All the points to this wonderful lady for making school more fun!
Stephanie Stephens, a special education teacher at James L. Capps Middle School in Oklahoma City who teaches students from grades 6 through 8, transformed her classroom into a Harry Potter world for her students to enjoy. Her husband posted pics of her creative work on Reddit.
“My kids all are required to think outside the box and the critical thinking is really important in my class,” Stephens told Oklahoma TV station Newschannel 4 this week. “I think that teachers really need to find something they’re passionate about, because [students] will be passionate about things that you’re passionate about.”
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While Steven’s concept is not new—other teachers have in past years showcased their own Harry Potter-themed classrooms—she has shown immense creativity and uncanny attention to detail.
The door is decorated to resemble the brick portal entrance to Platform 9 3/4, the magical hidden platform in London’s King’s Cross station from which young witches and wizards take the Hogwarts Express train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Inside is a sign reading, “Mrs. Stephen’s Room,” decorated with a pair of round glasses, like the one Harry wears, and a lightning bolt, like the shape of the scar he bears on his forehead from a killing curse the evil Lord Voldemort attempted to cast upon him as a child.
Displayed on another wall are four posters dedicated to the four houses of Hogwarts–Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Elsewhere is a wall decoration resembling a brick fireplace with letters flying out of it, just like the one the Dursleys had in the first Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Several Harry Potter novels rest on a small bookshelf on top of a table.
Also inside the room is a prefect’s desk, as well as boxes on shelves, marked with signs bearing the Harry Potter-style font, with normal names such as “Past Assignments” and “Notepads” as well as, yep, “Potions. There are several glass bottles and jars, many filled with glitter, marked “Flesh-eating Slug Repellent” and “Veritaserum.
Above a note marked “Shred Box” is a stuffed three-headed dog, a nod to Fluffy, the pet of Harry’s friend Hagrid.
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Stephens is also integrating Harry Potter into her actual lessons.
“My classroom is an elective for students with special needs (most are SLD or OHI) that have reading or math (or, more often, both) deficiencies three or more grade levels behind,” she said on Reddit. “I help remediate and try to figure out each individual student’s gap and help support them and guide them to fill it. All the students that attend my class are in the inclusion setting for math and English classes with a different grade level special education teacher.”
“I work on IEP goals but we are also doing a novel study that corresponds with reading comprehension and literary terms and vocabulary,” she added. “I plan to implement fun activities as we go along in the book (one chapter per week). For example, when Harry gets his wand, we will make wands in my classroom. When they get sorted in the book, we will get sorted in real life. It’ll be fun activities so it’s not just another boring core class. It’ll be fun and educational.”
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