Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
Pulling Hair!
Ok - so I have been working for this stupid idiotic company since February of 2002. They started off as eSylvan, then it was Educate Inc and now they call themselves Educate Online but they are a division of Educate Inc. If you are reading this and you have ever considered signing your kid up for online tutoring through Sylvan ... DON'T DO IT! Back away slowly from the computer - move your checkbook far from your hand and RUN the other direction.
In a nutshell? This company stinks to high heaven!!! It is the most mis-managed, unorganized company I have ever worked for. The idiots truly run the asylum here. I could go on for days with example after example .... story after story .....
But today, I will only share my most current complaint.
So when I started with them the company was pretty small. We communicated through email and over AIM chat. I started as a teacher. My fabulous teaching skills were soon noted and when they created this position called "Team Leader" I was happy to take on the added responsibility and more than happy to tack on the extra pay. A Team Leader was basically like a mentor, a seasoned veteran who looked after a small team of 10-15 teachers. The company continued to grow. In addition to "Tutor" and "Team Leader" I soon also added the role of "Teacher Trainer" and I was GOOD at it! Most of the teachers I trained went on to become team leaders and some even moved on into management roles. I was offered a management type position when those were created but I declined based on the hours. Audrey and Amy were pretty young and my days were pretty full with caring for them. But I did work for a short time in recruiting and hiring, mainly during the time I was pregnant with Allison. And I later looked at perhaps becoming a head trainer but that position was offered around the time of Allison's birth and new home + new baby did not = time to take on more responsibilities at work. Most recently I became a Team Leader Mentor - like a Team Leader but now looking after a team of Team Leaders as well as my team of teachers.
So anyway - crappy management, idiots running the asylum, bad economy and guess what - they were "reorganizing" and "restructuring" and making lots of "changes". They decide to do away with the position of Team Leader. The position is now "Lead Teacher" and it is a combination of Team Leader and Teacher Monitor (the one position I actually never did hold) and then payroll monitoring as well. Idiots that they are - they open the position to everyone, no matter your experience or time with the company. They had over 200 applicants. I made it through one interview, got called for a second interview and I was feeling pretty good. I have been with the company longer than almost every single tutor and definitely longer than the current Teacher Managers. I was feeling GREAT.
Until I checked my email
at 11:00 last night
I didn't get it
I ask you - how the @#$%! is that possible?!?!?! I have the seniority, I have the experience, I have consistently scored high on every single evaluation. I have been a team leader since the position was created. There are NO team leaders left that came on when I did. The all moved on to other positions or quit the company after a year or so. In fact most everyone quits after about 2 years. That's about as long as anyone can put up with them. I have never raised a ruckus. I have, for the most part, been quiet and obedient.
So now I am being demoted to "teacher". I am getting docked $2.00 off my hourly pay. And I am supposed to find 10 hours a week to teach. The teaching hours are 3pm-11pm eastern.
Hmmm...... Let's see..............
Sunday - I don't work. Not negotiable.
Monday - Audrey and Amy have AHG every other Monday from 4:30-6 and I am Amy's squad leader so I have to be there. The stupid schools dismiss at 4 and I have to leave here at 3:45 to get the kids. I'm not home until 6:30 at the earliest and then I have to feed everyone, bathe everyone and tackle homework. We start bed time at 8 but I don't ever have everyone in bed until 9, sometime 9:15. So unless I work 9-10 and/or 10-11 I can't work at all every other Monday.
Tuesday - For September, October and November Audrey will have football from 6-7. We leave here at 5:45. We need to do a lite dinner or a heavy snack before we go and get some homework done. We're home by 7:15 and then it's bath and bedtime. So I can tutor 3-4 and then 4-5. But this means I can't be outside to greet the kids at the bus stop. Makes me nervous but it's do-able
Wednesday - For September, October and November Amy will have football from 5-6. We'll probably be home around 6:20 and then dinner, bath, homework, bed. So, again, I can tutor 3-4 and maybe 4-5 if it's OK to get Amy to practice 10 minutes late each week
Thursday - Dance for both Audrey and Amy from 5-6:30. The stupid bus has been getting Amy home at 4:45 so once again, I have to leave here at 3:45 to pick up Amy. Home by 6:45 and yep - you guessed it dinner, bath, homework, bed. So my only option on Thursday is to tutor 9-10, 10-11
Friday - wow - nothing. Gee - maybe I can just tutor non stop from 3pm-11pm on Fridays. Wouldn't that be fun?
Saturday: For September, October and November we will have Amy's football games at 10am and Audrey's at 1pm. Not to mention Saturday is my ONE DAY to get anything done. If David is not working, he can watch the kids and I can actually run errands without them. If it is something that needs to be done with the kids (like buying shoes or finishing up school projects or just letting them do something special and fun for a day) SATURDAY is my only day to do it. They have tutoring hours on Saturdays. I think they are 9am -5pm? but I really, really, don't like the idea of tutoring every Saturday.
When exactly am I supposed to cram in these 10 hours of teaching?
How fair is it that I am cooking, cleaning, and caring for everyone all day and then when I can finally rest I have to log on teach instead? How fair is it that my day starts at 6:15am and ends at midnite? And how fair is it to my kids that I am always running like mad from one thing to another so that I can sit down and teach someone else's kids every nite?
My current plan is to fly under the radar for as long as possible. To just lay low and be quiet and hope they don't notice that I only have 6 hours (and I might have to cut it to 5 hours) listed on my teaching schedule. They are a pretty unorganized lot so I'm thinking I might make it Christmas before I'm caught, maybe even longer......
But really, I'm feeling like I'm not supposed to tutor anymore. I have been praying and praying and praying for guidance. I have felt like I was at some sort of crossroads for pretty much a year now. God has started to close the door on the tutoring gig but I still don't see what window He is opening. I know I am supposed to be doing something .... I just don't know WHAT THAT SOMETHING IS!!!!!! Run for school board again? Become more involved in AHG? Become more involved with Children's Ministry at the church? Something totally new?
I would LOVE to take this as a sign to go back for my Masters. I even know what I want it in now - curriculum development. But I KNOW there is no way I am going to get my stingy husband to agree to THAT!
Think I'll go pour a glass of wine and surf the TV and see if anything is on. Or maybe I'll catch up on my Guiding Light episodes. Maybe that will make me feel better. 'Cuz no matter how bad my life seems right now at least my umpteenth husband isn't faking like he's dead so he can hide from, stalk and eventually kill the evil prince who wants to kidnap all the children to avenge his daughter's death ... nor did my husband fly off to some "agency" post in Germany when he found out our adopted son is the biological child of my first boyfriend and his dead girlfriend (who also happens to be the dead daughter of the evil prince) and most certainly is my mom not a devout catholic who is pregnant with everyone's favorite police detective's baby who she was gonna marry but then decided AT THE ALTAR that she was actually a lesbian and in love with the town man-eater who is also now a lesbian .... I mean really - my life isn't THAT bad after all ......
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