Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Here Comes the Iron Maiden!
When putting our supertutor together, I think our group kept it real. We chose things that were realisitic and practical when tutoring. Patience, Lots of writing strategies, strong writing skills, understanding of the writing process, and knowledge of grammar. All of these abilities should pretty much cover anything that comes our way in the Writing Center. Really, what other skills could we need? The iron Maiden has pretty much the entire English language covered, AND a sense of humor to boot.
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I've always thought Patience would be the most difficult superpower to achieve with any consistency. If a client is really working hard, really wants to grow and develop, I can be patient all day long. Not understanding something doesn't bother me, as a teacher or a tutor; I can re-explain and re-explicate all day long if needs be until someone gets what I'm saying. But ugh, those clients (or students) who aren't really there to do the work...Those are the times when my patience always runs thin. I remember sometimes wanting to literally pound the desk when working with clients whose only response seemed to be, "Um, I don't know...What do you think I should do?"
ReplyDeleteOf course, I realize now they were often speaking out of fear - fear of putting forth an idea that I, the tutor, would discount, or of doing something "wrong" in a paper. But I still tend to interpret this behavior as a lack of engagement or interest. So I guess my point is (I do have one) that I'm not sure patience is always realistic when tutoring. But I guess that's what makes it a superpower, right? Good work!
I had a lot of fun doing the super hero activity. I feel it gives us all a goal to shoot for and encourages us to reach our potential. Coming up with ideas on what qualities would make us good tutors wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be. Tutors need to know their stuff! They also need to understand how to treat their clients by being compassionate, sensitive, and open to new ideas and opinions. I agree with you on the fact that patience is hard to have and it may not be a very realisitic goal, but we at least have to attempt it. Hopefully I can have enough patience to work with someone who is having trouble with their paper,and not be insensitive about their views.
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