I found my 6th grade English teacher Ms. Clara Goldberg , from Lynbrook North Middle School on Facebook!  She “made” us memorize the poem “Eldorado” by Edgar Allen Poe.  I chose the use of the term “made” to hopefully help you to envision the facial expressions  of a  classroom of 11 years old when presented with this as a homework assigment.  Did we do it? Yes, we did. Did we understand it? I doubt it. What I can tell you is that this homework assignment was the “ultimate learning moment” in my life only I didn’t recognize it as that until this morning when Ms. Goldberg replied to my Facebook message asking if she was indeed the Ms, Goldberg that I was looking for.  Did Ms. Goldberg assign it with the intention of  being the perfect “teaching moment”? I have no clue.  

I have been blessed or some will say cursed with a photographic memory.  I remember some of my classmates agonizing at the thought of having to memorize such a long poem.  I remember Ms. Goldberg giving us other fun assignments as well.  We got to bring in our favorite album. Yes, album as in record album. The 12 inch piece of black vinyl that we used to listen to music. With the risk of dating myself I remember bringing in Billy Joel, The Stranger because it had just been released. I remember Steve bringing in Supertramp. Our assignment was to pick our favorite song off the album, copy the lyrics and explain what they meant to us. 

To be continued…..