Presented at the CiRCE Spring Regional Conference 2023.

It increasingly seems commonplace in our day to have “too many irons in the fire,” or to quote Bilbo Baggins, we “feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” At such times, we risk loosing focus or loosing sight of the ends we are seeking in our lives, in our schools, or even in our classrooms. We wish for our work to be less ad hoc and more pre-defined. To gain this needed perspective and clarity of purpose, we must work through seven core commitments upon which we can build a healthy and cohesive school, classroom, or home.