The system of checks and X’s is a popular conversation at Acton. This system was created by learners, has gone through many iterations of experimentation, and now is a simple system that learners use and reference often throughout their day. What’s most exciting is this system is always evolving and in negotiation. To onboard you with the basics, X’s are behaviors that break studio promises and checks are model learner behavior. Learner-led accountability and achievement at Acton have taken on greater meaning. Here’s two ways that X’s make their mark.

Seven weeks ago Discovery learners began their journey hammering, nailing, screwing, gluing, and most of all navigating a studio team challenge to create an Acton farmers market stand. The journey began with great excitement and naturally some struggles. Here’s the story of their journey, dragon, and ultimate treasure.

Imagine this, you’ve been waiting for a brand new outdoor mud kitchen to be ready, you watched as it was assembled, parts painted, and as all the accessories were added. Your eyes have been wide with wonder and your creativity bursting to make muddy creations for your pretend restaurant. After hearing and agreeing to the rules of the kitchen (no mud on bodies and all accessories put away when you are done) you are ready to create! You are in your happy zone but at the end of the day you and your friends created a muddy disaster and in fact broke brand new materials. Together you broke the mud kitchen rules. So, what happens? This was our most recent Acton experience and in true Acton form the mud kitchen moment was put on hold and we asked for learner consultants to help develop a mud earning system.

Today we close Session 6 and invite our first camping Exhibition in the Acton wilderness. This type of Exhibition is new for us. Typically our Exhibitions have been gallery style, competitions, or narrative demonstrations of learning however today we all are diving in to surviving in the wild Acton environment—a process we’ve been doing all year however this wilderness Exhibition style is a new opportunity for our community to bond a bit more deeply. Tonight we will unplug, grow, and “be” together. These moments of adventure, of newness, cause me to reflect…

At Acton learners LOVE to clean. I know it sounds too good to be true because what child enjoys doing the dishes but truly, Acton learners love cleaning and caring for their school. Learners love having a job and completing that job from start to finish with mastery. They take pride in their hard work, their independence, and they smile and walk a little taller after receiving a cleaning inspection with a 5 star rating.

Interest is infectious and Guides have been noticing that cleaning has become more and more interesting. So, in true Acton style, our Discovery Studio Guide built a challenge, a weekly cleaning challenge of completing a certain number of jobs. Learners have 3 opportunities to earn job points: Core Skills cleanup, Lunch cleanup, Studio Maintenance. How many jobs can you complete with inspection during the time allowed?

Imagine this…you are walking through the Spark Studio and you notice two learners with eyes intensely fixed on their work. They barely blink as you see them move tiles back and forth with great speed and intentionality. It feels like a race and you can feel the intensity of challenge as you hear click click “Ugh” click click “Yes!” The sound of their slightly heavy breathing but mostly silence is impressive. All seems like an incredible Olympic race of the mind. What is happening?

“Change is the only constant in life. Ones ability to adapt to those changes will determine your success in life.”—Benjamin Franklin

This week learners were reminded of Benjamin Franklin’s words not only by the Spring flowers on the trees changing from buds to blooms but also in their studio environment. They are changing and evolving every day, learning accountability and how to participate and take charge of their learning and their studio government. Change is sometimes hard but it is also reliable and necessary for each of our hero’s journeys.

Every learner at Acton is on a hero’s journey and on their learning journey they encounter different Quests to build character, explore mysteries, and learn who they want to be. At Acton we develop Quests each session (a total of 7 each year) that typically last 4-6 weeks. Quests are a series of challenges bound by a compelling narrative. Quests are not about memorizing text book information or taking tests, they are all about discovery and the building of skills that apply to real-life. Real heroes fall on their journey and learn from mistakes, so do our Acton heroes. True learning by doing!

How do you measure and prove learning at Acton? Prospective and new parents ask this question a lot. Here’s my answer.

At Acton we replace traditional school tests with real-world public Exhibitions. Why? Exhibitions create purpose, relevancy, and meaning to the work done all session long. These public events are real-world opportunities for learners to apply what they learned and often they include high-stake scenarios. For this Coding & Robotics session the pressure was on for learners to complete their final robot and master coding games by the end of the session deadline. There’s nothing like a deadline and an audience to encourage last minute production!

Curiosity is the not-so-secret ingredient that propels children and adults to excel, to be interested, and to find joy in the world around them. I believe curiosity is the heart and soul of the Acton model therefore when learners get curious we lean in! A few weeks ago we noticed that a handful of learners were talking about their older siblings and other friends who go to a different school, not Acton. They didn’t know the name for it but to us parents they were talking about traditional school. As we listened to learners chat about what they thought other schools were like (lockers were the primary topic of excitement) we realized that not a single learner in our Spark studio ever experienced a traditional school. Chalk it up to youth or the pandemic but Acton was their only experience of school.

The sweet sound of piano keys tinkering through the songs Twinkle, Twinkle and Mary Had a Little Lamb filled the Acton environment this week during Core Skills and free-time. Learners have always had access to the music room (Sound Sanctuary) yet this week launched the official Piano Badge series for the Discovery Studio. Two responsible learners gained the privilege to be the first Acton pianists and I had the privilege to observe a moment of their practice and interview them after a partner session.

At the start of every parent meeting I ask for everyone to connect by sharing one word for how they feel about Acton, the only rule is honesty. As I reflect on this week’s parent meeting the only word I feel is deeply grateful. I am grateful to every one of you brave parents for deciding to join the journey of Acton, the unknown path that is so different from the educational journey we had growing up. I am grateful that you show up for your child with love, vulnerability, and bravery and that this Wednesday many of you showed up to engage in building meaningful community, a growing village of like-minded life-long learners.

For those of you that weren’t able to make it, here’s a mini-recap and for those of you who did attend here’s a reminder of the journey with links.

How curious are you? Do you ask lots of questions? Do you wonder about how things work or why the world is the way it is out loud? If your answer to these questions is mostly “not really” then I urge you to dive in and get curious! Really, right now get curious about why curiosity is the single most powerful instigator for deep meaningful learning!

Sure, you could believe me, or you could believe the great questioners—scientists—and the data of why curiosity is good for your brain. I’ll tempt your curiosity with a little brain knowledge.

In 1996 I was a girl who spent a year studying computer science and all I remember was writing code to get a bunny to walk forward and hop on the screen of a giant black and white computer. This was no easy task! From 1996 until now I have believed the world of coding was simply programming computer software but I couldn’t have been more wrong!

As I prepared for this session’s Coding and Robotics Quest I quickly discovered that our entire lives are full of code! Yes, it was a bit of a Matrix movie style realization minus the high-pressure choice of taking a red or blue pill.

What do you typically hear during a day at Acton? A bee-like hum of learners in flow, a poignant battle cry for help, goofball giggles, kind reminders, and conversations about the process of our many Acton systems. Hearing is the first step but as we’ve discussed with learners many times, hearing and listening are pretty different. Listening involves all of you, all of your focus, and your desire to connect so you can understand. Listening is hearing plus more! This session, our amazing Acton Guides and I truly had to listen to the needs of learners and had to offer a rippling change.

“I have an idea!” This was the start of a conversation I had a few weeks ago with one brave Discovery Studio learner.

The Problem: He shared, “I’ve been thinking a lot and I really want to help my friend in the Spark Studio. I know he wants to move up to be with us in Discovery but he’s stuck on the Bob books; he needs to get better at reading.”

For the last few months my daughter and I have a bedtime routine. Teeth are brushed, pajamas on, stuffy selected, and then finally we are ready to get cozy and continue reading Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women. The book includes gorgeously creative illustrations of 100 women and a one page story typically beginning with “Once upon a time…”. Pages include dates of each rebels life, country of origin, and one carefully selected quote. The pages are magical, every turn we have no idea who we will meet next, each story has us hooked!

What’s most magical about this routine isn’t the story, it is the opportunity that each story invites my daughter and I to connect, to be curious together, to compare a hero’s life to our own.

The school day ends and your learner hops in the car. Are they bursting with stories of the days happenings or are they tight lipped like a secret spy? As a parent of two, I am very familiar with asking “how was your day?” or “did you have a good day today?” More often than not when I ask these questions I receive one word answers “good” or “yes.” Despite my greatest efforts the lips of my secret spy kids will not budge, one word is all I’ll get. Early on in my Acton parent life I began to wonder “Am I asking the right questions?”

At Acton, we know learning is deepest and most memorable when experienced. This week learners journeyed through new terrain to explore boundaries, resources, and what happens when you are caught trespassing. Here’s a glimpse into their journey…

It’s Monday at 8:30am, the doors are shut between Spark and Discovery. All that divides the studios is one strip of orange tape, a border line.

This Monday, after a long winter break, learners returned to Acton a little taller, with less teeth, and also with greater confidence in what they want to accomplish at school. It was amazing to see each learner barrel in to the start of Session 4 with excitement and great determination. Day 1 a hard earned badge was earned, Day 2 two badges were earned, and Day 3 another valuable badge was achieved. This may be a new record of badges earned in a week! So, what is different? What lit the fire of learners to achieve?