A series of interviews carried out over a 6-month period investigated: (1) why and how five New York City high school teachers used writing-to-learn across the curriculum, and, (2) the outcome of conducting research on one's own colleagues. Subjects were a math teacher, a physics teacher, and a career education teacher from a high school for limited English proficient students (where the researcher herself taught), and a biology teacher and a health and physical education teacher from a large, comprehensive academic high school in Manhattan. Findings revealed that all teachers displayed a lack of confidence in themselves as writers, and viewed writing as a means of getting students to communicate and clarify their ideas. Also, all subjects changed their classroom management style because of their work with writing-to-learn, encouraging more group work and extensive collaborative learning techniques. The study also revealed some of the positive outcomes of conducting research in one's own school--greater professional interdependence and collaboration, reduced writing anxiety among students and teachers, more awareness of the writing process by teachers, and more confidence in trying out new teaching strategies. Being a colleague/researcher affords a special point of view: a collegial, learning, non-evaluative perspective. (ARH)