Why do we all want to attend Hogwarts?

Why is it that we all want to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy if we all hate school? Attending Hogwarts doesn't free us from studying, attending lessons, dealing with professors, getting detentions, or doing stuff we don't like.

Let's have a look at the subjects we're likely to study: Potions (sounds a lot like Chemistry to me), Arithmancy (a nice combination of Math and Physics), Herbology and Care for Magical Creatures (Natural Sciences or Biology), Astronomy (well, we don't study that as such, but we do Geography instead), History of Magic (is similar to World History), Flying lessons and Defense Against the Dark Arts (P.E.), Muggle Studies (Social studies), Ancient Runes (Foreign Languages), Divination (Religious Studies - no offense intended, it's just that this is the only "spiritual" class they have) Charms and Transfiguration are the only two I can't quite match (although Transfiguration could be a combination of Physics and Chemistry since the subject transforms matter - just saying). But we have to do Literature instead. The teachers can be as mean and/or caring as our own.

So, what's the fuss about attending Hogwarts? I think it's the thrill of not knowing what may happen in the classroom or in the school grounds. As teachers, we tend to become lazy when it comes to teaching the same level (or subject) every year. We forget that every group we receive is different from the previous one. Their academic level may be the same, but these students are different people, they think differently, they have different obstacles to overcome, and they ask for different kinds of attention.

As teachers, we often forget that we must adapt, renovate and come up with different ways of teaching and reaching out to our students. That's why we all - children and adults alike - want to attend Hogwarts. Teaching is never the same there. Despite Prof. Binns's boring way of making students learn the Troll Wars or Prof. Snape's ways of demanding for perfection, every class is different from the previous one, and from the classes taught in years past.

As a school, Hogwarts is also changing every year. Despite having the same wall paintings, curtains, stairs, house elves and ghosts, the building changes appearance to accommodate the mood of the nature or that of its inhabitants. The people who live there also work to make the school a nice and homely place to be in. They cook delicious food, they decorate the main room at Christmas, Halloween, and every time there's a celebration. They make the school look different every time!

We can do the same! Maybe, we don't have as many resources, but we can use the kids' creativity when it comes to decorate our classroom - and, why not, the main notice board on the school entrance - by asking them to pitch in ideas and asking them to make some of the crafts or drawings themselves (an activity that can become an Art project very easily!). We can do our best to offer delicious, healthy and nutritious food in the school cafeteria ("but kids only like to eat mac and cheese!". Fine, let's give them whole-pasta mac and cheese with some finely chopped white veggies in the cheese sauce.) We can make our school a place where our children want to come to learn and where they enjoy participating in the different activities offered to them. Also, as teachers, let's change a little bit the way we teach. Let's step down for a second from the Teacher's stand to become students and wonder: "How would I like to be taught this class?" By doing so, we will teach the way we would have liked to be taught, giving our students the ride of their lives during the school year and guiding them through the process of learning while they enjoy their time at school.

Let's make our schools and our teaching as fun and different as that of Hogwarts! Let's give our kids the chance to live their own magic while they are at school and let's make their time at school become an amazing, magical and unforgettable experience.