The system

Substituting has gone hi-tech.  Instead of waiting for someone to call me for a sub position, I go online to an automated system to find jobs.  I log in and press the search for jobs button.  On a lucky day, one or two different possible assignments appears on the cue.  If I want to take the job, I simply click on the assignment and then click the accept job button.

However, most days I'm not so lucky.  Usually I spend hours searching the site, hitting the search again button over and over.  On these days, I see the red "All available positions are filled" message with each refreshing screen.  Occasionally it will take longer to refresh, and I think that this time the screen will load with a new and exciting job for me to fill.  Most the time, I am continually disappointed with the glaring red message.

I think I have it down to a system now.  Finding jobs that is.  When I'm at school, I log onto the system from my computer and try to search a couple times an hour, hoping to find something for the next day.  If I don't find something by the time I get home, I spend the next hour or two refreshing the site every other minute until I give up on a job or I find something.

When the black and blue block pops on my screen, my heart starts beating rapidly as I search over the job description.  I know I must move fast because other vultures circle the site hoping to get a job for their own.  My brain switches into overdrive as I punch the button to learn the details of the job.  I try to process all the pertinent questions for the job.  Where is the school?  Is it too far away.  What time of day is the job for?  What does the teacher teach?  Should I accept a half day now, or do I think a full day job will come along later today?  I scan this information, often not processing what I see fast enough, then I try to make the right decision.

Again, on bad days, the job gets taken in the thirty seconds I take to click "accept job."  But the right day, at the right time, I get the job confirmed screen.  The screen warms my heart as I know that I will have work the next day.  I breathe easier and am finally able to relax and enjoy my evening.  I know that tomorrow, I get to be Mrs. Teacher again.