83 - Travis Jordan: Connection Over Conformity
TRAVIS JORDAN is a husband, father of four, superintendent, education commissioner, speaker, aspiring author, conformity breaker, and status quo shaker. How’s that for disruption in education? In our conversation, Travis shares a tragic story from his learning community, explaining how the passing of one student has forever impacted him and put the focus on connections over content. “This is not a job - it’s a calling,” he says. Travis also dismisses the idea of educators faking it until they make it. “Why not be real and feel and let our students and colleagues let us heal?” When he thinks of building leaders in his learning community, he asks his team members to encourage, empower, and empathize with everyone in their care. As we close out our conversation, Travis also shares a few of the voices and resources that shape his thinking and inspire his professional practice today. Connect with Travis: On Twitter: https://twitter.com/Supt_Jordan On his blog: https://tjordan.org/ On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supt_jordan/ Visit https://teachersonfire.net/ for all the show notes and links from this episode! Connect with Teachers on Fire podcast on social media: On Twitter: https://twitter.com/TeachersOnFire On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachersonfire/ On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/ On LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/TimWCavey On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFDPjkAn7lZb-rahyVDttKA Song Track Credits Intro: Stand Up (by Mike Cosmo -- license purchased at https://taketones.com/) Outtro: Bluntedsesh4 (by Tha Silent Partner, courtesy of FreeMusicArchive.org) --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/teachersonfire/support