Teacher Tuesday: Energizing Education

I liked Elyse Fye before I ever met her. 

 

Students talked in the hallways about the new teacher – “She’s so fun…she laughs a lot…she talks fast…she looks like J Lo.”  

Teachers stopped by my desk to say, “Elyse is fantastic! ...she’s enthusiastic…she’s creative… she’s passionate about her work.”

I developed an image of her as a continuously moving, constantly smiling mass of pure educational energy. When I finally saw her working with the students, I realized that my impression wasn’t far off.

A very active lesson with Miss Fye

Miss Fye has a special gift for teaching that’s evident from the moment you step into her classroom. That this gift is from God is undeniable. It goes beyond a learned skill to the realm of a “calling.”

She never intended to work in the disability field. Her plan was to become an elementary teacher - but God changed her mind. He reminded her of the deep love she developed for people with disabilities while serving at Camp Hope for three summers. Miss Fye understood her purpose in life and followed God as He perfectly orchestrated the details to bring her to Shepherds College.

Miss Fye now teaches the Roots of Faith and New Testament Letters classes. Her Bible-based lessons become R.E.A.L. for the students – she wears costumes, decorates the room, introduces lessons with skits, and plans hands-on activities to help the students relate to the material. She stands up, moves around and has her students standing up and moving around with her. She uses things – pictures, objects, ideas– to get her point across and to plant lessons firmly in the students’ heads.  Games, songs, sign language and presentation are all a regular part of her lively repertoire.  And she does all this with a passion that infuses the true joy of learning in the hearts of everyone participating in her class.

Miss Fye making Resurrection Biscuits

Her philosophy of teaching is Make Learning Exciting! In order to encourage the desire to learn in every student, she plans fun and interactive lessons that will engage her class and introduce them to new things and ideas. Her lessons are never dull and neither is she. Mrs. Harvey says that sitting in on one of Miss Fye’s lessons is like watching a movie wearing 3-D glasses – everything comes alive and jumps out at you in brilliant color.

Amanda learning in color during New Testament Letters

Just last week, Miss Fye asked maintenance for a measuring tape so she and the students could measure out the length and width of Noah’s ark in the Shepherds College hallway. They all measured … and measured … and measured – and found out that the ark was as long as the farthest north to south points of the Wood Center!  You can be sure that each student will remember this lesson every time they hear the story of Noah and the Ark in the future.

Miss Fye measuring Noah's ark in the hallway with her 1st year students

If you’re already thinking, “Wow! Miss Fye sounds like the perfect teacher for students with intellectual disabilities,” just wait. God not only blessed Shepherds College with a vibrant instructor that paints her classroom with broad streaks of energizing, passionate color, He also tempered her palette with the softer hues of patience and kindness – two very important qualities when working with our population. The students grow to trust and respect her as she takes the time to ensure that each one of them completely understands the material and the life-giving message behind it. 

Miss Fye invests so much of herself in her teaching and so much of her love and energy in the students. 

Her payout is huge. She cultivates students who are motivated to learn for a lifetime … and students who are changed for an eternity.

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.