I’m wondering in how many households this same situation has occurred:

PERSON 1:  (opening fridge) There are waaaay too many bottles and jars in here.  I can’t find anything!
PERSON 2:  (feeling defensive)  But the best part of any meal is the sauces… and yes, before you ask, we NEED 4 kinds of hot sauce and 3 kinds of mustard.
…..later….
PERSON 1:  (sitting down to dinner)  Did you get out the green sriracha  - not the red one?  I need that on my burger.
PERSON 2:  (passing the bottle) I rest my case.

What’s your go-to condiment? I really like that sweet Thai chili sauce.

QUOTE:  "We achieve more when we chase the dream instead of the competition." (Simon Sinek)

When author and speaker Simon Sinek talks about The Infinite Game, he’s referring to a mindset shift that applies to business, leadership, and—very much so—education. His premise is simple but profound: some games in life are finite, like soccer or chess, where there are set rules, clear players, and a definite end point. You win or you lose. Other games are infinite, like education, relationships, and leadership. These don’t end. The “rules” evolve. The goal isn’t to win, but to stay in the game and keep it going for the long run.

Teaching, when viewed through the finite lens, can feel like a never-ending checklist. We chase test scores, focus on classroom rankings, and push students toward benchmarks. Those are finite markers. They matter, but if we only measure ourselves and our students against them, teaching becomes exhausting, competitive, and often discouraging.

But what if we looked at education as an infinite game? The goal isn’t to “win” against a neighboring district or get every student to a certain percentile. Instead, the aim is to nurture lifelong learners, to stay engaged as educators, and to contribute to a profession that is always evolving. The “success” of our work might not show up this semester or even this year. It might be the former student who comes back to tell you that your encouragement sparked their love of science. It might be the quiet kid who, years later, finds their voice because you gave them space to practice.

Sinek points out that those who play with an infinite mindset focus on resilience, adaptability, and purpose. For teachers, that might mean shifting from asking, “Am I ahead of others?” to “Am I better than I was yesterday?” or “Am I helping students build skills for the long term?”

Why this mindset matters in teaching

1. Reduces burnout – When you see teaching as infinite, you give yourself permission to step back from impossible expectations of “winning” each day or each year. Instead, you invest in sustainable growth.
   
   
2. Strengthens relationships – Infinite players value connection over competition. Students sense this, and classrooms become communities rather than battlegrounds.
   
   
3. Encourages innovation – Because the “rules” of infinite games change, infinite teachers are more willing to adapt their practices, try new approaches, and learn alongside their students.

Teaching is one of the truest infinite games. There’s no finish line, no final scoreboard. There’s only the enduring impact you leave on your students and the profession. By embracing Sinek’s mindset, we not only strengthen our classrooms, but we also ensure that the game of education remains rich, resilient, and meaningful for generations to come.

This week, try this: Try doing this Better Than Yesterday reflection:

At the end of each school day this week, take three minutes to reflect with these two prompts:

• What did I do today that made my teaching practice better than yesterday?
• How did I help at least one student move forward on their own infinite learning journey?

You can jot this down in a notebook, share it with a colleague, or even ask your students to do the same for their learning. Over time, these small reflections build a mindset that values progress over perfection, growth over winning.

​DAD JOKE:  When it's raining cats and dogs, you have to be careful not to step in a poodle.

Hello!  For those of you who are new here, let me do a quick (re)introduction:  This is my 27th year in education (yes, I had to look it up on TRS to be sure), and I’m proud to have been a classroom teacher, asst. principal, and tech coach. I’m currently the SEL Coach for ROE #40 in Southwestern Illinois who does other stuff like plan conferences and run TeachIllinois. My wife, Martha, and I have two grown kids, and we love our home on the Mississippi and trying new food.
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This is the 4th full year of JumpStart, and this is the 124th issue. I’m just excited to be back here what with all the budgetary questions at the end of last year. If you have a question, comment, or suggestion, you can reply to this email.  I promise to respond.

I had planned to start back up again AFTER Labor Day, but there are a ton of resources that need to be seen BEFORE September, so here we are.  Let’s do this!

QUOTE:  "Happiness comes from progress.  Therefore, happiness requires struggle." ~Mark Manson

As we head back to school, every teacher in the world is thinking about how much time they DON’T have.
Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a @#$%, offers a deceptively simple but profound idea: life is about struggle, and the question isn’t whether you will struggle—it’s what you choose to struggle on. Everyone wrestles with obstacles, frustrations, and setbacks, but our growth and sense of fulfillment come from consciously deciding which struggles are worth our time and energy.

For teachers, this concept hits close to home. Every day presents more demands than one person can possibly meet. There are lessons to plan, papers to grade, emails to answer, parents to call, meetings to attend, and a classroom full of unique learners who all deserve your best. On top of that, you’re also managing your personal life outside of school. It’s no wonder so many educators feel stretched too thin.

The truth is: you can’t avoid struggle. But you can choose the struggle that matters most.
Much of teacher burnout comes from fighting battles that were never consciously chosen. You stay late polishing bulletin boards, not because it brings meaning or learning, but because you don’t want to look “less than” compared to the teacher down the hall. You spend hours reformatting lesson slides to make them look Pinterest-worthy when students would have learned just as well without the sparkle and animations. You give too much mental space to things you can’t control—like district mandates or the newest curriculum.

These are unchosen struggles, and they drain energy without fueling your sense of purpose.
Instead, imagine choosing your struggles intentionally. Maybe you decide:

• I will struggle to build meaningful relationships with my students—even though it takes patience, emotional labor, and sometimes heartbreak—because I know relationships are the foundation of learning.
• I will struggle to give clear, honest feedback on student work—even though it takes time—because I want my students to grow.
• I will struggle to keep healthy boundaries around work and personal life—even though guilt will creep in—because I want to be present for my family and preserve my energy for the long haul.

By consciously choosing, you stop seeing struggle as a punishment and start seeing it as an investment in what matters most. Teaching will always involve challenges. But when you choose your struggles with intention, you transform the work from something that happens to you into something you do for what matters most. The goal isn’t to erase the hard parts—it’s to make sure the hard parts are worth it.

This week, try this: Try doing a Struggle Audit this week:

1. List Your Current Struggles. Take 10 minutes and write down what’s weighing on you right now—both big and small. Everything counts: grading piles, a challenging student, staff meetings, imposter syndrome, lack of sleep.
2. Circle What You Choose. Go through the list and circle the struggles you’re willing to embrace because they serve your deeper values as an educator. These might be tough, but they align with your “why.”
3. Cross Out or Reframe the Rest. For struggles you didn’t choose, ask yourself: Can I let this go? Can I set a boundary? Can I lower the bar? Not every battle deserves your time.
4. 
   

Commit to One. This week, focus on leaning into just one chosen struggle. Notice how framing it as your choice shifts your mindset from resentment to purpose.

DAD JOKE:  My son was chewing on electrical cords, so I grounded him.  He's doing better currently, and conducting himself properly. 

QUOTE:  "When people feel like they matter, they act like they matter." (John Mecurio)

MESSAGE: I had an email conversation with my former superintendent this week about her article on preventing burnout that appeared in the April edition of the AASA publication.  She mentioned that Mattering at work is a current focus of hers.  That reminded me of the work I’ve done with Mindful Practices to reconstruct the Surgeon General’s Workplace Mental Heath Framework into a Collective Well-Being Framework that works for schools. In this framework, mattering at work is a key pillar.

Mattering at work is a combination of two things:

I FEEL VALUED:
You know my full name.
You ask about my life.
You know my struggles.
You remember me.
You miss me.
You check in on me.

I ADD VALUE:
You show me how I make a difference.
You affirm my unique gifts.
You ask for my opinion.
You give me responsibility.
You show me I’m relied on.

(Zach Mercurio, PhD)

Like many other things, mattering is a matter of give and take, a cycle of self and others that enables people to really feel as though they belong.  Have you ever wondered why some people is super stressful occupations don’t seem to be burned out and looking for a way out?  It’s probably because they feel like they matter.

THIS WEEK TRY THIS: As you think about the end of this year and the beginning of next, think about how YOU feel.  Do you think you matter at school?  Then think about how you make your students and/or staff feel.  Do they feel like they matter to you and to the school?

DAD JOKE:  I have a chess set that is missing some pieces.  Guess I need to find a pawn shop.

QUOTE:  "Don't wish for less problems.  Wish for more skills." (Jim Rohn)

MESSAGE:  ​Each year, the World Economic Forum puts out the Future Jobs Report, highlighting job markets on the upswing in the next ten years.  Good news?  Secondary teachers are on there.  Otherwise, it’s interesting to note the amount of traditional education required by most of the ones on the list.  The other interesting bit of data they put out is the list of Top 10 Skills for each year.  Check out 2025 and ask yourself, “How many of these are SEL-related, and how many are content-related?”  And then, more importantly, ask, “How many of these are being INTENTIONALLY taught in schools?”

THIS WEEK TRY THIS:  ​As you’re winding down the year and making those preliminary plans for next year, maybe consider how you are going to ensure you really are preparing your students for the future.

​DAD JOKE:  I got an email from Google Earth saying that they can read maps backwards.  I figured it was just spam.

QUOTE:  " Those who do not move do not notice their chains." (Rosa Luxemburg)

MESSAGE:  My mother always said that, “Not to decide is to decide.”  I always struggled with decisions, so I REALLY did not like it when she busted out that particular aphorism.

I think a lot of times, we are stuck with this pair of traits that keep us huddled under a weighted blanket and doom-scrolling: complacency and lack of self-discipline.

According to Dictionary.com, complacency is a “a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like; self-satisfaction or smug satisfaction with an existing situation, condition, etc.”
Combine that with the inability to correct or regulate oneself for the sake of improvement (modified from Merriam-Webster) and what’s the result?  People wasting their lives without even knowing it - they actually probably think they are living better and more fully than before.

I see that in people of all ages, including myself.  I have all these home projects to complete and books to read and skills to learn, but here I am telling my wife about the latest Reel I watched.

One thing I’ve learned about changing behaviors is that you can’t just eliminate a ‘bad’ one.  You have to intentionally replace it with something else or the lack of the expected behavior will cause others (probably also connected to the easy way) to come forward.  Figure out what behavior you’re going to do INSTEAD and start adding it into your schedule in place of the  unwanted one.
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THIS WEEK, TRY THIS:   What’s something you’ve been wanting to do, but ‘don’t have time for?’  (That’s code for ‘it’s not that important’).  What behavior can you replace with this dream of yours?

DAD JOKE:  I asked the librarian if there were any books on paranoia.  She whispered, "They're right behind you."

QUOTE:  "Man does not see reality as it is, but only as he perceives it, and his perception may be mistaken or biased." (Rudolf Dreikurs)

MESSAGE: When our daughter was in third grade, she was known as ‘The Math Girl’.  In fourth grade, she started to find math more challenging, and couldn’t live up to her 3rd grade reputation.  As adults, we hear the story and think, “she was just a kid; I’m sure she got over it.”

The good news is that she made it through AP Calculus and is finishing her 3rd year of medical school.  It was a challenge though, that still creeps in as doubts to her ability.  Now, I’m not at all blaming her 3rd grade teacher; I think there is a lot involved with girls and STEM and expectations and biases everywhere.  My point is that the labels that we assign people can come true.

And sometimes, we’ll assign negative labels to people and then get mad when those labels come true.

These labels and biases can act in two different directions:

INSIDE-OUT:  Labels can affect how people see themselves.  Repeatedly hearing or internalizing negative labels can lead to a person adopting a negative self-image, while positive labels can foster self-confidence and a positive self-perception. 

OUTSIDE-IN:  When we label someone, we may unconsciously start treating that person in a way that matches those labels.  This can then lead them to start behaving in a way that matches those labels, even if it wasn’t accurate in the beginning.

To prevent this with your students and your own children, give them feedback on their behavior, not their personal characteristics.  Instead of assigning the moniker “Math Girl,” tell her, “I admire how hard you work on learning your math facts!”

THIS WEEK TRY THIS:   Think about the labels that have been assigned to you that might not be that accurate.  Maybe you have been fighting some of these labels for as long as you can remember.  It’s the time of year when we’re tired and worn out.  As ‘those kids’ start to REALLY get on your nerves, do you start each day with a clean slate?  It’s super hard sometimes, but everyone deserves another chance.
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DAD JOKE:  I accidentally took a 10-minute video of my shoes yesterday. It was some pretty good footage.

QUOTE:  "Awe is the beginning of wisdom.  Awe is the beginning of education." (Matthew Fox)

MESSAGE:  When the kids were little, we took them to the Northwest - Seattle, the Oregon coast, obsidian fields, and the Tillamook cheese factory. Our last stop was Crater Lake. I think they remember the fact that there was snow in July and we had a snowball fight. I remember feeling completely awed as we walked up to the first overlook and could see the entire caldera in its serenity and vastness.
Awe involves a sense of being in the presence of something impressive or significant. It awe-ften arises when we observe or are surrounded by something that defies our understanding or knowledge.

Our feeling of awe is triggered by things like nature, art or music, human interactions or accomplishments and can sometimes involve a little bit of fear, intimidation, or humility.

Sometimes, ‘awe’ is used interchangeably with ‘wonder’.

Wonder is the desire to understand or to explore something new or mysterious, so it’s more reflective than awe. Basically, awe is observing, and wonder is seeking to understand.

Both of these emotions are ‘good’ ones, and ones that should be sought out and cultivated since they enhance one’s feeling of well-being and can forge stronger social connections.

THIS WEEK TRY THIS: What memory do you have of being awestruck? What are you wondering about right now? Share those memories with others and be sure to instill a sense of wonder and curiosity in your students.

DAD JOKE:  I've written a book on how to fall down the stairs.  It's a step-by-step guide.

QUOTE:  Transparency is not about restoring trust in institutions.  Transparency is the politics of managing mistrust. (Ivan Krastev) 

MESSAGE:  During our Administrator Academy this last week, my co-facilitator Carla Philibert and I were leading a discussion on transparency within schools.  A longer than expected discussion followed, in which the group identified and then wrestled with the interconnected concepts of transparency, trust, and affirmation.

I took a peek at Google Trends to see how each of those words has shown up in search terms since 2004, because it sure seems like they are on the rise. The uptick hasn’t been as steep as I expected.

Trust has been covered here before, and in that issue, ‘Transparency’ topped the list  of strategies to consider when building trust in the workplace. For this use of transparency, I like the definition from The Leadership Sphere:  “Transparency…involves openness and the willingness to share information, both positive and negative, with all relevant parties.” (Italics are mine)

Oxford Dictionary defines affirmation as “emotional support or encouragement.” In other words, looking for positive feedback.

When we only share the positive information, we are looking for affirmation rather than being transparent. The group last Monday came to the consensus that often in schools, people (in this case administrators), often use the guise of transparency to gain affirmation.  This behavior can either be a response to a lack of trust or can result in an erosion of trust prompted by an oversharing of information, often with no explanation.

Here are two scenarios:  

1. A parent posts a negative comment on Facebook about the school saying that they heard that the funds from a fundraiser were going toward whole-school programs rather than the end-of-year field trip for their kid, as advertised.  In response, the school principal, in an effort to maintain community-school trust, publishes a full accounting of the use of funds on the school website’s main page, and continues to do so with all future fundraisers.  This deluge of information causes a subsequent post on Facebook to ponder whether the school is trying to hide something.  QUESTION:  are they being transparent or seeking affirmation?
   
   
2. A school principal is trying to mend some deep mistrust between staff and administration. In their weekly newsletter, the principal decides to increase transparency by celebrating all the good things happening in the school - even highlighting a staff member in each issue.  QUESTION:  are they being transparent or seeking affirmation?

WHAT IF the principals in each of these situations made their procedures easily available, and advertised the availability rather than the procedures themselves?  Perhaps on the school website there is a page dedicated to testing and other school data (not all of that will be positive).  The administrator could then use individual conversations rather than blanket emails/publications to build personal and procedural trust.

THIS WEEK TRY THIS:  When you publish or share something, are you giving people access to information, or are you looking for someone to appreciate you?

DAD JOKE:  What do you call a nervous javelin thrower?  Shakespeare
DAD JOKE #2 (in honor of Moment of Laughter Day):  What do you call a magician who loses is magic?  Ian.

QUOTE:  " I believe rest, sleep, naps, daydreaming, and slowing down can help us all wake up to see the truth of ourselves.  Rest is a healing portal to our deepest selves." (Tricia Hersey)

MESSAGE:  Tricia Hersey, the ‘Nap Bishop’, writes (and I paraphrase) that we can’t resist the grind culture without resisting capitalism and white supremacy - that those two institutions gained power on the backs of black and brown people.  I believe that to be true.

I also believe that our grind culture is exacerbated by our American sense of individualism.  My mother used to tell me and my sister all the time that there’s “no rest for the wicked,” indicating to my 9-year old self that a) we are wicked, and b) we need to keep on keepin’ on despite weariness.  In my old age, I’ve decided that both of those concepts are not productive. (side note:  that quote is actually based on Isaiah 48:20 and 57:20-21.  “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”  Since then, ‘no rest for the wicked’ has served as inspiration for many songs and films)

American grind culture refers to the belief that constant, relentless work and a hustle mentality are the keys to success, often at the expense of personal well-being and work-life harmony.

My third belief this week is that - as in so many aspects of life - there is a fine balance to walk here.  On the one side is exhausting hustle and on the other side is the deadly sin of sloth. Somewhere in between is the Goldilocks Spot where we can be active and productive without wearing ourselves (and others) out.

But where is that balance?  It depends.

What is too much for some people is not enough for others. I cannot say what is excess and what is sloth for you because I do not know your limits or your capability in pushing those limits. Once again, self-awareness and curiosity are key here, along with our agency and ability to communicate our limits to ourselves and others with honesty.

How will you resist by resting this week?

THIS WEEK TRY THIS:  Take 30 seconds and write down everything on your mental to-do list.  Next, go through and choose the top 5.  For the remainder, ask yourself, “What would REALLY happen if I didn’t get to any of these things?”  Not what might or could happen based on your fears, but what will most probably happen.  For example, if you didn’t respond to your emails for a day, people MOST LIKELY wouldn’t do anything (and for those who do - it’s more about them than you).

DAD JOKE:  My wife calls me 'The Computer.'  It's nothing to do with intelligence; I go to sleep if left unattended for 15 minutes.

QUOTE:  "Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation.  Healing is an act of communion." (bell hooks)

MESSAGE:  Similarly, Dr. Gabor Maté said something along the lines of ‘since trauma happens in a social setting, it must then be healed with other people.’

As we look around and see all the hurt and harm happening in our schools, we wonder how it can be fixed. The answer is both simple and difficult: in community.

It’s easy to say that we must come together in brother/sisterhood and be there for each other, to put we before me, and to do unto others as we would have done to ourselves.

It’s difficult to make that happen when we are in the midst of a loneliness epidemic, when deaths of despair rise at alarming rates, and organizations are scared to embrace everyone.

I think one of the first things is to remember WHY we come together in the first place: for connection. Instead of faculty meetings being all about announcements and scheduling, etc., what if we gathered to learn more about each other as people? I would bet that staffs that came together and treated each member with respect and love have a lot lower burn-out rate and a much higher retention rate.

THIS WEEK, TRY THIS:  The next time you plan a staff function - whether it’s lunch after testing, or an end-of-year celebration, think about why you are REALLY coming together, and then speak that reason out loud. Let people know what they can expect and what you expect. I’ll bet people are craving to be a part of your school’s community, and are just waiting for you to get it going.

DAD JOKE:  It's OK to believe in life after love.  Cher if you agree.