Guide to AESOP
According to the Institute of Substitute Teachers at Utah State University, about 10 percent of the 3.1 million teachers (2004 NEA Estimates of School Statistics) are absent from school on any given day. This means that at least 310,000 substitutes teach more than five million students each day. Although this figure may represent the total number of substitute teachers nationwide, the Institute does not provide a national figure. This figure increases for every new substitute that will take the place of a retiring substitute teacher.
Now that you understand the numbers behind registering, it is time to learn about AESOP. Chances are your school system will use this to handle their absentee assignments. If not you will be called in the morning to see if you can fill a position. AESOP (Automated Educational Substitute OPerator) is an online and telephone guided system designed to link qualified substitute teachers with open assignments. It was started in 1998 by Frontline Placement Technologies, Inc and is a patented technology-the first of its kind. For schools it is a way to secure class coverage, for substitutes it is a quick way to gather assignments and keep your work schedule full.
At the end of 2005, AESOP had registered and secured 500 school districts in 44 states and Canada. They serve over 10,000 schools, 100,000 substitute teachers, and 325,000 teachers and staff members. That commitment to pairing substitutes with assignments has resulted in over ten million absences filled by AESOP thus far.
The system is relatively user friendly and needs only minimal training. If your school systems board of education uses the system they will usually train you or at the very least give your handouts to browse. You can call AESOP yourself for assignments; have them call you with assignments, or log on to their website to manage your assignments. In your paperwork you will receive your AESOP ID and your PIN number. Keep this in a location where you will always remember. They are the key to the system.
AESOP by Phone
If you have registered to receive calls from AESOP you may get called whenever they have an assignment ready for you. AESOP will first identify itself and offer you choices of:
Receiving an assignment (Press 1)
Stopping further calls that day (Press 2)
Being unavailable for that assignment (Press 3)
Or stopping AESOP from calling ever again (Press 9)
If you choose to receive an assignment from AESOP you will hear the name of the school and the school’s district. You will then enter your PIN number and hear a playback of the assignment. You will now have new choices given of:
Being interested in taking the assignment (Press 1)
To replay the assignment (Press 2)
To not take the assignment but leave yourself open for a different assignment that day (Press 3)
Or not taking the assignment given and any other assignment that day (Press 4)
If you take an assignment AESOP will give you a confirmation number. You should write this number down, preferably keeping a day planner or calendar of your work load. You may need the number to prove for pay or to get further information on that specific assignment.
If you have called AESOP (via 1-800-94-AESOP or 1-800-942-3767) you will have a different method of accepting or rejecting assignments. After dialing into the system enter your ID, then #, then your PIN number, and then #. You should now be into the main menu. Your six options at the main menu are:
Hear available assignments (Press 1)
Pressing 1 for assignments at main menu: After assignment plays, your options are:
Accept the assignment (Press 1)
Replay it (Press 2)
Reject it (Press 3)
Go to the next assignment (Press 4)
Replay an assignment you skipped (Press 5)
Return to the Main Menu (Press 6)
Review or cancel later assignments (Press 2)
Pressing 2 at main menu: After this choice, AESOP will ask you the day of the assignment you wish to review or cancel. Your choices are:
Today (Press 1)
Tomorrow (Press 2)
Next 7 days (Press 3)
After you choose if you want to review an assignment for today, tomorrow, or the next seven days, your options will be as follows:
Hear details (Press 1)
Hear again (Press 2)
Cancel the assignment (Press 3)
Listen to next assignment (Press 4)
Got to Main Menu (Press 6)
Pressing 3 at main menu: Review or cancel one specific assignment (Press 3)
If you choose to cancel or review a certain assignment by pressing 3 at the main menu, AESOP will ask for the confirmation number of the assignment. Your choices after entering this confirmation number are:
Hear details (Press 1)
Hear again (Press 2)
Cancel assignment (Press 3)
Listen to next assignment (Press 4)
Go to Main Menu (Press 6)
Pressing 4 at main menu: Review or change your personal information (Press 4)
To change your personal information your choices will be:
Change name (Press 1)
Change PIN number (Press 2)
Change Phone number (Press 3)
AESOP by Web
AESOP online has the web address of http://www.aesoponline.com. Logging into the system is done by entering your ID and personal PIN number in the upper left of the website. You then have a calendar marked with the days you already have assignments, messages you may have from either AESOP or the school system you registered with, and an overview of the next 30 days worth of accepted assignments.
Finding an Assignment
Clicking “Search for Assignments” brings up the current list of available assignments. You can sort this list by Date/School, Date/Employee, School/Date, or Employee/Date. This list will show you the date of the assignment, start time and end time of the assignment, duration of the work day, who the teacher is that will be absent, and the teacher’s title and school. There will be a “Details” button. Clicking this will give you the option to accept the assignment or get more information. After accepting an assignment you will get your confirmation number. It is then you can view your schedule, cancel the job, or search for more work.
Cancel an Assignment
To cancel an assignment you have previously accepted, click the link that reads “View my Schedule” on the left. This will bring up your active assignment calendar. Clicking on the trash can on any day of work will cancel that assignment altogether.
View your Work Schedule
To view your schedule you can click the “View my Schedule” link on your left or click on any day in your work calendar. From there you can see your work schedule, the details of each day, and plan future assignments.
Adding a Non-Work Day
Non-work days allow you to schedule days in your calendar when you do not want to be called nor have assignments offered. You may list single or multiple non-work days. To begin click “Add Non-Work Day” link to your left. You then can add the date, description, start time and end time of the day, and if it’s a repeating non-work day. You now can save that information, save the information and add another non-work day, or cancel and start over. You can remove a non-work day by clicking the delete trashcan.
Change your Personal Information
To change your PIN number click on the “Change PIN” link on your left. At this screen you add your current PIN and email address, then add your new PIN twice and hit apply changes. At any time you can cancel by hitting the cancel button. Selecting the “Change Personal Information” link on your left will display your current profile. This will include your ID, name, phone, email, and address. Click “Edit Profile” to change any of your profile information. When your correct information is entered, you click “Apply Changes” to submit.
AESOP Cancellations
From time to time your assignment may be cancelled. Teacher plans fail, appointments are changed, schools have unforeseen closings. If this happens to you AESOP will notify you upon logging in. You then must confirm that notification, letting AESOP know you understand that you are no longer needed at that assignment, before you continue further into the site.
Select your Preferred Schools
Just want to sub at your child’s school? Want just high school? Want the chance at all available assignments? This is where you tell AESOP your desires. Clicking the “Preferred Schools” link on your left brings up a menu of schools in the school district or districts you signed up for. You can specify schools you want or schools you don’t want. Make sure you double check your schools before hitting the “Apply Changes” submit button.
You may click on “Interactive Tutorial” or the “Quick Start User Guide” for more information on the AESOP system. These keys are always on the left side of the menu for handy reference.
