Harry Potter Classroom Update!

Lots of changes have been made to my room in the past several years...but the theme remains the same! Check out some Harry Potter elements I've changed, and you'll also see the whole environment has changed as well. I now use soft lighting and some flexible seating -- I still like desks though!

 Beware of the whomping willow! 

 I teach writing in small group rotations, and I identify their groups with Harry Potter characters. 

My collection of potions and wizard sweets has grown as learners have gifted them over the years. 

Hedwig is still perched in the owlry. 

 Our game cupboards have been known to house boggarts. 

I use this bulletin board for our language anchor charts. 

"Alohamora Language!" 

I no longer have this bulletin board, but I used it to display learner's awesome work. 

 Here is an example of the low lighting I mentioned earlier. We use lamps and hanging lights every day, and as one learner once told me, "This room feels like I'm sitting next to the fire in the Gryffindor common room." Best compliment ever. 

My little sister cut these out for me using her Cricut, and I (painstakingly) placed them at the front of my room. It is one of my favorite elements. 

It was time to redo my window! This process is such a pain, but the result is totally worth it. I just traced Hogwarts windows onto black roll paper using my classroom projector. Some day soon, I want to do it again and send the pieces of paper through the school laminator so it is more permanent. Paper doesn't hold up well on windows due to moisture and sunshine. 

There are more updates that I don't have pictures of yet, but I wanted to show some of the cool changes that have been made! Thanks for checking in! 

All Aboard the Hogwarts Express! Harry Potter Classroom Reveal

Creating A Magical Learning Space

When I was in elementary school, I thought reading was just ok. Mostly, I made sure to read just enough to meet the goals my teachers set for me. I enjoyed it if I found the right book, but it still wasn't my favorite pastime, by any means.

Everything changed when I picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the first time. I was hooked immediately. I came late to the HP fandom (5th grade), so there were a few books already released for me to read. I also admit that I saw the first movie before I read the book (I KNOW.)

It might be lame to say that this series is "magical," but there isn't a better word out there for me to describe it. I went from being a "meh" reader to a can't-read-enough-books-ever reader. My scores in school improved, and reading quickly became one of my favorite hobbies. Eventually, my mom had to place limits on my weekly trips to the library, for goodness sake. (True story. It was getting excessive.)

I feel as though I owe my career to J.K. Rowling. I don't know if I would have wanted to be a teacher if I wasn't so passionate about getting kids to love reading. We need to hook them at a young age! Being a proficient reader will open so many doors for these kiddos, so I make it my goal every day to be a cheerleader for reading.  My students see how excited I am, and they can't help but catch a little (or a lot) of my enthusiasm. My hope is for every kid to find the book that changes their entire school experience.  Even if it's not Harry Potter. ;)





Anyway, I hope you enjoy a glimpse at my classroom. Come visit us in the wizarding world! Chances are we'll be busy enjoying a good book.

The brick is just butcher paper on a roll! I found it at our local teacher store. 

This board will be for all of my Steven Dunn Writing Workshop posters. I drew the letters using a Harry Potter font I found for free online and a metallic gold sharpie paint pen. 

I used my brick bulletin board paper to cover part of my cupboards. I love how it turned out!

Can't receive any mail without an owlery! The bird cages are a vinyl sticker I got from Hobby Lobby. Hedwig came home with me from The Wizarding World in Florida. I get a little emotional when I think about that wonderful place. 

I found these beautiful prints on etsy! $3.00 per print, and they're buy-2-get-1-free! 

Beautiful work, sir. I'm so impressed. 

How cool are these?? 

I wanted some antique frames, but not at an outrageous cost! I found a picture of one online and printed these on my school's color printer. Would you have known they were printed?? :)

Hobby Lobby sells skeleton keys, so I just made them some wings out of tissue paper. 

Since I will have different sections of ELA classes, I decided to get them involved in some healthy competition. Every month, I will name a House Cup winner! They can earn points for being on task, thinking outside the box, etc. I had to get creative, because I only have three classes. The fourth Hogwarts House will me MY points (Hufflepuff, of course. I'm a Hufflepuff and proud, baby.) and the students will also have to compete against me! If a class wins the most points, they can earn some sort of reward as a class. I'm thinking 15 minutes of free time would be an exciting reward. I haven't decided what will happen if I win the House Cup! Let me know if you have any ideas. ;)

'THIS. THIS project. I love it, and I hate it. I think it looks AMAZING, but holy cow, it literally took an 8 hour day of working in my classroom. I maybe wouldn't have attempted it if I knew the time commitment....I started by covering my cupboards with brown butcher paper. It took me hours of fighting with the clear tape to get it all to stay! I free-handed the tunnel and stairs in pencil, and then I went over it with watercolor and tempera paint. Finally, I hot glued my brick paper around the door.

Ta-da! Spiral staircase to my "office!" I'm pretending there's a comfy couch up there where I can take naps on my prep time.

If you google Harry Potter printables, there are TONS of different book covers. I just printed a few of my favorite and hot glued them onto old college textbooks.

These little touches are more for my amusement than anyone else's! :)

Each class has a Prefect (class helper).

I love my shiny circles hanging in the window. They turn and shimmer all day and look SO stinking cute. I snatched these from a friend's wedding during cleanup. :)

Just more butcher paper and tape! Magic. I projected an image of a Hogwarts window onto my board and traced.

Careful for the boggart! 

I'm so proud of this project. I projected a picture of a british lamp post onto my smart board. (I did my research and found one that was identical from the first HP movie, when Harry is being dropped off at the Dursley's). I traced it onto black paper, cut it out, and used contact paper to stick it to the wall. I did the Diagon Alley letters in my gold paint pen.




You can find my adorable water color quote prints here.



I've been collecting cool bottles and containers for a while now, and I found these awesome, free potion labels at this website. I love how they turned out.



I created a Marzano scale with a Harry Potter theme. I can check-in during lessons to see where my kids are at with the learning targets. Students are a Muggle (I don't understand. I need help), a Hogwarts Student (I'm starting to get it. I would like more practice), Wizard (I understand. I'm comfortable on my own), or a Hogwarts Professor (I really get it. I could teach it to a friend.) I'm giving it away for free if you'd like it! Just click the link and download.








I also created some Growth Mindset posters that I'm giving away. Enjoy!

When I was searching for Harry Potter classroom ideas, I had trouble finding things! I'm hoping that my post will help some of those other teachers who have wondered what a Harry Potter classroom would look like. Awesome. Awesome is what it looks like. Who wouldn't want to learn in this magical space? I can't wait to see what my kiddos think in a little over a week.
It's going to be a great year!