An interview with Eden Gold
Trust your students. They always come through.
Our students today are bluntly honest and smart. I can tell them a lot about Shakespeare and iambic pentameter. But, they can show me how the Wu-TanClan and Eminem use the same beat and vocabulary!
The landscape of education is undergoing a profound transformation, propelled by technological advancements, pedagogical innovations, and a deepened understanding of learning diversities. Traditional classrooms are evolving, and new modes of teaching and learning are emerging to better prepare students for the complexities of the modern world. This series will take a look at the groundbreaking work being done across the globe to redefine education. As a part of this interview series, we had the pleasure to interview Mary Anne Rafferty.
Mary Anne has been in public education for the past 42 years. She has taught every grade-level,from kindergarten through tenth grade in five states and for DODDS overseas. The middle school years are her true calling! She has also worked as a curriculum developer, teacher mentor and reading coach, developing curriculum under the Bill and Melinda Gates Literacy by Design grant. After 14 years in curriculum positions, she returned to the classroom, ending her career teaching sixth and seventh grade reading and language arts.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share the “backstory” behind what brought you to this particular career path?
Growing up, we moved around a lot. My mother was a single mom in the early 1960s when there were not very many single moms and “latch-key” kids were virtually unheard of. When I was little, I spent time in my grandmother’s kindergarten classroom. Then, as I got older, I spent a lot of time alone–except for the wonderful characters and places in the books I read. I read all the time.
When suddenly I had to make a decision about college, I ended up at Duquesne University, a small school where I could be an English major far away from the ridicule of wanting to spend my time reading. There, in small classes with amazing mentors, I learned to share what I was reading and learned to write about what I was thinking as I read. Remembering those days in Grandmother’s classroom, I added education to my studies.
Ever since then, watching how storytelling affects kids has brought me great joy. When parents tell me they cannot get their kids to read, I tell them, “They just haven’t found the right book!”
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Oscar Hammerstein wrote, “If you become a teacher, by your students, you’ll be taught.” I do not think he realized the impact or truthfulness of the line!
Two years ago, two of my students nominated me for the “Brainly Educator of the Year” award. I had heard of Brainly and had used it a little as a source of information, but what I did not know was there was a large group of my students who were using it to research information and study for my class.
Suddenly, there was a whole new piece of my world to discover not only for me but for my students. Artificial Intelligence has a bad reputation in my school district as teachers associate it with plagiarism and students copying papers and information directly from the internet. But, for me, it just raised questions; most importantly, if the students are using this anyway, how can we use it to our advantage rather than create a disadvantage that doesn’t yet exist?
The biggest lesson I learned from all of this was that, as teachers, we have to leave ourselves open to possibilities and listen to our students! I won the award and have continued to explore ways I can use Brainly and AI in my teaching.
Can you briefly share with our readers why you are an authority in the education field?
I don’t feel like an authority in the education field, but my career has spanned decades. I have had a great variety of experiences and seen how things work, and how they don’t. One of my colleagues called me a “synthesizer.” At the time, I wasn’t sure, but now I agree! It’s like a puzzle. We can learn from our past taking what works and adding what is happening today to make it better.
Can you identify some areas of the US education system that are going really great?
We are learning to use the tools available to open doors for students. There are so many new and innovative ways of reaching out to kids today. It is like finding the right book, or allowing students to show what they have learned using different methods. As an example, I had a student who was into robotics. He had read every nonfiction book we could find. I managed to get him to at least try to read “A Rover’s Story,” a fiction book about a robot. The next day, he came to class with a robot he had programmed to behave like the robot in the story using all he had learned from those nonfiction books — and a little help from Lego. I could have given him a list of questions, but this worked much better.
Can you identify the key areas of the US education system that should be prioritized for improvement? Can you explain why those are so critical?
We must strengthen the home/school connection. The education community is responsible for letting our parents know what is happening in our classrooms. I’m not talking about a happy little weekly newsletter or the infamous call home when something happens, but really helping our parents to understand the changes we are making and why they are being made. We would have fewer parents upset about the books their children read if they read them or talked to a teacher about how they were used in classrooms. Whereas being a latch-key kid worked for me, today we have thousands of kids going home to empty houses with no one to talk to.
Please tell us all about the innovative educational approaches that you are using. What is the specific problem that you aim to solve, and how have you addressed it?
For the past two years, I have made it my goal to teach my students to use their cell phones correctly. The problem is that phones are not only for calling, texting and playing games, but that is all our students know. Students have more computing power in their pockets than I have in my desktop! As a class, we joined the library and they all put the New York Times app on their phones. We played Wordle and the Mini-Crossword and then using Padlet, we had civil conversations about it.
In what ways do you think your approach might shape the future of education? What evidence supports this?
The future of education lies in teaching our students to use the tools they have. Yes, they have to learn to solve problems and the basics, but if they do not have specific guidance on how to use the tools we are giving them — they will use their phones to text and play games and nothing more.
We learned this with what is now called the “science of reading.” Just giving a child a book and expecting them to read it does not work. They need clear and explicit instruction on how print works. They need a reason to read the book. The same is true of technology. My students can’t type on a keyboard. We have jumped right to coding and expect that they know where letters are on a standard keyboard.
How do you measure the impact of your innovative educational practices on students’ learning and well-being?
When a teacher has 150 students, assessing impact becomes a major player in how you spend your time. Because talking to 150 kids every day is impossible, I developed a journal system and rotating conferences that worked for us. My kids write in their journals every day in the last 15 minutes of the period. I read one class worth of journals a day, making comments on sticky notes as I go. During our “library time” every two weeks, I meet with those students who ask for conferences. I also have “Office Hours” during lunch two days a week when students can meet with me.
Students have two ways to express what they are thinking and learning — in writing and in person. There are tests, projects and classwork as well, but conversation has the most effect on all of us.
What challenges have you faced in implementing your educational innovations, and how have you overcome them?
Time is my greatest enemy. When the timer goes off, we are done for the day, no matter how much more there is to share.
I have used technology to overcome the time challenge. Brainly and other AI applications give us quick, but in–depth answers when we get stuck or when I do not want to just give the kids the answers. Padlet allows us to carry on safe discussions via a web platform.
Keeping in mind the “Law of Unintended Consequences” can you see any potential drawbacks of this innovation that people should think more deeply about?
We have to find more effective ways to keep our students safe online. Constant supervision, using limited websites and continued discussions have worked for me, my students and my parents. But even in my own school, there are teachers that question why I allow my students such “free” use of the phone. Legislation is being proposed that would prohibit my students from having their phones out in class. (During prohibition, we found out that didn’t work!)
Students must be taught to use the tools they have correctly, and as educators, the more practice we give them, the better. Sometimes we just “expect” that children know how to use the tools we give them. For example, with AI, they think they can use various websites without realizing the website owners are not as upfront as we might believe. This weekend, I was looking for a recipe and found one I really liked! Had I not looked closely, I would have ended up with a poor-tasting chocolate peanut butter disaster! Taking a closer look at the website, the picture angles and shadows were all wrong, and the frosting and ganache for the cake were the exact same ingredients and directions.
If this can be done with a cake recipe, imagine how pictures of a student protest or any historical event can be distorted. The unsuspecting viewer/reader would get a skewed view of what was really happening. How many of us are tricked into believing the AI-created advertisement — even though what’s being pictured looks too good to be true? Our students have to learn to closely read pictures and choose reliable sources.
What are your “5 Things I Wish I Knew When I First Started”?
1 . Kids love to be read to.
It does not matter how old they are — the power of a voice and text calms the most anxious of us all. Education is built on storytelling. Think about it! History is an incredible series of stories. Science is the story of how we make sense of our world. Even math has a fluidity that creates stories of logic and proof.
2 . Trust your students. They always come through.
Our students today are bluntly honest and smart. I can tell them a lot about Shakespeare and iambic pentameter. But, they can show me how the Wu-TanClan and Eminem use the same beat and vocabulary!
3 . I am not the only teacher in the classroom.
Technology, books and students can sometimes explain things better than I can.
4 . Do not be afraid to be different.
As teachers, we are given a set of standards and a “curriculum” to help students meet those standards. But only you know best how to get your students there. Try something new, adapt what is there, listen to your students.
5 . Don’t be afraid of questions.
Students are curious beasts and they are eager to learn. But, if you don’t know the answer, say so — students can tell right away if you are faking.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
This changes all the time, so it is a tricky question for me to answer. For a long time it was, “You have to have an Evil Plan.” from Hugh MacLeod’s book Evil Plans.
But then I read Guy Kawasaki’s book Enchantment which changed everything! This quote changed my teaching, my dealings with parents and colleagues and even the way I deal with myself: “The goal is not merely to get what you want but to bring about a voluntary, enduring, and delightful change in other people. By enlisting their own goals and desires, by being likable and trustworthy, and by framing a cause that others can embrace, you can change hearts, minds, and actions.”
I’m on my fifth copy of the book. I keep giving them away.
We are blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
This one is easy, Guy Kawasaki. Not because he helped invent my favorite computer (I had a classic MAC in my classroom in 1980), but because he brought me the idea of helping kids to learn by enchanting them, using storytelling to develop and change their hearts, minds and actions. His book, Enchantment, helped me realize that as a teacher I needed to show up and be prepared with ideas that would allow my students to develop ideas of their own.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
I really do not have an online presence. Now that I have retired, starting one might not be a bad idea!
Thank you so much for these insights! This was so inspiring!
Education Revolution: Mary Anne Rafferty On Innovative Approaches That Are Transforming Education was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.