When the school district in which I substitute teach switched to Aesop, I went from loving substitute teaching to stressing out every day about when my next assignment might be. The days I worked I didn't have computer access. So I would miss out on numerous assignments. I felt like I was being penalized for working. If I actually got a “Preferred Sub Alert” email from a teacher, I would miss out on the assignment because by the time I got home and read my email, it had been taken. I ended up biting the bullet and buying a Blackberry so I could receive “Preferred Sub Alert” emails faster and access the Internet. I really didn't want to incur the expense of buying a Blackberry and paying monthly for Internet access, but I felt I had no other choice.
My poor husband was along for the Aesop ride as he endured my constant complaining about Aesop and witnessed my frantic state as I clicked “Search for Jobs” repeatedly on the Aesop website. Luckily for me, my husband is a computer programmer. Last year, as a Christmas present, he wrote a nifty program for me that checked Aesop for assignments every minute and sent a text message to my Blackberry whenever an assignment was available. All I had to do was call Aesop and accept the assignment. I had other substitute teachers ask how I was able to work almost every day while they struggled to find assignments. At first, I didn't want to tell them exactly how I got so many assignments; however, this got us thinking that other subs might want to use his program.
Wasubi is the culmination of our efforts. Wasubi has relieved me of the anxiety that comes from constantly checking Aesop for assignments, and I'm back in control of my life. I hope that Wasubi does the same for you.
