Using technology to enhance learning

MATHEWS COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — At Mathews Elementary one 3rd grade teacher has incorporated her love of technology into her everyday teaching. In fact, she’s the only teacher in her school still teaching a virtual class.

“It’s kind of a form of art,” explained Christina Tomcany .

Tomcany spent the summer of 2019 taking online courses to grow her class website and create a system easy for parents to navigate. Little did she know those new skills would become a necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I really believe in keeping everybody in the loop. So when I taught myself how to make a website, I came back to school and I taught everybody at school how to make a website,” Tomcany stated.

It’s a streamlined system that Tomcany’s third grade class and their parents could easily access.

“I love a good Bitmoji so I’ve got that on there and we have two portals here. It’s just trial and error and then it’s repeat, repeat, repeat once you get it done and you can just repeat the steps you did before. I’m super lucky because my husband is also a teacher so I always had somebody at home that I could bounce ideas off of,” Tomcany told 10 On Your Side.

In addition to her 16 students, this Excellent Educator also has two virtual students and spends most of her day at her desk seamlessly incorporating her students learning from home into her in-person lessons.

“I’ve seen all my students in my class show enormous growth this year,” Tomcany explained.

When she’s not updating her class website, teaching in front of the camera or the classroom, you can find Tomcany on Friday nights working at Richardson’s Cafe and immersing herself in the Mathews County community.

“All of the kids in here know it and they all tell me if they’re coming that night and the big thing there is they always have ice cream,” Tomcany said.

Tomcany also coaches the Mathews High School Crew team.