Ryan Scott, Sixth Grade Teacher, Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary

Kudos to Ryan Scott, Lake Washington School District’s “Staff Star” for November 2009.

Ryan Scott challenges students in his sixth grade class at Wilder Elementary to perform better in science, with a little help from his friends “Captain Obvious” and “Lieutenant Lazy.”

A few times each year, Ryan dresses up like a superhero, “Captain Obvious,” during his science lessons. Throughout the lesson, he encourages and reminds students to state the obvious when writing their summaries and conclusions during their end of the unit science assessments. His sidekick, a sock named “Lieutenant Lazy,” does not like to state the obvious during these lessons and Captain Obvious reminds him of the need to do so.

Ryan thought of Captain Obvious during the 2007-2008 school year and he has been making appearances in his class a few times each school year. Ryan says that students respond well to his superhero persona, with some claiming that it was one of the highlights of the school year when he appeared in his homemade spandex outfit.

In addition to lightening the mood during science lessons, the results of Captain Obvious have appeared in student’s work as well. Students are remembering to state the obvious when writing up their summaries and conclusions during end of the unit science assessments. More students are performing better on these tests.

Captain Obvious also reviews concepts that should be obvious to students but that they tend to forget as they show what they know on their science tests.

By engaging students in a unique and fun way, Ryan Scott was an obvious choice for November’s Staff Star.