DEB LUND Author & Teacher

The year my sister begged for a bride doll, I asked for a toy tractor.  Before first grade (we didn't have kindergarten in my school), I learned to ride an adult-sized bicycle with no training wheels—in one day! I was proud of those skinned-up knees. My parents said I was stubborn, but now I call it persistent, and that quality is the main reason I'm an author. So, off to elementary school...

When I was in first grade, I wanted to impress my teacher with the cursive I had practiced at home. She made me do the work over. That was also the year my mom got a call from the school about me climbing across the top of the swing set at recess. 

In second grade I had to sit out in the hall to finish my homework. I was a good student, but there were so many other things I wanted to do with my time!

I loved my third grade teacher. She asked me to stay in at recess to paint a mural. I thought mountains should be black with snow just at the top, but that's not what my teacher wanted. That's how they looked to me, but I had never seen mountains. I still have the necklace she gave me. 

My fourth grade teacher was also the elementary principal, and those of us in her class knew why. She could control everyone all at once! We were as well behaved as possible. 

Ah, but fifth grade... That's the year I rode my unicycle all around town and got published for the first time. My  teacher had sent a poem I wrote into an organization that created a yearly anthology called Wonder Writers. It was a fun little poem, but when I taught fifth grade, my students were much  better writers than I was at that age, and I'm still proud of them and all the writers I teach! 

Then came sixth grade, the year one Steve in my class broke his arm after jumping higher than me, and the other Steve beat me in a bicycle race. I might have been a bit competitive back then.