An informal survey of graduate student teaching assistants who were about to teach their first undergraduate composition course was undertaken by asking them what they planned to do with regard to teaching a number of concepts. Those questions were followed one week later by similar questions rephrased to ask what the novice teachers do themsleves in the writing process. A relatively high correspondence existed between what they planned to do in the classroom and what they do on their own when they write. The results of the survey suggest a need to emphasize the importance of prewriting techniques and for better methods for dealing with vocabulary and sentence problems. The survey procedure seems to be a practical first step to integrating writing into the teacher training curriculum and to focusing the new teachers' attention on the nature of their work in the classroom. Such systematic self-analysis can reveal strengths to encourage confidence and can indicate gaps to be filled. (TJ)