Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Snatched

It was the Sunday before my third and final week in the chemistry class. I received an email from Mrs. D. She was going to need two more days before returning to class. 

Okay, then. 

Before we got the new (to us) substitute scheduling app, what would happen next was I would talk to the sub caller, and we would confirm that I was covering the chemistry class for two more days. But the app made this next bit a bit trickier. 

Because instead of talking to a human, Mrs. D needed to input her absence into the app, and then I needed to claim those days. 

Ideally, the teacher should be able to put in a request for the teacher that they want. I think it's possible. But again, we're new to the app, and no one has figured out how to do that. 

So, things got left to chance. 

I asked Mrs. D to let me know when she added the absence to the app. Now, remember, she's in India (with a 12 1/2 hour time difference). I got the email she had added the absence at 11 PM. But it wasn't in the system. 

Uh oh. 

The next day, I asked at the school. The secretary checked, but it wasn't in the system. Luckily, we were in a window of time when both Mrs. D and I were awake, so I emailed Mrs. D. After some back and forth, she managed to get the absence into the system.

But, of course, the totally foreseeable thing happened. Another sub claimed the job. Snatched it right out from under me. 

I did not know it had ended up in the system yet. I was in class. The secretary called me to let me know. 

She has the right access to boot someone out of a job. So, she did. And told me to grab it. 

It was the start of third period, and the morning announcements were going on, so the class barely noticed me on the phone. I grabbed my cell phone, opened the app, and snatched that gig right back. 

(The secretary called the other sub to let him know why he was kicked off the job. Nothing personal.)

I know the secretary can just assign me to the job. And in future, I'm sure that's how things will be handled. But while we learn to navigate the app, I'm sure these things will continue to happen.

17 comments:

  1. Hi Liz - crumbs ... always new technologies - I hope all went were thereafter ... cheers Hilary

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  2. Make sense to let you keep it, you already are doing it after all! You never seem to lack sub positions, so I would think the other sub found something else to do.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I'm sure. There were several other teachers out those days.

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  3. Replies
    1. The teachers have been pushing for the district to adopt this for years. (Decades?)

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  4. I'm here! Sorry for not being here last week. I Haye the new ways to do these things. I'm so old school. At least, you got in

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    1. There are pros and cons. I like the system generally. It's just they need to figure out how to send jobs to specific subs when needed.

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  5. It doesn't make much sense to switch out a sub if the assignment extended. Of course the app is incapable of doing that.

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  6. You have to love technology. Somehow it manages (just my personal prejudice) to make things harder. You were the logical choice; hopefully the other sub got one of the other available jobs for those days.

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I'm sure. It was early enough that I'm sure several other jobs popped up after.

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  7. Sounds like there was some competition for this job. It must be a decent gig.

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  8. It makes a lot more sense for the teacher to be able to choose who substitutes for them. Is this the same class with the sandwich kid?

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    Replies
    1. It is. Yeah, teachers should be allowed to request. Although, the sub they want might be busy.

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  9. Grrr to apps! Do they really make life easier?

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