Jumbo shrimp. Deafening silence. Serious joke. Ordinary Joe. We all know shrimp aren't jumbo, that silence isn't deafening, that jokes are never serious, but who is Joe?
He is definitely not ordinary. Ordinary Joe is the name of the Super Tutor we created. When my group was presented several images of traditional super heroes, we thought the cartoons wouldn't be good examples of, essentially, what 490 students are striving to be. Of course we will never read minds, see through walls, or read a book by just touching it, but the qualities our super hero, our Ordinary Joe, has are ones we strive to achieve. Joe's powers include mind reading, strong writing skills, lots of writing strategies, patience, sensitivity, and experience in every field imaginable.
I am certain every consultant has asked a consultant a simple question to which she replied "I don't know" or "I just don't know how to say it." Ordinary Joe doesn't have this problem. In fact, he doesn't even ask the questions because of his mind-reading capabilities. This ties in with another power, his experience in every field imaginable. He doesn't have to ask clients writing about math what the Absolute Convergence Theorem is. In fact, not only does Joe know what it is, he can do it.
Moving to what some consider a polar opposite, Ordinary Joe has strong writing skills. His strategies and experience allow him to be a great consultant, explaining the pros and cons of several forms of writing, theory, and rhetoric. Of course, if Joe can't communicate well with his clients, he won't be a good consultant. Therefore, Joe is patient and sensitive. He understands some clients struggle not only with writing but also with the regular stress they may have throughout their week.
One power I wanted Ordinary Joe to have was the understanding of the learning process. If he knew the ways of learning, and if he applied his mind reading capabilities, he would be able to know which learning method best suits the consultant. This would reduce time by being direct to the client. The client would quickly understand whatever it was Joe was telling him. I also like this power because it could lead the client to learn by himself, leaving him self-confident, self-satisfied, and eager to continue.
Joe does know all the ways of learning because he has knowledge in every field imaginable! : ) What can I say...Joe is awesome!
ReplyDeleteThe power he has doesn't sound ordinary to me. I would say Ordinary Joe is the type of tutor I also hope to become.
ReplyDeleteI like that you included that Joe would have the power to adapt to the clients' learning styles. Half the battle of effectively tutoring is figuring out how to work with the client. Sessions only last for a short time and you have to gain a sense of what will help that client. If Ordinary Joe can immediately know what is going to work best, he can quickly get started on the work.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you mentioned that Joe was a good communicator and was capable of reducing wasted time between the client and the consultant. We all know that in college time management is everything. There have been many times i have witnessed sessions that had too much down time or wasted time in them. I think this would be a very good method for an effective tutor to learn.
ReplyDelete"Joe's powers include mind reading, strong writing skills, lots of writing strategies, patience, sensitivity, and experience in every field imaginable." - I have to agree with Kavey: Joe doesn't sound very ordinary! Are you thinking that Joe needs to give the appearance of being ordinary, so students feel comfortable working with him, but he really needs to have these superpowers clients aren't aware of?
ReplyDeleteIf so, that suggests something interesting about your "ideal" tutor. Your ideal tutor seems on the surface like the students who come to him for help, but really, Joe has it all figured out. He can write well about any topic, and he can tutor any client, regardless of their writing or content issues. Hmm. I see how Joe solves many of the problems we face as a tutor. I think the question to ask yourself, though, is whether Joe might be just as effective if he really WAS like the students who come to him for help -if he was still learning, growing, and developing, too.