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# Critical Skills Classroom

Learning experiences that inspire and engage.

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Latest Posts](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/blog/)
- [Off Kilter](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2026/09/29/off-kilter/) - I have vertigo. If you've never had the pleasure, trust me when I say it's the highest level of discombobulation, and it's a 0/10 experience. One minute I'm fine, going about the business of being me; the next-WHAM- the world is spinning, and I'm grabbing anything solid to help stay upright. The symbolism isn't lost
- [Something good is coming ](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2026/06/03/something-good-is-coming/) - As I mentioned last month, we’ve been moving out of the suite of offices we called home for the last 30 years. It’s been a lot of work, but as is always the case when we get together, a lot of laughs. (I count myself lucky to work with people I know well and actually like.)
- [Making space for something new](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2026/05/14/making-space-for-something-new/) - PS- Change is coming for us at Antioch New England as well. After 30+ years in our current office suite, we're packing up and moving— just across the hall, but it's amazing how much we've accumulated! So many books, so much student work, so many memories of faculty and students who moved on. If you follow
- [It's Time to Rise](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2026/03/09/its-time-to-rise/) - Over the last few months, I've been focusing on the ways that we're rooted in the people, places, and experiences that created us. Now that March is here, it's time to focus on what comes next. In my yoga practice, the "root to rise" is both a literal instruction about activating different muscle groups and
- [You Teach Who You Are](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2026/03/09/you-teach-who-you-are/) - "You teach who you are." When I read Parker Palmer's words years ago, I remember feeling like I'd been hit with a stick. I was still new-ish in my role at Antioch (do we ever stop feeling like new-ish teachers?) and I felt like I was always playing catch-up. There were always new studies to read andnew
- [What makes your heart sing? ❤️](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2026/03/09/what-makes-your-heart-sing-❤️/) - Ideas to Connect With This Month How Music Resonates in the Brain- Harvard Medicine Experience a "sound bath" and let the music carry you away- UNR Counseling The Transformative Power of Music in Mental Well-Being- APA What Made You Happy as a Kid is the Key to Your Success!- Medium 8 Reasons Thinking Like a
- [Coming Out of the Darkness](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/02/13/coming-out-of-the-darkness/) - This month I'm sharing some resources and tools that can help you move towards a better understanding of why- and how- you can bring yourself back to, well, yourself when you're having a hard time.
- [The Summer of YOU](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/06/11/the-summer-of-you/) - Whether you're a current student, an alum, or a future student, I hope that you'll take some time at the start of this summer to decide what you want to get out of this time. Think forward to August and ask yourself this:
- [We Think You're Wonderful](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/05/29/we-think-youre-wonderful/) - It may feel like everyone is saying how much they appreciate you, or like no one is saying it, or like the folks who are saying it now don’t really mean it...
- [The Best Formula Ever](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/07/17/the-best-formula-ever/) - We’ve all had that class- the one where nothing worked. Maybe a day or maybe all year but there was just something that kept them for doing the cool stuff that you’d planned. The wheels just keep coming off, no matter what you do. Lord knows I’ve been there. And it’s just...ugh. I believe that
- [Finding the Funny in the Chaos](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/09/11/finding-the-funny-in-the-chaos/) - School supplies are my kryptonite. Notebooks, fresh Ticonderogas (iykyk, right?), cute little fake-succulent magnets, inspirational saying pencil pouches, and the annual “THIS is the planner that will change my life” purchase. (Spoiler alert: it will not, in fact, change my life.) I love the idea of order, even though I realize that my life trends
- [Afraid of Assessment? The Six Questions You Need to Be Asking.](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/10/16/afraid-of-assessment-the-six-questions-you-need-to-be-asking/) - I love The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I’ve loved it since 10th grade when I read it in Mrs. Throckmorton’s English class. It is a masterwork of suspense and, frankly, it gives me the heeby-est of jeebies. I always taught it in October because it’s a good, scary read, it’s thematic, and
- [Your Year, Your Timeline](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2025/02/10/your-year-your-timeline/) - This time of year carries different energy for different people. For some, it’s an energizing fresh start. For others, a moment to pause, reset, and continue on as before. For others? Just a series of long, cold, monochromatic grey/white/black days. In much of Western culture, the focus on improvement, on making this the best year ever is
- [Brrrr! ❄️ ❄️](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2025/02/10/brrrr-❄️-❄️/) - This month is the first month of my long-awaited sabbatical and I've been busy doing all the things I always said I'd do if I didn't have to do all the things I have to do. I've visited classrooms, scheduled more visits to more classrooms, talked to alums and former colleagues, read a big chunk
- [Find Your Footing](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2025/03/07/find-your-footing/) - We're in that in-between stage of winter- snow, puddles, mud, and ice- so figuring out where to put your feet can be tricky. What looks like a puddle could be ice (or ice under a puddle) and one wrong step can leave you with soggy socks or- even worse- a soggy, sore behind. Veterans o
- [May...be it's time](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2025/05/13/may-be-its-time/) - I'm writing this with the windows open (finally!), listening to the wrens sing their first songs of the summer. Wrens have always been my favorites. It's the first bird song I learned to recognize and the one I listen for every spring. There's something about those tiny birds, singing their hearts out in the most warbly of ways,
- [Take your time](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2025/07/07/take-your-time/) - The rhythm of school teaches us to make the most of these long, hot days. It's summer! Whoo hoo! If you're a teacher, though, you're probably scrambling to balance that whoo-hoo with a healthy dose of deferred maintenance (doctors, dentists, home repair, etc)— a long list of have-tos and a long list of want-tos— and you may feel like you're racing from one thing to the next.One of the things I tell prospective
- [You Matter 🥰](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2025/09/15/you-matter-🥰/) - September is all about faces— familiar and new— and figuring out, once again, how we fit together into the newish world we’re creating in our schools and classrooms. As we kick off this year's celebration of 40 years of the Critical Skills Classroom with this episode of The Seedfield (a great conversation with Antioch's own Jasper Nighthawk about the history and future
- [Don't be afraid to fall](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2025/11/03/dont-be-afraid-to-fall/) - I'd like you to meet Branchy*. In my family, we use Branchy as a marker of time- she loses her leaves last and buds out early, marking the beginning and end of the warm months. We add lights to her in the winter and note how much harder it is to reach the upper branches,
- [A good book can change everything](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2025/10/11/a-good-book-can-change-everything/) - As part of this year's celebration of 40 years of the Critical Skills Classroom, I've been looking back through the archives. I've spent time with books, articles, tools, newsletters, photos, challenges (written by hand or typed on electric typewriters!), correspondence, and meeting minutes from the days before the internet. Each references the best thinking of the day, the emergent
- [Beyond the Ice Breaker](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2022/08/09/beyond-the-ice-breaker/) - For Critical Skills teachers, back-to-school is about more than organizing materials and planning lessons- it’s also about figuring out the best ways to help kids get to know each other well, whether they’ve been in school together for one day or a decade.
- [Phineas and Ferb Teach “Transfer”](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2022/12/14/hello-world/) - This past summer, over 50 educators in SAU 29 spent three days learning about Understanding by Design and the concept of “transfer.” The best definition of transfer I have come across is not found in any book or peer-reviewed article; rather, a children’s cartoon, full of witty humor, an evil villain, and a secret agent platypus named “Perry” provides the perfect description of what “transfer” actually is.
- [How is the CSC different?](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2023/07/24/how-is-the-csc-different/) - No two Critical Skills Classrooms look exactly the same because we respect the experience and expertise that teachers (and students) bring to the table. We know that the teacher is the most important student in the room and that they are entitled to the same care, support, and time for reflection that they give their students. We reflect on what we know, what we need to know, and what we want to know. We discover our growing edges and we work together to explore what is possible.
- [Bittersweet August](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2023/07/31/bittersweet-august/) - August is bittersweet, you know? Summer is still here, but we can see fall from where we're standing, especially in New England where each warm day is more precious because summer is short-lived. Whether you tried to fill your summer intentionally with just the right mix of rest and excitement or you just took each day as
- [Expecting the Unexpected (and Knowing What to Do Next)](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2023/08/14/how-do-we-know-what-to-do-next/) - We have systems & processes- Standard Operating Procedures- so we don't have to reinvent the whee. Why don’t we teach kids to do the same?
- [Remembering the Names](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2023/09/07/remembering-the-names/) - What we most want, all of us, is to be known. We want to know that, should we fail to appear one day, someone will call for us until we emerge.
- [Reflect and Connect- Witch Way to the 5K Challenge](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2023/09/25/reflect-and-connect-witch-way-to-the-5k-challenge/) - I had never used the Brainstorming Tools. I really liked how the kids had to identify the problem, and we set up the criteria together. Great tool!
- [Going in Circles](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2023/10/08/going-in-circles/) - The wise educator rations their energy and effort to target the confluence between their ideals and their actions- the things they can control.
- [Evidence-Based Optimism](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2023/11/20/evidence-based-optimism/) - Sometimes, hope (and evidence-based optimism) can be the most radical act we can undertake, you know?
- [Guest Post: When the wheels come off](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2023/11/28/guest-post-when-the-wheels-come-off/) - When the wheels come off (and it happens to everyone), Critical Skills teachers know what to do.
- [Critical Skills Teachers Know that the P is for Problem](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2023/12/05/critical-skills-teachers-know-that-the-p-is-for-problem/) - There's a difference between "doing projects" and "doing PBL," but Critical Skills teachers know that the key to success is in the Problem.
- [That Community Won't Just Build Itself](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/01/05/that-community-wont-just-build-itself/) - I think just about all of us are back to school at this point, with about 10,000 things to do, not enough time, and not nearly enough folks to help. It's easy to get lost in the "what's next" of it all. I'm thinking a lot about the things that make all the difference- learning and
- [Sunday Scaries?](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/01/05/sunday-scaries/) - October is the month of all things spooky, but as I've learned over the last half a century (now THAT'S scary!) it's that "spooky is entirely in the eye of the one being spooked. Be it clowns, dolls, ghosts, or third period, we all have something that scares us. This month, I'm sharing a few
- [Need Something to be Grateful for?](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/01/05/need-something-to-be-grateful-for/) - November is usually all about gratitude, but to be honest I'm not sure educators are collectively finding a lot to be grateful for right now. We've been dealing with what @matteicheldinger called "The Change" and we're finding that what used to take us six weeks at the start of the year is now taking up exponentially more time.
- [Telling Our Stories](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/01/05/199/) - As we head into winter break and a much-needed rest, I'm thinking a lot about stories. Over the next few weeks, I'll be catching up with family and friends, hearing new stories about their lives, and rehashing some of the old favorites from our past. We'll connect through our shared experiences, reestablishing our bonds, celebrating our triumphs,
- [Ready for a Fresh Start](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/01/05/ready-for-a-fresh-start/) - Resolutions aren't really my thing, but I'm a big fan of a fresh start. For me, January is the perfect mid-school-year opportunity to reflect, renew, and revise. Am I doing things that feel meaningful? Are the people around me helping me to be the person I want to be? What do I need to change
- [The W.A.S.H. (We All Speak Here):  A tool for powerful collaboration](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/03/26/the-w-a-s-h-we-all-speak-herea-tool-for-powerful-collaboration/) - The W.A.S.H. strategy is a vehicle that allows individuals and groups to discover for themselves (internally and externally) ideas, issues, concerns, concepts, and misinterpretations about life, the universe, and everything. It is essentially a highly structured brainstorming/distillation process— accomplished in a very short time—that explores the what, why, how, and what-if dimensions of a topic.
- [Going to ISTE?](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/01/05/going-to-iste/) - CONNECT with Laura Thomas at ISTELive24 in Denver, June 23-26Make an appointment to talk about EdTech, PBL, Critical Skills, Antioch, Edutopia, or whatever interests you! Or check out these sessions: Challenge Design: Getting Started & Going Deeper Sun 6/23 2:30 – 3:30 Learn how to design experiential, standards-driven, problem-based challenges that grow with you and your students. This session
- [Critical Skills 2024](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2023/09/08/critical-skills-2024/) - Save your spot for Critical Skills 2024! July 8-12, 2024, Keene, NH
- [What is Your Story?](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/01/05/what-is-your-story/) - I’m happy share a guest post today from Jason Finley, Work-Based Learning Coordinator Randolph Technical Career Center and 2009 Rowland Fellow (Inaugural Cohort)This was originally posted on the Rowland Foundation blog.————————————————————-While the Rowland Blog is a piece of our Professional Learning Community, the following is largely a personal take on our individual and collective work.
- [Congratulations, Julie!](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/2024/01/05/congratulations-julie/) - Julie K. Biddle, PhD, Concentration Director for New England’s Graduate Certificates in The Reggio Emilia Approach, Trauma Informed Education, and Dyslexia Studies, was selected to be a part of the Pedagogical Leadership Cohort (PLC), sponsored by the Boston Area Reggio Inspired Network (BARIN). BARIN gives preference to candidates from the Boston area, but because of Biddle’s extensive experience

## Pages

- [The Critical Skills Classroom](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/) - Creating Classrooms that Inspire and Engage Teacher Training in Problem-Based Learning | Antioch University Transform your classroom into a place where students do the real work — and love it. The Critical Skills Classroom is a community of practice dedicated to excellence, where teachers and students bridge the gap between academic standards and real-world skills
- [CSC Immersion 2026](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/news/) - Save your spot for Critical Skills 2026! On Campus July 13-17, 2026 Schools looked different when the Critical Skills Classroom came to Antioch University New England. No one had heard of PBL, Cooperative Learning was group work, Experiential Learning was for ropes courses and backpacking trips, and EdTech was playing Oregon Trail on the classroom Apple
- [Articles, Videos, & White Papers](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/articles-white-papers/) - Articles, Handouts, & White Papers From Portrait to Practice: A guide for district and school leaders. NEW! Standard Operating Procedures- a brief guide Upping the Challenge Chunking Handouts IP3 Rituals and Traditions NEA NH Executive Functions Handouts Reflection: A Process for Making Meaning Planning Questions for Design The WASH (We All Speak Here) St. John,
- [From Portrait to Practice: A guide for district and school leaders](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/articles-white-papers/from-portrait-to-practice-a-guide-for-district-and-school-leaders/) - You’ve created your Portrait of a Graduate. You’ve done the community engagement, named your competencies — things like critical thinking, resilience, collaboration, resourcefulness — and produced a document or a poster. The hard part is what comes next. Without a concrete instructional approach, a Portrait risks becoming a statement on a website rather than something
- [How to Turn Portraits into Practice: Quick Start](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/articles-white-papers/from-portrait-to-practice-a-guide-for-district-and-school-leaders/from-portrait-to-practice-getting-started/) - Explore how Portrait of a Graduate informs Critical Skills classroom work and translate it into practical, coachable steps for your school.
- [Free Tool Fridays](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/free-tool-fridays/) - Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram for more free tools! Keeping small group discussions on track can be tricky. This desk-sized checklist can help. Small questions can lead to big learning shifts. Download this free coaching deck for guiding reflection, problem-solving, and growth. What to look for and what to say to help your students build the
- [Upping the Challenge](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/articles-white-papers/upping-the-challenge/) - Excerpted from The Complete Guide to the Critical Skills Classroom. View the document on Canva Upping the Challenge (1)Download
- [Books](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/resources-for-the-critical-skills-classroom/) - Sometimes, you need a good idea to get you started. Sign up for Connections, our monthly newsletter, and get first access to new publications, tools, news, and events. Books (Kindle, Paperback, free Canva EBooks, and PDFs) The Complete Guide to the Critical Skills Classroom PDF EBook A Teacher's Guide to Experiential Learning PDF EBook The
- [Standard Operating Procedures - A brief overview](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/standard-operating-procedures-a-brief-overview/) - A Teacher's Guide to Standard Operating Procedures (1)Download
- [News!](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/the-critical-skills-classroom-in-action/) - Register now for the 2026 Critical Skills Immersion! July 13-17, 2026Keene, NH Learn more! Explore problem-based, experiential, collaborative, standards-driven learning and examine how they can be successfully integrated, focusing on the role of the teacher in designing curriculum, guiding students, and assessing performance. You'll develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to build and maintain
- [Rituals and Traditions](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/rituals-and-traditions/) - Rituals and TraditionsDownload
- [Learn with us](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/the-critical-skills-classroom/the-critical-skills-classroom-degrees-and-programs/) - Ready to reinvigorate your classroom? Join our MEd, Certificate, or sign up for our summer Immersion to enhance your classroom practice with complex, interesting, real-world learning opportunities that authentically boost student motivation and achievement while meeting academic standards. Learn which program is the best fit for you. MEd Graduate Certificate Immersions & Institute We have
- [NEA NH Handouts](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/nea-nh-handouts/) - Executive Function Skills: Helping Students Find Meaning from Their ExperiencesLaura Thomas, Core Faculty, Antioch UniversityOct 10, 2025 One thing classroom teachers know: things happen. Sometimes we plan them, sometimes we don’t, but there’s always a learning opportunity to be had. In this workshop, we explored tools and processes for helping students makemeaning from the experiences
- [Reflection: A Process for Making Meaning](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/reflection-a-process-for-making-meaning/) - Reflection A Process for Making Meaning (2)Download
- [What is the Critical Skills Classroom?](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/what-is-the-critical-skills-classroom/) - The Critical Skills Classroom is an approach to teaching and learning that positions the student and the teacher as co-learners, building skills in academic content alongside "process" skills (collaboration, communication, etc) simultaneously through meaningful problems and experiences. Critical Skills Research Base Why Critical Skills? Critical Skills in Under a Minute
- [Chunking Handouts](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/chunking-handouts/) - Chunking HandoutDownload
- [3 Good Ideas](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/3-good-ideas/) - Need inspiration? In our "3 Good Ideas" series, we're sharing some of the great ideas that our Critical Skills teachers have used in their classrooms. (Looking for more? Check out the Challenge Bank!) Interdisciplinary (Gardening) Garden Blueprint Plant Design Courtyard Creation Science Aquatic Biome Mission Name that Rock Tornado Challenge Scenario Social Studies Branches of
- [What do teachers say about the Critical Skills Classroom?](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/what-do-teachers-say-about-the-critical-skills-classroom/) - The coursework changed the way I worked because I was able to apply concepts I was learning in my classroom immediately. I was also able to gain feedback and awesome project ideas while collaborating with other educators in my class.Constance Braswell, MEdInstructional Support Specialist What we need in this world more than anything else is
- [Challenge and Tool Banks](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/challenge-and-tool-banks/) - Challenge Bank In a Critical Skills classroom, challenges are richly connected through a thoughtful process of design. They are connected to meaningful contexts outside the classroom, the lives of students through a focus on life roles, relevant issues, and personal perspectives, and in the minds of students, integrating their knowledge and understanding through a variety
- [Our Approach](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/our-approach/) - We need adults who know how to work together to solve problems What is the Critical Skills Classroom? The Critical Skills approach builds powerful lessons in classrooms at all levels. It combines experiential learning, problem-based learning, and rigorous high standards within an intentionally created collaborative learning community, creating classrooms that many educators imagine but can’t
- [FAQ](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/faq/) - What is the Critical Skills Classroom? The Critical Skills Classroom is a comprehensive approach that creatively and effectively integrates four powerful teaching methodologies into a coherent strategy: Collaborative Learning Experiential Learning Problem-Based Learning Standards-Driven Learning The versatility of the Critical Skills Classroo has made it highly adaptable and successfully implemented at all grade levels and in
- [Leadership Community](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/leadership-community/) - Resources, tools, and materials for the Critical Skills Leadership Community. The title “Critical Skills Leadership” is earned through a rigorous process of implementation, reflection, and observation. An individual who has gained this status is imbued with the authority to train others in the use of the Critical Skills Classroom and to participate in the leadership

## Categories

- [News](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/category/news/)
- [Resources](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/category/resources/)
- [Blog](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/category/blog/)
- [Little Letters from Laura](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/category/blog/little-letters/)

## Tags

- [Critical Skills Classroom](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/tag/critical-skills-classroom/)
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- [Challenges](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/tag/challenges/)
- [Collaborative Learning Community](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/tag/collaborative-learning-community/)
- [Equity](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/tag/equity/)
- [Critical Skills 2024](https://center.antioch.edu/csc/tag/critical-skills-2024/)
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