You'll never actually attend Hogwarts, so this might be the next best option. Third grade teacher Tressa Bargella has fully transformed her classroom into an homage to the Harry Potter series. The teacher created an Instagram account to document the making of her Potter-fied classroom. And truth be told I am incredibly jealous of these third graders. The room is filled with references to the outrageously popular books, like the Mirror of Erised, potions, and Quidditch goals posts. And it isn't just the room decor that looks like it's a part of the Harry Potter universe. Almost everything in her classroom has a touch of magic to it, from her house elves chore chart to her hall passes. A post shared by Mrs Bargella’s Wizards (@bargella_in_3rd) on Jul 29, 2018 at 10:29am PDT You can even find some tutorials on how Bargella has created some of the objects in her classroom, such as the mandrake and monster book of monsters. Something worth paying attention to if you happen to be a big Potterhead looking for inspiration. Mandrake ✔️ #harrypotterclassroom A post shared by Mrs Bargella’s Wizards (@bargella_in_3rd) on Jul 30, 2018 at 3:10pm PDT Her attention to detail is remarkable, and I have truthfully never wanted to return to third grade more. Alas, I am an adult now, and that's fine, too.<doc-sep>A third grade teacher has stunned the internet after she unveiled her 'magical' Harry Potter-themed classroom ahead of the beginning of the school year. Tressa Mellow Bargella, 39, teaches for Valley View School District in Peckville, Pennsylvania. On Thursday, the third grade teacher unveiled her incredible classroom that makes anyone feel like they've stepped right into a Harry Potter book. 'I am COMPLETELY DRAINED but it was worth it,' Tressa wrote online after revealing pictures of her classroom. 'I honestly lost track of how many hours it took me but in the end, I spend more time here than at home some days and it is now my happy place.' Magical: Tressa Mellow Bargella teaches for Valley View School District in Peckville, Pennsylvania and unveiled her Harry Potter-themed classroom on Thursday Inviting: When students first walk in, they are welcomed with Harry Potter decor include Maurader's Map footprints Clever: Featured in the classroom is an image of Hogwarts where each student can place a picture of themselves on a wizard's body Important: Sticking with the theme, Tressa unveiled a mission for the classroom that mirrored popular language from the famous books She added: 'Hope my new little wizards love being inside my Hogwarts walls as much as I do! Here’s to a magical new year!!!' Genius: Tressa, pictured with her husband, will be teaching a group of third graders this year The excited teacher pulled out all the stops for her students to welcome them into their new classroom. At the entrance of the room, Tressa wallpapered the wall with a brick design to represent Platform 9 3/4. She even included a trolley halfway out of the wall with luggage. Once people enter the classroom, they truly enter the magical world of Harry Potter with floating candles, Marauder Map footsteps and Daily Prophet newspaper clippings. What sets Tressa's classroom a part from others is her commitment to tying in different themes from Harry Potter and Hogwarts into her every day activities with the students. There are four sets of desk clusters to make up the Hogwarts houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Tressa then included glass jars on the side of the classroom with beads so each 'Hogwarts house' can collect rewards for good behavior and answering questions correctly. True to theme: Almost every aspect of Tressa's classroom features something that connects to Harry Potter Incredible: The desks are arranged into four clusters to make up the Hogwarts houses Creative: One one side of the room is a cubby area for each students backpack Inspired: Tressa made sure to include important quotes from the book series all around the magical classroom Brilliant: At the head of the classroom is the 'headmaster's' chair for Tressa to sit in In one corner of the room, there are cubbies for each young 'wizard' to place their book bags and belongs before making their way to their desks. But the cubbies keep true to theme with a broomstick, owl cage and luggage strewn across the top. At the front of the classroom is a single red chair for the headmaster, in this case Tressa, to sit when she is teaching her students. Scattered throughout the classroom is a series of inspirational quotes from prominent characters in the famed book series. 'Working hard is important. But there is something that matters more, believing in yourself,' the wall above the classroom sink reads, which was originally said by Harry Potter in the series. Another famous quote from Albus Dumbledore was placed above the cubby area. It reads: 'It is our choices that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities.' Snake sighting! Tressa even added a fake snake, to represent Nagini, in the corner of the classroom Amazing: For classroom chores, Tressa created a 'House Elves' area where each student grabs the assigned sock for the task Hardwork: The teacher admitted it took her hours to decorate the entire classroom Rewarding: Each 'Hogwarts house' will receive beads as rewards for good behavior and answering questions correctly The Harry Potter themes only continue as Tressa labeled the area where she assigns classroom tasks — such as being line leader, caboose and secretary — as 'house elves'. Each student will grab the assigned sock when they have a task. Included in the classroom as a fun (but important) way to keep the students focused is a chart where Tressa can move any child clothespin depending on how they are behaving. The students start the day on the 'Accepted to Hogwarts' section. But if they are displaying exceptional behavior, the student can move up to 'Bonus House Points' or 'Prefect' status. But if a student is behaving poorly, they can go down to the 'Forbidden Forest' which entails a warning. Then they can move down to 'Chamber of Secrets' for the teacher's choice and the 'Howler' section with a note home to the parents. The final section is entitled 'Azkaban' where the student will get sent to the principal's office. 'Not that any of my little angels will need it,' Tressa wrote in a caption about that section of her classroom. Fun: Based on the pictures, it looks like Tressa had a lot of fun decorating her new classroom Welcoming: She even created a fireplace area with a table that looks like it was pulled from the set of one of the Harry Potter films Encouraging: Above the sink is a quote that was said by Harry Potter in one of the books Intelligent: To keep her students behaving well, Tressa created a Harry Potter-themed chart All in the details: The classroom even includes a picture of Moaning Myrtle (left) in the mirror and a Mandrake plant (right) Ingenious: Other aspects of the classroom include a 'Wizard of the Week' section (left) and an area with Daily Prophet front pages (right) Proclamations: Tressa included four classroom rules, like listening and respecting others, that looked like Professor Umbridge's rules Tressa also makes sure to reward good behavior of her students by having a 'Wizard of the Week'. The student who earns the title gets to place their picture in the middle of a Daily Prophet front page for the entire week. Since Tressa unveiled her magical classroom on Thursday, the pictures have been shared more than 110,000 times with adults expressing how they want to go back to school. 'Omg you are beyond extra! I can't even describe how amazing this is!! I'm going to take an anti-aging potion and sign up for your class,' one person wrote online after seeing the amazing pictures. Another person commented: 'I don’t even have kids and I wish I could go back to 3rd grade! This is amazing for kids imaginations and to still have fun while learning!' If any of Tressa's students aren't fans of Harry Potter before they enter the classroom, they probably will by the end of the year because of how much fun the theme makes for learning.<doc-sep>
Imagine preparing to start the third grade when a mysterious letter arrives in the mail. You open it up to find that you’ve been accepted to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Well, a pretty impressive elementary school version of it, that is... Tressa Bargella, a teacher in Pennsylvania, spent more than 70 hours preparing the classroom for her children in the spirit of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books and movies. The results are pretty impressive. Click the arrow to scroll through all the photos. The 25 students in Bargella’s class at Valley View Intermediate School in the town of Archblad love it. “When they first walked in, their eyes were huge. Their mouths were open. They didn’t know where to look first,” Bargella told TODAY. “It was really cool seeing their excitement." The young ones each received a Hogwarts-style admission letter (hand-crafted on parchment paper) and a train ticket with their orientation packet. Each student (err, wizard-in-training) received a magical acceptance letter. Tressa Bargella To make her classroom engaging and fun, the inventive educator decorated it with a faux-fireplace, house elf socks, an owlery, floating candles (to resemble Hogwarts’ Great Hall), and even a quirky class pet: The Monster Book of Monsters. The room would have any Rowling fan in awe. Click the arrow to scroll through all the photos. The project was a labor of love for Bargella, who admits that she spent almost her entire summer crafting and creating things at home. “Once August came around, I spent the majority of the last few weeks in the classroom working 12 hour days,” Bargella said. She estimates she spent at least 70 hours decking out her classroom, not counting the time she spent shopping and making things at home. Bargella, who taught kindergarten for 13 years before transitioning to third grade two years ago, paid for the decor with her own money, relying on crafting supplies from Amazon and flea markets and yard sales for things like old suitcases and other trinkets. Judging from her students' reactions, the effort was well worth it. She said some of her students didn't want to leave after the first day of class! Click the arrow to scroll through all the photos. This is Bargella’s second year of creating a Hogwarts-themed room, and she incorporates the books into her teaching throughout the year. Students are given glasses and wands on the first day of school, and Bargella also has a sorting hat, a magical wizard’s hat that sorts students into one of four different Hogwarts houses. (She even plays sound effects through her classroom’s Bluetooth speaker to add to the magic.) On the wall are inspiring quotes, including one from Potter that reads: "Working hard is important. But there is something that matters even more: believing in yourself." “The magical aspect piques their curiosity, but it’s so relatable,” she explained. “Harry struggles with a lot of the same things an eight- or nine-year-old struggles with, like bullying, home life, and friendships.” Plus, Bargella adds, the themes in Rowling's hit series are things we can all incorporate into our daily lives: "Bravery, loyalty, friendship: All of those ideals are on every page."