The Missouri Reader Vol. 33, Issue 2 | Page 18

photographs of her puppy (the subject of her book), and another used her computer to generate illustrations for her story. After the text and illustrations are complete, the book can be bound in numerous ways, but one method is to send the book to a book publisher for binding. Student Treasures in Topeka, Kansas provides a professional and economical service. Once bound, the teacher then has a book she can use in conjunction with the documents from all of the stages of the writing process to share her own experience of writing with her students. Sharing the difficulties and challenges of writing a piece can be a valuable resource for writing instruction to students. Many times, teachers show only finished, polished writing pieces with their students, hiding the work that it took to achieve the final piece. While there is value in sharing the final piece with students, there is just as much significance in sharing the messy, difficult parts of the process as well. When making public only the final, flawless piece with students, they are left with the impression that writing is easy for the teacher, while it is difficult for them (Gallagher, 2006). Sharing the various drafts with the students allows them to see that writing is challenging for almost everyone…including their teacher. In addition, this shows students that wr