The super tutor my group created was named Iron Maiden. We chose the picture of ironman (this is where iron derived from) and went off of the phrase midwife. Somehow this made the name iron maiden. He was also shooting fire and we thought that was cool. The six superpowers we chose were: sense of humor, understanding of writing process, knowledge of grammar rules, strong writing skills, lots of writing strategies, and patience.

I thought that good listening skills should have been included in our superhero. I would probably trade it with knowledge of grammar rules. Yes, this is an important quality but so were all the other ones we excluded. Grammar rules are accessible through a handbook. However, a handbook cannot listen to the students ideas like a tutor can.

I think that patience is the most important superpower that we chose. Many students enter the writing center frustrated and getting help from an equally frustrated tutor will likely not help them. Since the foundation of tutoring is communication one must keep in mind that miscommunication will also frequently occur. If you are not patient the session will not go smoothly. This could even prevent the success of the session.

An understanding of the writing process is also very key to a successful tutor. If I do not understand how to write a paper how in the world can I help someone else write one? This would be like going to a math tutor who does not understand math equations. I am not saying you have to be perfect or know everything about tutoring I just think this is a fundamental start. Although, a person probably wouldn’t have made it this far if they did not possess this understanding.