An awesome Harry Potter-themed classroom in Oklahoma City has gone viral. The masterpiece of Stephanie Stephens, a special education teacher at James L. Capps Middle School teaching grades 6 through 8, the classroom is now an enjoyable sight not just for her students but for the internet.
Apparently, Stephens' handiwork was made known after her husband posted photos of her Harry Potter classroom on Reddit, reported Entertainment Weekly.
According to the Independent, the Reddit photos has garnered over 21,000 views since Stephens' husband posted the Imgur photos six days ago.
An an interview with local news station KFOR, Stephanie said:
"Books are magic. You can learn anything in books and just be in a different location anytime, anywhere."
This week, she also told Oklahoma TV station Newschannel 4:
"My kids all are required to think outside the box and the critical thinking is really important in my class. 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."
E! Online reported that Stephen's creation isn't entirely new in teaching. In the past, other teachers have utilized Harry Potter-themed classrooms and toyed with the concept in their teachings. However, Stephen's Harry Potter classroom stood out from the rest because of her creativity and attention to detail.
Stephen's created her Harry Potter classroom with a door akin to Platform 9 ¾ in London's King's Cross station. Inside, a sign reading "Mrs. Stephen's Room" decorated with round glasses and a lightning bolt like Harry's greets students.
She also threw in a faux brick fireplace bursting with letters looking as if flying out, a potions-filled shelf and even a "shred box" which is being guarded by a stuffed animal that looks like the three-headed Hogwarts dog, Fluffy.
Stephen's Harry Potter classroom also has all Harry Potter novels resting on a small bookshelf atop a table, a prefect's desk and boxes with signs written in Harry Potter font.
Not only that, apparently, the hardworking teacher has also integrated the story of Harry Potter itself into her 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," Stephens wrote 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."
If it isn't obvious yet with her Harry Potter classroom, Stephanie Stephens is a Harry Potter fan, and she is reportedly a self-sorted Hufflepuff.
"One of the toughest things as a reading teacher is instilling a love of reading in students that do not like reading," Stephens told Good Morning America. "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."
To see more of the Harry Potter classroom from the creative Oklahoma teacher, click here.
You can also watch her full interview with KFOR below.
