This Teacher's 'Harry Potter'-Themed Classroom Is Magical
Summer may be over, but one Oklahoma teacher is keeping the fun alive thanks to an ingenious idea for her classroom: a "Harry Potter" theme.
Stephanie Stephens, who teaches elective math and reading classes for grades six through eight at James L. Capps Middle School in Oklahoma City, told ABC News that she was inspired to decorate with "Potter" in mind both in honor of her own love for the series, and to inspire a similar passion in her students.
"One of the toughest things as a reading teacher is instilling a love of reading in students that do not like reading," Stephens told ABC. "This year, I chose to go with a Harry Potter theme because if I am excited and enthusiastic, students tend to follow suit. My goal is to help students find at least one book or genre that they can find exciting and be as enthusiastic about as I am regarding Harry Potter."
Stephens's professed enthusiasm is apparent in all the details, big and small, on display in her classroom, with everything from a big sign featuring Harry's iconic lightning bolt scar and glasses, to a stuffed version of three-headed dog Fluffy, to a shelf full of potions (including bezoars and veritaserum). There's a section with winged keys (a nod to the ending of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"), a stuffed Scabbers and Hedwig, and even a prefect's desk for the student who's assigned to be class helper.
Students will also be sorted into houses, just like Hogwarts witches and wizards (Stephens says she's a Hufflepuff), and can earn house points with good behavior and high grades, which will go toward a class prize. And of course, the door through which Stephens's students enter her classroom is marked with a Platform 9 3/4 sign.
Stephens -- whose room first went viral thanks to a Reddit post by her husband -- told ABC that she was happy to put so much work into her classroom for her students, "because they deserve the best." Check out some photos of Stephens's room below.
[via: ABC News, Reddit]
Photo credit: 86thdj/Reddit