Booking the Week

Monday morning, sometime after midnight, I finally caught an assignment for Monday. I had tried to grab a couple before this, but both informed me that another sub had taken the assignment when I clicked on the book button. So, I was just happy to be working. 

Monday is the late start day, so I was lazily on my phone as I had a whole half hour before I needed to leave when the sub desk called. Would I be willing to switch to the adult transition center? Well, sure. But that meant I had to leave... right then... and I wasn't dressed yet... 

I managed to make it, but just. 

The adult transition center is where the very special ed kiddos go after they age out of high school. I basically spent the 2021-22 school year there. So, while the students are different, I know the drill. (The teachers I covered at that time retired, hence why I ended up there, so there are new-to-me teachers there now.) 

Tuesday I didn't catch an assignment. Sigh. But Ms. J, from Monday, reached out to say she was going to be out again Wednesday, and I did I want to work? I managed to catch the assignment again. (Whew.) 

Turns out, Ms. J probably shouldn't have worked Tuesday. She's really sick. As is one of the instructional aides. As well as a couple students. What can I say? It's going around. 

Then, Wednesday night, Ms. J again asked if I could cover her again. I was totally willing, but I had an assignment for Thursday. Considering how I can try to book an assignment only to have another sub snatch it out from under me, I had concerns. Ms. J said she'd contact the school (who would then contact the sub desk who can just assign me). 

But Thursday...? Yeah, I ended up working the assignment I had previously booked. Hey, I was working that day. That's the important thing. 

This year it's been harder to book jobs. More subs, I think. Which means the schools have far fewer days where a teacher (or multiple teachers) don't have their very own subs. But it makes it harder for us subs to work every day. 

Catching Assignments

I like to be booked in advance. But last week that did not happen. When I left school on Friday, I had nothing scheduled for Monday or Tuesday. 

Saturday evening, something popped up for Monday. Whew. I wouldn't have to spend Sunday waiting and wondering. 

And then Sunday afternoon that assignment was cancelled. (The teacher sent an email apologizing for cancelling. I assume whatever reason she was going to have to miss school resolved itself.) 😞

I tried to be happy about the prospect for a day off. (There was going to be a little construction in the house, so I wanted to be away from home for that.) I went to bed planning what I would do with my day off. 

Then, at about 5AM-ish, a job popped up. Whew. 

All day Monday I kept my phone and computer open. Hoping for Tuesday. 

(Monday's assignment was an English class. The tenth graders were doing prelim work before reading Animal Farm while the ninth graders were analyzing the poem "Ozymandias".) 

And a couple assignments did pop up. Sadly, they popped up while I was doing my job. 😞

(If I don't grab the assignment when it pops up, it's gone. One of them I saw four minutes after it posted. I tried to grab it. It was gone.) 

Tuesday wasn't going to be a problem being off, though. No work planned in the house. 

But, at about 7:30 PM, something for Tuesday popped up. Whew. And this one didn't get cancelled. Again, whew. 

(AP Economics. The kiddos were prepping for a test. But we had technical difficulties with the computers not letting them get logged in. Well, only about a third of the class.  But seniors. In advanced placement. They weren't a problem.) 

The rest of the week was booked. As is this week. So, after Tuesday I could relax a bit. 

Now, as for next week... 

Booked

I am writing this blog post on Friday, and I just picked up a gig for April 1st. That I'll likely have to drop. Because that's just how this semester has been going.

Ever since this district joined the 21st Century and adopted the computerized booking system, getting gigs is a matter of jumping on them when they pop up on the app on my phone. But I've been letting a lot of those go by lately. 

At the beginning of this semester, at the beginning of January, I had three weeks in that geography/psychology/world history class for a teacher recovering from surgery. 

As that gig ended, I started picking up a bunch of gigs for February. I had about half the month booked when I got the email asking me if I would pick up that special ed long term, the math and world history one. Which (if you've been following along with me, you know) I did. 

There was something sad about watching all the gigs I had picked up, one by one, getting deleted in one big purge. The jobs had to go to other subs as I was going to be busy. I mean, I don't begrudge others having them. It was just how much time and effort it took to fill my month now gone even though my month was going to be busy with the long-term. 

So, again, as that special ed gig was ending, I again went about picking up a bunch of gigs for March. But I've been holding off on taking anything in April. 

Back in something like September, I got an email from a teacher I had done a long term assignment for in the past. She'd be out in the spring as she was pregnant with her second child. Would I be willing to cover? 

Her maternity leave started in February, but because subs can only cover 30 days, she had another sub start when she left, and I'll continue once the first sub finishes her 30 days. Around the beginning of April. 

Which meant that I had March to fill. And, I had just about filled it. Well, I had made a good start, anyway.

But on my last Friday in the special ed long term, I got an email from a secretary (at a different school, so she didn't know I was finishing a long term) about covering a week for a teacher who was suddenly going to be out. 

Sure, I said. And then I sadly dropped all the gigs from that week as I would be busy. 

That's the math class I wrote about last week. 

But, it turns out that Mr. R's foot problem is worse than first thought. When it seemed like the issue might last longer, I went to the secretary and told her that I just had day-to-day assignments for March, so I could drop them and remain in Mr. R's class if necessary. 

On Monday I got word that it would be necessary. 

And so, again, there went two weeks of gigs I had grabbed as they popped up. Sigh. 

It's almost like I shouldn't bother. 

I'm not sure exactly what day I start the long term English class I've been anticipating. The sub desk hasn't officially added me for it. (I know she will. When it's closer.) So, I'm not sure what day it'll start. (The current sub took a sick day, so it got pushed a day out further.)

And, we're not sure if Mr. R will return on April 1st (which is when he's currently scheduled to return). 

But I picked up a gig for April 1st. Which I might end up not doing. Because. 

I mean, at least I've been working steadily. And the days I hoarded ended up going to subs who might not have gotten them otherwise. 

So, I've got two more weeks in that math class. (Well, one more week by the time you read this.) And then the English class that'll take me to nearly the end of May. Better booked than not, I suppose. 

Took the Gig

It's gotten to the point that I don't look too closely at assignments when they pop up in the scheduling software. If I see it, I grab it, and then I examine it after. 

(Although, I can stop complaining about how hard it is to get jobs. It's a challenge, sure, but I've only missed a couple working days so far, and I'm currently booked until December. Of course, I'm booked because I accepted a long-term gig, that I'll talk about when it starts, but still, I'm good.)

It was Monday, and I had nothing booked for Tuesday and Wednesday. Then, within about twenty minutes, a gig for Wednesday popped up followed by a gig for Tuesday. I grabbed them as soon as they alerted on my phone. Then I looked at them.

When the teachers input their absences into the system, they can add notes. Usually it's the lesson plan. Sometimes, though, they add other things, like if the class is co-taught or if something weird is happening that day. 

For this assignment, the note read: "This will be period subbed by Special Ed teachers on campus". 

Huh? If the day was going to be period subbed, why put it into the system? If it's in the system, someone, like me, will pick it up. (It's not like the last couple years when there weren't enough subs to go around. They hired a bunch at the start of the school year. That's why getting gigs has been a bit dicey.) 

I debated. I could always cancel the assignment. But, would something else pop up? I wasn't willing to risk it.

As it was a special ed class, there was an instructional aide. And she was quite surprised to see me. The teacher hadn't bothered to write out a lesson plan as she had told the special ed teachers who she thought would period sub the class what was happening.

I guess me picking up the job threw a wrench in the whole plan.

(It wasn't a hard day. The government class learned about the Magna Carta and other ideas that got incorporated into the Constitution, and the world history class read a thing about the French Revolution.)

Ah well. I guess the sub shortage has changed the way teachers approach days out. But things are turning back around.

Cursed 5th

It was the strangest thing.

With the new (to us) sub scheduling app, it's become kind of a game to catch assignments as they pop up. A couple weeks ago, I managed to grab a three-day middle school history class. 

Then a week later, the gig vanished.

Assignments get cancelled. I don't know why. They don't tell us. I've heard sometimes that certain trainings get cancelled. Or a teacher changes their mind. It's not a big deal. Something else usually pops up.

And sure enough, another history assignment popped up. It was only for one day of the three, but that was fine. I took it.

The next day, the assignment was cancelled. 

Weird, but not unheard of. 

The next day, another assignment popped up for that Thursday. Another history class. 

Two hours later, it also vanished.

What the...? 

I was beginning to wonder if it was me. 

I asked the secretary at one school. She didn't know. I emailed the secretary at another school. It turned out that their Homecoming was that week. The teachers probably didn't want to miss that.

Okay, that made it feel less like it was me. (I doubt it was me, but there's that little paranoid voice that can get loud when I have no other explanation.) 

A couple days ago, another assignment popped up for that day. And for the following Friday. 

Fingers crossed...

So far (as of the writing of this post), the assignment is still booked. But considering my luck with the day, I'm not counting that as happening until the day.

What day? Today. (The day this post goes live.) 

I'll let you know in the comments if that gig remained (my fourth attempt at booking the day) or if something else happened.