Time and opportunity to discover truths are essential in education. Discovery takes repetition and trial and error. Discovery crosses intellectual and disciplinary boundaries as well. What is learned through the diverse experiences of one's academic and individual lives will pollinate each other if there is room left for discovery. The tyranny of…

Describes how a writing teacher used "magic slates" to help at-risk students overcome their fear of writing. (PRA)

Describes how studying under Ken Macrorie led one high school English teacher to use freewriting as a prewriting activity in her classroom. (ARH)

Acknowledges the anxiety of writing and of teaching writing. (JL)

Describes a combined process writing approach and extended conference method of writing instruction applied to eighth grade students. Presents the experiences of several students who refused to write at first but soon became proud of their writing after several extended conferences. (RS)

Describes ways to help students of all ages with writing apprehension, including write more; discourage appropriation of voice; listen to fearful writers; find patterns in students' errors; conference during drafting stages; coach peers for effective response; encourage positive self-talk; be aware of possible gender differences; vary writing…

Outlines research done by teachers on writing apprehension and concludes that teachers are natural researchers because they continually pose questions about the nature of their students and the effectiveness of their teaching. (SRT)

Describes the steps a writer can go through in producing an article and how a word processor can facilitate the thought and compositional processes. (CRH)