After getting nothing but D-minus grades in his high school senior English class the author earned an English degree and became a high school teacher who believed it's more important that kids take pride in their ability to become accomplished learners than to simply take pride in what they know. By encouraging his students to write 1000 words a day about themselves, his students improved their ability to express and discover their positive attributes, especially their innate desire to explore who they are in relationship to each other. He helped kids to help each other develop their self-images by encouraging them to clarify their individual values and aspirations while they shared what they wrote about their evolving identities. The "subject" in his classroom became how they used their authentic voices to honestly write about their growing perceptions of themselves. They often discovered their favorite writers, favorite readers, and favorite teachers were, in fact, themselves.