Classroom Conversations: Ms. Felbaum and Samuel
This past autumn, Jennifer Felbaum was named a finalist for Columbus Monthly’s Teacher of the Year. Not her first accolade, Ms. Felbaum was the recipient of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter School’s annual Teacher of the Year award, a distinction given to just one teacher in Ohio for significant contributions when it comes to advancing student achievement. Even more locally, within the network, she was awarded the staff-selected Most Dedicated Bulldog this past summer for her steadfast commitment to the mission of United Middle Main St. and its students.
The celebrated educator sat down with The Huddle and her sixth-grade student, Samuel, in the Main St. campus library, surrounded by books. Appropriately, the pair discuss their current reads, goal-setting, and Samuel’s journey from United Elementary to Middle.
This is part three of a series of Classroom Conversations featuring network-voted award-winning staff. Check out previous features with our Dynamic Duo and Rookie of the Year.
The Huddle: Can you please introduce yourselves?
Ms. Felbaum: Yes. I have been a teacher at United since 2008! I am the sixth-grade Grade Level Chair and the intervention specialist for sixth-grade students. I chose Samuel because Samuel and I do some work together…
Samuel: I forgot [this was happening today], we were doing computer stuff and reading! I was just pulled randomly!
Ms. Felbaum: I know! He was with me the day I got the email. I was like, “Hey, Samuel, you want to do an interview?” And he said, “Sure!”
Samuel: “Might as well!”
Ms. Felbaum, laughing: So, that's how Samuel got stuck with me here today. I don't know if he regrets his choice now.
Samuel: I don't! I don’t know if I do or not…
Ms. Felbaum: You'll find out in 10 minutes!
Samuel: I'm Samuel S., and I'm in sixth grade. I went to elementary school at State Street!
Ms. Felbaum: Okay, I have my first question. Do you have your first question ready? Don't ask one of the hard ones — pick an easy first one.
Samuel: I got it!
Samuel: What’s your favorite thing to do outside of school?
Ms. Felbaum: My favorite thing to do outside of here! That's a great question.
I really, really like to travel. I like to go to lots of places. I spend most of my summer not in Columbus, Ohio, but somewhere else if I can.
I really like to hike and be outside, so I've hiked some really cool places. I got to go hiking in the Amazon rainforest, and I got to go hiking in Alaska — climbed a mountain this summer, which is really cool!
That's probably my favorite thing to do, but I can't do that in the middle of the school year because it's too hard to get places with school! So, during the school year, I like to be outside. I like my dogs. I like to read. In the winter, I read a lot!
Ms. Felbaum: How do you like middle school compared to elementary school? Which is better?
Samuel: Because I'm technically older, I technically have a little more privilege as a person! Middle school is way bigger because the elementary school was basically two floors, and they were “copy-and-pasted.”
Ms. Felbaum, laughing: I like that! And this one's kind of sprawling, isn't it? All these hallways that go to random places!
Samuel: Yes, I like it!
Ms. Felbaum: What’s your favorite class in sixth grade? Subject?
Samuel: I would have to say ELA.
Ms. Felbaum: Yeah? Why do you like ELA?
Samuel: I like ELA because I like how my teacher says things and makes it exciting!
Ms. Felbaum: Do you like the books that you're reading?
Samuel: Yeah! But, here's the thing, the only problem with the book I'm reading right now is that one of the chapters is one singular word!
Ms. Felbaum: Yes, it's a book of poetry!
Samuel: I know it’s a book of poetry! I learned how to do poetry in fifth grade, and I hated it!
Ms. Felbaum: So, you know what, though? Last year, when I was the ELA teacher, I taught this book, and it was the favorite book for about 34 of this year’s seventh graders! I know! Isn’t that kind of crazy? So, I don't know we'll see if it's yours! You still might like the other ones better, but it does get better.
Samuel: I think The Giver is definitely a whole lot better.
Ms. Felbaum: You think? Your one after this is The Outsiders — it might beat out The Giver.
Samuel: Next question! What are your goals, huh?
Ms. Felbaum: Not that question! No!
Samuel: Yeah!
Ms. Felbaum: Oh, my goodness, Samuel. What are my goals? That's a great, great question. Oh, my goodness. Okay, so let's see.
Goals related to schooling have a lot to do with student progress and student achievement, so a lot of my goals actually center around students and how much growth they make, specifically in their reading. And I do like it when students who before were like, “I hate reading. I hate reading books,” by the end of the year, they're like, “This is my favorite part! I love reading books! I want to read another book, I want to keep reading this book, I want to reread this book. Do you have the sequel to this book?”
I really like that part!
As a teacher, Ms. Felbaum is always ready to jump into action to support learners during school hours, even during a quick interview. Upon hearing some students in need of assistance in the hallway, she perks up from her answer and lets us know she’s “going to grab a radio” to connect with staff and help the overheard scholars.
In the unplanned intermission, Samuel turns to share with The Huddle a pet peeve that’s been weighing on his mind:
Samuel: I’m interrogating Ms. Felbaum the way Google interrogates me every time I try to log in! It asks, “Oh, what’s your account?” I click my email. Then, it’s, “Hey, what’s your password?” I do that. Then it goes, “I need you to do this captcha for me.”
The Huddle: “Are you a robot? Are you sure you’re not a robot?”
Samuel: It’s like, “No!” My cursors moving like this, how do you think I’m a robot?
The Huddle: Then they send you a two-step verification code…
Samuel: Yeah, then you have to send in a code. Now you have to create an account for something and then that takes forever to load!
Ms. Felbaum returns at the wrapping up of Samuel’s impromptu stand-up comedy set, visibly bemused.
Ms. Felbaum: I hate two-step verification!
Samuel: And the worst captcha, to me, is basically when it gives you like a picture, then it has a squares thing — I hate it so much…
Ms. Felbaum: Like, “Which of these is a crosswalk?”
Samuel: “I want you to click on the bike.” Then, I click every part of the bike that’s visible, and it says, “Try again.”
The interview resumes.
Ms. Felbaum: So, what do you like to do outside of school? Turn the question back on you.
Samuel: My favorite thing to do outside of school is definitely sleep.
Ms. Felbaum, laughing: Sleep? Do you like being curled up in your bed? Is that your favorite place in the world?
Samuel: Yes, but, also, one of my main things is, sometimes, if I don't know what I'm going to do, I just pull out my phone and read a book!
Ms. Felbaum: Yeah? That's pretty cool. What books do you like to read?
Samuel: Well, how about the one I'm reading currently?
Ms. Felbaum: What is it?
Samuel: Basically, it’s about how humans end up migrating to Mars and growing plants and everything, but then they like change — they change a lot.
Ms. Felbaum: Their bodies turn into more alien-like?
Samuel: Yeah! Then, one day, this thing called the Qu [came down to Mars]. The Qu kind of looks like a bug, kind of like a grasshopper. It has a grasshopper head and then it has four wings. It has no limbs and it just has a tail. But, here's the thing, these things are actually crazy because they came down, and then, when it saw humans, it didn't think of them as people. It just thought of them as objects. That's why they either killed entire planets or wiped out entire species or changed them into horrifying, different creatures.
Ms. Felbaum: So it’s very science-fiction.
Samuel: I know!
Ms. Felbaum: Does it give you nightmares?
Samuel: It doesn’t give me nightmares! I actually think that the Qu are really cool, but here's the thing: they’re on a religious mission to change the whole world.
Ms. Felbaum: Oh, that is very interesting. I've never in my life heard of that book.
Samuel: It's not that scary! I mean, they took a thousand years to learn genetic modification, so that's how it even happens.
Ms. Felbaum: Yeah! Did your mom get you the book?
Samuel: No, it's a pretty rare book. [Ms. Felbaum: Where’d you get it?!] I didn’t “get it,” I basically had this page on my browser, and I could open it up, and it'll give me a book!
Ms. Felbaum: Got it! That's really cool. Alright, do you have a question for me? No more hard ones!
Samuel: What’s your favorite sixth-grade memory?
Ms. Felbaum: I love it when students come back — when they're in high school and they're adults and show up in the school building! So, like, last year, I had a kid show up: I had him in sixth grade, then I had his sister in sixth grade, and they were here for seventh grade and then eighth grade, and then he showed up as a senior in high school. And he was like, you know, crazy tall. I love that.
And then I had another kid show up last year. He came into my classroom and I didn't recognize him at first. Then, his mom came in, and I recognized his mom, and I figured out who he was, so I gave him a hug and all the kids in my room were like, “Who is that?!” I was like, “He was in my class when he was in 6th grade!” And they're like, “But he's a full-grown man!” I said, “I know he is 'cause he's a grown-up now!”
I like it when they come back and I can see them as adults because I have lots of memories of them as sixth graders and as kids. It's nice to see how they turn out and what jobs they end up in — and when they have their own kids. I have students who are now married with their own kids, which is crazy.
[Samuel, looking shocked.]
I know, I know. That's just me being old, that's all, but that's my favorite. Those are my favorite memories, whenever they show up.
Ms. Felbaum: What is your dream job? When you’re an adult, if you could have any job in the world at all, what would you want to do?
Samuel: I want to learn how to produce or something! I have all these ideas on how to make music. If I do, if it does happen, I'm going to release it. Then, if I start getting popular, I'm going to quit [the job I had in the meanwhile].
Ms. Felbaum: I like it! A producer… it's a high-stakes job right there. It's a lot of pressure. I like it!
I've gone through my questions. Do you have any final ones?
Samuel: The only thing I got to say is that some of the designs in the book I'm reading are all hideous. Like, I'm not kidding.
Ms. Felbaum: They're hideous? Maybe you can turn your book into a movie one day.
Samuel: I don't know! It would be a cool idea.
The Huddle: What is something that you appreciate about one another?
Ms. Felbaum: I appreciate that Samuel is kind to other people. He's helpful to his classmates. I think that goes a long way. I think your classmates notice that. They trust you.
You're able to keep your head and keep your cool sometimes when your classmates might not have that same ability. You respect others, and you show that respect to them all the time. I think that's really cool.
Samuel: Well, the thing I really like about you is the way you pull me and tell me, “Oh, you got to write this and that.” It's helping me practice, and that's why I can get a better grade. And you're also the nicest teacher I know —
Ms. Felbaum: Aw, thank you! It depends on the day!
Samuel: — Except for Mr. Delight!
[Both laughing.]
The giggles could not be contained during this jubilant conversation between student and teacher.
Thank you both for sitting with The Huddle and displaying the learning, growing, and laughing taking place in our network.
Connection is a hallmark of United culture, and this is a glimpse into the dialogues that define our campuses.
