This collection of essays addresses the anxieties and problems of beginning writing teachers and provides a reality check for those who expect success from "day one." Following an Introduction: "Silences in Our Teaching Stories; What Do We Leave Out and Why?" (Thomas Newkirk), essays in the collection are: (1) "Forty-Eight Eyeballs" (Carrie Heimer); (2) "My Imagined Community" (Anne Bramblett); (3) "Waiting for Surprise" (Michael J. Michaud); (4) "Minimum Requirements" (Alison Knoblauch); (5) "Teachable Moments" (Chrissy Cooper); (6) "Life and Breath" (Kathleen Toomey Jabs); (7) "Within the Silences" (Christina A. Hitchcock); (8) "The Personal Is Pedagogical" (Joseph P. Montibello, Jr.); (9) "It's Not What You Signed Up For: Zen and the Art of Teaching Freshman English" (Olga Lambert); (10) "Boundaries of Caring" (Nancy Eichhorn); (11) "Becoming a Witness" (Andrew Lopenzina); (12) "Gap or Rap': Class Presence in My First-Year Writing Class" (Emily M. Hinnov); (13) "A Language in Letters: Learning to Communicate Honestly through Grades" (Kelly Myers); (14) "The Gospel according to Luke" (Alexi Di Orio); (15) "Serving Byron: Case Study of an Obnoxious Student" (Kuhio Walters); (16) "I'm Just Basic': Reading Resistant Writers within a Discourse of Resistance" (Megan Fulwiler); (17) "I Am an Excellent Writer': One Composition Instructor's Puzzlement about Bullying and Plagiarism" (Freda Hauser); (18) "Redefining Success" (Kathleen Toomey Jabs); and (19) "Girl Trouble" (Amanda Glenn). (Contains 12 references.) (NKA)