The Promise to Learn
Imagine this, it’s 12:45 on Tuesday and a challenge is given: Place your idea into the Promises Machine. At the sound of “3, 2, 1…Break!” learners scurry. Colorful sticky notes are grabbed in a hurry, markers squeak across paper, and the room fills with quick bursts of recognition: “Oh, I know!” “That happened yesterday!” “Yes — we need that one!”
One by one, sticky notes are slapped to the wall. Blue note: Slap. Purple Slap. Orange: Slap. Each colorful slap admired with a grin — the joy of remembering an experience and contributing it to the studio’s Promise Machine on the wall.
This Week’s Learner Sticky Notes:
I will try to have a growth mindset. No fighting or causing pain for any reason. Learn from failures. Take responsibility for my own learning. Be kind with animals and no keeping them long.
These aren’t abstract promises. They are rooted in lived practice: a rule tested in a game, teamwork that worked (or didn’t), a boundary held, a burst of kindness noticed. This is how promises are born at Acton. They don’t come from instruction or neat theories; they grow from play, from trial and error, from the courage to test and refine.
From Tuesday’s “Ideas,” colorful sticky notes moved through the machine. First, they’re posted in the Ideas to Try box, then a few are tested in the Lab. After a day or two, each sticky note meets its fate: either recycled or kept to become part of the final Promises Contract.
The greatest support tool to the Promise Machine is a regular practice called Growth Mindset Praise (GMP). This session, learners played the GMP game in the studio — practicing how to notice effort, courage, and perseverance in one another. Instead of “good job,” they practiced saying things like: “You didn’t give up, even when it was frustrating.” “I noticed you tried a new way until it worked.” These words don’t approve; they encourage. They fuel the courage to keep practicing, failing, refining, and trying again.
Just like learners, Guides are learners too who practice, test, and refine as a team. At this week’s Guide meeting, we played a game to surface our shared values — since our promises are already clearly signed. After rounds of whiteboard sketches and refining together, we committed to three Acton values: warm community, passionate growth mindset, and courageous curiosity.
Both learners and Guides are building the team this session. Whether it’s sticky notes on the Promise Machine, words of Growth Mindset Praise in the studio, or shared values written on a whiteboard, the process is the same: practice, test, refine, commit.
At Acton, learning is never about perfection or checking a box. It’s about practice — trial and error, failing, refining, and trying again. That’s how learners grow, and that’s how promises are born.
Imagine if you had a crystal ball to glimpse what your child truly values. Imagine how knowing might change how you show up as a family — how you live, grow, and hold one another accountable with love.
I invite you to join the promise process and create a Promise Machine at home. If you already have family promises, ask: Are we living them well? Take time to review, refine, and beautifully amend what is missing or no longer serving your family. Listening and living this process together is what not only helps our Acton studios thrive — it is also the heart of a thriving family. A family that promises to learn!