Big week. This week, I'm joined by someone very special to me. Shanna Martin, my wife, joins me to talk about her podcast called Tech Tools for Teachers. On her show, she features free tech tools that teachers can use in their classrooms and parents can use at home. At the time of this posting, Shanna 2/3rds of the way through her sixth season. There are 176 episodes available on her website - https://smartinwi.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast

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Fuzz Martin 0:00

Hey what's happening, Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz Fam? Thank you for tuning into my show where we feature positive things happening in and around Washington County, Wisconsin. I hope your week is starting off strong. Hey, speaking of Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz Fam, this week I'm joined by someone very special part of my family. Her name is Shanna. She is my wife. She is also a middle school teacher and instructional coach at a school in the area. And Shanna joins me this week to talk about her own podcast, the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast, where each week she shares a free piece of technology that teachers can use in their classrooms. It's often a tool that parents can use at home as well. She also has a really awesome co host if I don't say so myself. With that here are 15 minutes on the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast with Shanna Martin right here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.

Shanna, thank you so much for coming on my show. Wow. First of all, what do you look for in men? Oh, no. I mean, I was my wife, Shanna. Thank you for coming on. We just recorded your show we did, which we're going to talk about here. Your show has been on for longer than mine.

Shanna Martin 1:29

Six seasons 176 Episode

Fuzz Martin 1:33

176 episodes over the course of six seasons tell us Okay, so the show is called the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast, kind of tells you what it is in the title a little bit does.

Shanna Martin 1:44

It was kind of more to it than that.

Fuzz Martin 1:45

But let's, before we get into how you started, let's talk about what the podcast is. So, Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast, what is it about? And who is it for?

Shanna Martin 1:54

So Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast is about free technology for teachers to use in their classrooms, like with students with additional support with help, but it's also pretty useful for parents. So if you see that your kid is struggling in home, and maybe you need some math manipulatives and you're like, hey, like we don't have like number lines and things like that.

Fuzz Martin 2:16

What is a manipulative,

Shanna Martin 2:18

Manipulative? So like little clocks, and counters and those types of things that teachers might need, you know, for math homework, or things

Fuzz Martin 2:26

And how do I do common core math?

Shanna Martin 2:28

Yeah. So my site also has all kinds of resources to help this to help anybody with education. It's mainly focused on teachers. I know a lot of parents use it, especially this summer when the kids are home. Or they need help with different math tools or writing, creative writing and things like that.

Fuzz Martin 2:44

Yeah, there are also a lot of tools that are educational that we talk about, oh, by the way, I'm, I'm a co host on your show you are. But there are some tools that are educational, but they're also like games, so they keep kids

Shanna Martin 2:59

yeah, like all kinds of like interactive type sites. Yeah.

Fuzz Martin 3:02

You want to keep your kids you know, like, let's say you're doing something around the house,

Shanna Martin 3:07

And you want them to be educated and busy. Yes. Also things like Google Arts and Culture. So if it's a rainy day, and you are snowing, let's be real, it's Wisconsin. And you can't make it to the museum. You can go to Google Arts and Culture and do a 3d tour of a place or they have fun trivia to do or just it's there's a lot of learning activities that are on there as well that aren't necessarily just made for the classroom. But there for fun. Sure.

Fuzz Martin 3:33

So the site features tools, all of them are free,

Shanna Martin 3:36

All of them are free. That's like the biggest piece to me, that's important, because so many things are expensive, that I'm trying to help teachers and support them in their classrooms. And it's free.

Fuzz Martin 3:47

So all of them have a free version, right? Because some, some have a paid

Shanna Martin 3:52

Like a paid pro up level version. But yeah, they all have a free option of some sort.

Fuzz Martin 3:57

Okay, very good. So it's geared toward teachers, but also useful for parents. How often do you publish an episode?

Shanna Martin 4:05

I drop a new episode of most Mondays. I mean, we drop on Mondays, most Mondays? Probably about four, four months.

Fuzz Martin 4:13

Yeah. And usually during the school year, right, correct.

Shanna Martin 4:17

So we go till usually the first week in June, and then I take the summer off. We usually throw one episode in mid summer for fun

Fuzz Martin 4:25

For the algorithms, yes. And at that point,

Shanna Martin 4:29

Also because like, I have so many ideas than burning in the summer. They like to talk about this. And then oftentimes I talk about four different websites. And that gets us back till September.

Fuzz Martin 4:38

So tell us about how you got convinced to start.

Shanna Martin 4:45

So it was your idea. Basically, I've taught teachers about tech tools for a while within my own district. And I couldn't always get to everybody because I'm only one person. And so I'd always be kind of Teaching you're talking, you're sending lots of emails about how to do things, or different types of technical activities. And then you're like, you know, this would be a fun podcast. You should make it a podcast and so we started at our kitchen counter. And we the mics, like propped up on our counter and a little stools and the dog snoring in the background. Yeah, that's why we got the name of our company is snoring dog media comes from our actual dogs knowing snoring in the background of the first couple rows the first season.

Fuzz Martin 5:27

Yeah, rest in peace, Aleena.

Shanna Martin 5:29

Yep. Our other dog now is at home because we pack so the studio. That's where it came from. We started at the kitchen counter. It's kind of funny, because the first episode to the most current episode, you can just listen to things have grown and changed over time. And the sound quality has improved. Thank you. The microphones have changed over time.

Fuzz Martin 5:54

Awesome skills that I have. Yeah. And also I've, you know, I've found ways to hide money away for podcast equipment. If you ever suspect that your husband or significant other has a problem with gear and you see Sweetwater.com receipts laying around.

Shanna Martin 6:13

And they send a bag of candy in every box. So then you're like, hey, there's more microphones.

Fuzz Martin 6:19

Shanna Martin 6:29

So that season was like half as like half a year? Yeah. Because it went January to June. And then we started up. Then we started that at the start of the school year. So then season two started in September,

Fuzz Martin 6:40

All of your episodes are posted on your website, which is

Shanna Martin 6:44

Smartinwi.com.

Fuzz Martin 6:46

How did you get the?

Shanna Martin 6:47

The clever smartinwi.com website? Yes, as I'm S. Martin, and we live in Wisconsin, and there we go. So smart is my initials in the word in but also the rest of my last name. Oh, Wisconsin. So smart in WI

Fuzz Martin 7:04

S Martin wi.com. And it kinda came easy. And also tech tools for teachers was too long of a URL.

Shanna Martin 7:12

But it's also the email address. Yes.

Fuzz Martin 7:16

Yes. tech tools for teachers. podcast@gmail.com I think is the yes max character count. You can have an email, but you know what? It works? Fine. Yeah, yep. Easy peasy. And you don't have to say things like I do at the end of the episode, which is make sure to spell out the word 15.

Shanna Martin 7:32

As mind, you just really write out the whole thing. Yes. Yeah, exactly. So

Fuzz Martin 7:36

each of these episodes they do about like 15 minutes long, right?

Shanna Martin 7:40

About Yes. Sometimes. Like, yeah, similar. Sometimes they're seven or eight. And sometimes they run like 25. Because sometimes I talk about more than one tech tool. Yep. Sometimes I talk about five tech tools. And then that's a really long episode, but I usually theme them. So the episodes usually have a focus area. So that makes it easier that when you're searching, you can find which, like, if you're looking for breeding tools, or if you're looking for farmer tools, or tools, or math or things like that, if you search that way, then you'll find an episode and the episode has a theme then. So they're all in one place. Okay, good.

Fuzz Martin 8:19

And then we have a section on your website called the EdTech. directory. That's where we put the tools for once they're up, they've got their own little page on the website.

Shanna Martin 8:28

Yep. So you can search the website, either in the search area. And if you type it in, if it's not in the EdTech directory, it just pulls up the episodes that I talked about it. Sure. And so either place, so add tech directory, you can search by content for search the website, and they'll come up by podcast episode as well. Very good.

Fuzz Martin 8:47

And so the shows are about 15 to 25 minutes each. How long does it take though, to put together one of those EPS episodes?

Shanna Martin 8:55

That's a great question. Why don't you answer it?

Fuzz Martin 9:00

Like you have to write the blog post.

Shanna Martin 9:02

Yes. So we record I research I usually, so I research, or I use what I'm teaching that week. So I'm also an instructional coach in my district. So if I'm supporting staff, sometimes the tools come out of things that I'm using to help the staff. Sometimes it's a cool site that my students have found, because some of my students listen to the show.

Fuzz Martin 9:24

Oh, well, they don't know.

Shanna Martin 9:27

And so it's kind of funny, because like, Hey, you should try this. And then sometimes it's tools that I've used in my own classroom. So they kind of come from everywhere. And then once we pick the tools we're gonna use for the week, kind of figure out what the theme is going to be. We record which usually takes I don't know, about 20 to 25 minutes or so. And then I write my blog posts, and then I hand all that over to you. And then you make it sound good. Yeah.

Fuzz Martin 9:52

So about four hours a week. Yeah. Total for about a 15 to 25 minute podcast. Yeah. So people know what is an instructional coach.

As an instructional coach within a district or a school district is going to look different in every district kind of. But overall, I am there to support teachers. So 50% of the time, I am a middle school teacher. And then 50% of the time, I am supporting other teachers. So aligning their standards with content, helping them come up with new ideas, tracking student data to see how the kids are doing in their classrooms and how we can support them better and meet their needs. And then putting on professional development for the staff as well with

both this podcast and obviously your instructional coaching. You've also done some speaking opportunities, right. And it's kind of the you've done some stuff with like the Sisa districts and in some other conferences, right? Yep,

I've done some speaking through Sisa. I've done some through Slate, which is one of the technology conferences in Wisconsin,

You're actually going to the Slate conference, this coming weekend, coincidentally,

We're going to Ed camp this weekend Edcamp

Edcamp. Not Slate. Edcamp. . I knew it was one of those, it's fine.

A lot of the people I see at EdCamp are at Slate, as well. Okay. And so yeah, like different educational laces are different platforms and different things. So some are digital, like, I'll do webinars, and other times I will be face to face running workshops with staff. So it kind of depends on where I'm at and what people need for me, because they just email me and ask, and then I provide them with what I can do. I've also done full digital workshops, where I've created YouTube channels for staff to support them that way, too. So it's basically whatever, not just my own district, but what other districts Ask of me, and then I put it together to meet their needs.

What would you say the biggest challenge is in running the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast,

I think it's making sure that the things I'm talking about are relevant, and that I want it to be fun, and not cumbersome when people are doing it using the tools. So I, I stay away from tools, or there's a billion steps and a bunch of setup pieces. Most teachers don't have time to do that. So I try to find things that people can implement in their classrooms right away, or like figure out like, oh, yeah, it'd be really cool. My kids would really learn something and enjoy that. So that's what I look for when I'm picking my tools to make sure that it's helpful. Like, I want what I teach people about to be helpful.

What would you say your favorite tool that we've talked about so far on the show has been?

Yeah, I saw that question in writing. And I was like, really? I have to pick one? I don't know. There's lots of them. I would say, There's got to be categories. I can't pick websites. Yeah. I really like coding. All right. Like I like to code. And I like it when kids can learn how to code. So any new upcoming, free coding sites that we can get kids problem solving and applying their knowledge and some real world stuff. I always appreciate. And, oh, there's just so many I like 3d design, because that's just fun. Because you can like rooms dialer and farm builder. Like always everything is where you can build and create and then build those pieces into your classroom. So it's not something you would traditionally do in a classroom. Yeah. But then you can teach those skills while teaching your content.

And favorite AI tool right now.

Magic School magic school, that school AI is my favorite. All right, I know we've done switching to do like a paid version. I will stick with the free version for now. But they Yeah, that one is probably really cool. So as I mean, as you age, there's so many that we use all the time, not all the time, but it's just supplemental to help things move along

faster. And there are a lot of them coming out now. So there's kind of been more of that kind of content lately, because AI is taken off

it is but also sorting through what's helpful. Yeah, and what's just like, the newest thing is always important to like, Is this actually a useful tool? Will you use it more than once or twice? Or it's just like, oh, this is cool. Try it once and move on with it. So tools that you'll actually apply and use like Canva Canva we use all the time.

Sure. What is your favorite pun that I've made on your show?

I don't know. Insert pun here. Come up with one.

So the show has obviously been kind of popular right. Unlike my puns, shows been popular, you've had more than 20,000 downloads right on, like on the actual podcast itself. And then on YouTube, I think you've had 10,000

numbers or so.

So you're doing pretty well. And so if people want to listen to the show or find out more, your website is again smart in wi.com. And you can find the show on the social medias at Tech Tools for Teachers,

Podcast Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast and then depends on which social media is tech tools for teachers will find on Instagram and you'll find on Facebook that way and then smartinwi is for threads and for X or Twitter,

Twitter? Yes, very good. Well Shanna, it was great to have you in the studio. So we can talk about your podcast and we can talk about your past. Say hi to your awesome host. co host next time you see him.

Yeah, I'm sure you live a really cool pun to share with everybody.

I'm sure I'm sure. Thanks for coming on.

Thanks for having me.

Thank you so much to Shanna for sticking around with me after we recorded her podcast to record one of mine. Again, if you want to listen to her show. It's called the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast. If you know of any teachers who could benefit from her show, feel free to share this episode, or the link to our website smartinwi.com. And if you have an idea for a guest for the show, send me a line fifteenwithfuzz@gmail.com spell out the word 15 fifteenwithfuzz@gmail.com or you can text it to me 262-299-FUZZ that's 262-299-3899 New episodes of this show come out on Tuesdays. I appreciate you listening and like you're walking out to your local gas station. I'll see you next time right here on Fifteen Minutes with Fuzz.