Harry has almost been banished!

[Barb]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Jo" <crabtree at k...> wrote:
> This is a sad day indeed.
[snip]
> But the worst news is that she suggested that we might prevent any 
> future conflicts if I would continue to have a Harry 
> Potter "corner" of the room, but to go ahead and change the rest of 
> the room to a fall theme. Tell me, what is wrong with stars?  This 
> means I am going to have to take down my invisibility cloak, my 
> wand and golden snitch that Imade before wands and snitches could 
> be purchased. There will be no more room for my potion bottles, 
> quills, parchment, and post owl. Does that mean I have to take down 
> my calendar since it isn't in the corner? And what about the four 
> posters that are already hanging and the three that are waiting 
> until I find a spot for them?  Harry's trunk and cauldron will have 
> to go in the closet along with his backpack that we keep on the 
> back of his chair. And the bulletin board with the pages from 
> Vanity Fair will have to go!   
> 
> Professor Phlash, who knows that in reality she is Jo Crabtree the 
> fifth grade teacher.  That reminds me that the sign in the hall 
> that marks my room as 5th grade Muggle Studies will have to go also!
> 
> I'm so sad.

Me too!  Your classroom sounds like Harry Potter heaven!  My son is 
in fourth grade, and many of his teachers are actually very lukewarm 
on Harry Potter.  I know it's a good thing that his reading teacher 
(one of the lukewarm ones) last year had him reading books like 
Island of the Blue Dolphins and The Black Stallion, both of which he 
loved, but when they talk about the Potter books, I can't really tell 
what their reason is for being so lukewarm.  

>From one teacher I get a vibe that she thinks popular books are all 
suspect, from another a get a definite jealousy vibe (she wishes 
she'd thought of it--don't we all!) and from another, I get the 
impression that she's worried about exactly the kind of reaction your 
principal has had, so she doesn't want to come out of the closet with 
anything that sounds remotely pro-Potter. (Does she perhaps think I'm 
pretending to like it and I will then turn around and point a finger 
at her with a loud "Aha!" when I discover she does too?) 

I hope you decide to keep everything exactly the way it is; 5th 
graders are very easily distractable, and if you can keep them 
focused through fun things like this, more power to you!

--Barb