table, can accommodate 21 kids. I have 24 in my current classroom.鈥�

Smaller class sizes and good air circulation in a room are essential to keep students and staff safe during COVID-19, but it鈥檚 a struggle to achieve in some regions.

Buechler said it鈥檚 required a lot of creativity from the principal and the school to work with what they have.

鈥淪o we鈥檝e actually been moving furniture, taking furniture out of classrooms,鈥� she said.

Her own tiny art room is going to be used as a large supply closet to keep the art supplies in, while students themselves sit in the classroom next door, which used to be the 鈥渇ashion room,鈥� she explained.

鈥淪o I鈥檒l be going back and forth between those two rooms to try to accommodate the social distancing, but social distancing is very difficult in our school,鈥� she said.

That鈥檚 true in newer schools as well.

On the other side of the country, Linda Kwan is preparing to teach high school English in Vancouver again in these strange circumstances.

While she鈥檚 excited to see students, she鈥檚 also 鈥渁 bit anxious.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e been chatting with my colleagues the past few weeks about their feelings as well. Some of them are downright scared,鈥� she said.

She has taught briefly during the pandemic, when students were allowed to optionally return to in-person classes in June. But back then, the number of students comfortable enough to return when it was optional was very small.

鈥淚鈥檓 afraid to put too much effort into planning without first seeing my students and how many actually show up and what it鈥檚 going to look like,鈥� she said.

Kwan doesn鈥檛 have to contend with an older building, and says her classroom is 鈥渘ot that small,鈥� but even while she was moving desks around, she could see how difficult physical distancing was going to be.

鈥淥ur back-to-school plan is a hybrid of face to face and also remote, so this reduces our class size to a maximum of 15,鈥� she said.

鈥淏ut even with [鈥 all the desks physically distanced, I could only fit 12 in there, and I was kind of having to stand close to them, to my whiteboard. I鈥檓 worried about just the congestion of the bodies and the bags and all that.鈥�

Many teachers still don鈥檛 know how many students to plan for, particularly those in areas where a split model of remote and in person learning is going to be used.

Deborah Buchanan-Walford, a teacher from Toronto, Ontario, is one such teacher. She鈥檚 also nervous about how the rules will affect her particular students: adults in the high school system.

鈥淎 lot of what is said for students in high school is the same for us, which is not really the best seeing that they are adults and they have different needs,鈥� she said.

Her students will be coming in on 鈥渃ertain days of the week,鈥� and then do the rest of their work online.

鈥淪o that鈥檚 going to be a bit of a challenge, to coordinate, again, with adults who have work and kids and other things to juggle, to make sure that we do the best for them to get the curriculum the same way, as best as possible.鈥�

She pointed out that communal spaces of schools are not allowed in many plans, such as cafeterias or break rooms, adding more complications, particularly for students with conditions that require accommodations.

Across numerous provinces, teachers feel let down by individual back-to-school plans. And now the bulk of responsibility for making back-to-school work is resting on their shoulders.

Kwan, like Buechler, only received her schedule last Friday, despite working in a different province.

鈥淚鈥檓 still trying to digest it and see how this is going to work and it鈥檚 a bit overwhelming.鈥�

Buechler feels that Ontario鈥檚 plan simply came out 鈥渏ust too late.

鈥淲e weren鈥檛 involved as teachers, and that made it difficult. But now we have to figure out how to make it work in our classroom, and I just don鈥檛 feel like we were given enough time.鈥�