Preface--response+welcome!

Here's draft 2 of the preface. It does fit on one page now. All comments are welcome. Thanks!

**Preface** Every summer, the Iowa Writing Project (IWP) holds several institutes across the state during which teachers from various disciplines and grade levels discuss writing in the classroom. One of the 2010 institutes was held July 6-23 at Morningside College. Rod Cameron and Marty Knepper facilitated the class of six students eager to learn about more about writing in the classroom. Rod and Marty were a little nervous at first because the class was tiny. However, the small group created an intimate environment where we could discuss issues in depth and ask important questions. In the mornings, we read about and discussed many issues involved in the teaching of writing: writing to learn, generating a climate for writing, responding to student writing, the growth and development of writers, assessing writing, the writing process, motivating students to write, and mandates and standardized tests. We also had time to browse the copious IWP library. The focus of the afternoons was on our own writing. On Wednesday and Friday afternoons we wrote on our own. On the other three afternoons we responded to each others’ writing. By participating in a variety of response methods, we gained ideas for our own classrooms and experienced how writers feel when they receive different forms of response. This book contains works shared in class. As we shared our writing with each other, we laughed, we cried, we sympathized, and we empathized. We (re)learned the value of praise and gained confidence in ourselves as writers (and performers of our writing). To those of you whose words appear in this book, enjoy your published writing. Remember the good times we had together—Marty’s birthday party, Rod’s greeting cards, responding to elementary writing, our crayon drawings. Keep writing! There is something worth praising in everything you write. To those of you who are sharing in our experience through this book, enjoy the excellent pieces of writing that you will find here. To everyone who reads these pages, be inspired. Write! ~Lisa Wiersma