This study investigates the written feedback the author gave during her first year as a university English as a second language writing instructor. The article investigates the form (questions, commands, comments) and the themes (organization, content, grammar) of feedback, the use of mitigation, and the treatment of grammar errors. It shows how practitioner research can increase one's confidence, provide an accurate understanding of one's own work, and more fully establish one's practice in theory, rather than teaching lore. (Contains 1 figure and 5 tables.)