I enjoyed the super tutor exercise we did in class. We got to express some creativity, which is always a wonderful release from everyday life. In my group, we chose the figure of Iron Man to represent our super tutor. We named it the Iron Maiden, a play on words based on how tutors are described as midwives in our book. Our super tutor had the power of patience, the ability to understand writing processes, a sense of humor, lots of writing strategies, strong writing skills, and knowledge of grammar rules. I believe that these are great powers for a tutor to have. Patience is necessary to effectively work with clients. Clients are often struggling to express themselves, and are frustrated. It would be that much more difficult if the consultant becomes impatient with the client. It is also very important to understand writing processes, so that the tutor may assist the client in the steps of writing such as planning, drafting, writing, etc. A sense of humor is also key because it removes humility from the client and gives the session a nice and comfortable tone. Writers are often sensitive about their work, and it is hard to sit down and be analyzed by a stranger for thirty minutes or more. Therefore, a joke here and there will lighten the mood and make the client feel much more at ease. Knowledge of many writing styles is very important because not everyone has the same way of composing a paper, and also sometimes different styles are needed for different assignments. A super tutor can master all of these styles and be able to help each student with each assignment. Strong writing skills are needed to be able to guide clients in their writing. Knowledge of grammar rules will keep papers mechanically correct.
This project made me think of what attributes would be needed to be a really good tutor. I hope I have the tools to be an effective and useful tutor… if not super! :)
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I see the super tutor exercise not as a way to intimidate us - "Ugh, I'll never be as good as the Iron Maiden!" - but as a way to make us think through what qualities make, as you say, "an effective tutor." From this excellent reflection, I can see that you've really thought through those. I'm glad you enjoyed the exercise and learned so much from it!
ReplyDeleteI thought your super hero was cool! Heck Yes to a woman super hero lol. I definitely agree with you on the fact that patience is necessary
ReplyDeleteto have when working with a student. Sometimes it's really easy to get frustrated and overwhelmed because there are so many errors or mistakes in their papers, but writing a good paper comes with experience and in order for these clients to be better writers, we have to help them get there. Yesterday, I had an ESL client and I found it really difficult to interpret what he was trying to say through his paper. Anyway, we worked on it and I made him read it aloud, but I still didn't know how to get through to him about how to correct his tense issue. I explained it as well as I could, but I still don't know if he fully understood what I was talking about. Hopefully he understood it better than I think he did. Tutoring, much like being a good writer, just takes a ton of practice and experience.