In society, expertise bestows directive power--the authority to tell others what to do and how to do it, or simply to do it for them. In a school system that still operates on an authoritarian model, the author's expertise as a writer and teacher gives her directive prerogative when responding to student writing. Traditionally, teachers have used this power to full directive advantage. Without re-visioning their interaction with student writers and student writers' texts, teachers' praise and correction are simply two sides of the same coin; both modes of response position teachers as experts who direct students either by dangling the carrot with "pat-on-the-back" praise or brandishing the stick with swat-on-the-behind criticisms. Rejecting a response paradigm that pits praise against criticism, the author argues in this article for "pedagogically significant" teacher responses to student writing. (Contains 3 notes.)