Teaching Off Trail describes the transformation of Peter Dargatz, a national board-certified teacher, and public school coordinator, from an anxious assessor to a fair and fun facilitator of learning. It shares his personal professional journey detailing his evolution as an educator while simultaneously offering strategies for readers to implement Peter’s unique teaching philosophy to increase opportunities for play, creative expression, and personalization in both the indoor and outdoor classroom. In his own classroom, Peter brought learning outside by creating a nature kindergarten program that emphasizes community partnerships, service learning, and meaningful and memorable experiences in the outdoors.
Teaching Off Trail aims to inspire educators, administrators, and parents across all levels to turn their outrage for today’s educational system into outreach that promotes passionate and purposeful problem-solving. He incorporates techniques often seen in private educational settings like Reggio and Montessori—student-centered, self-directed experiential approaches to learning) and shows how they work within a public school system.
About the author
Peter Dargatz has been an educator for fourteen years and held various leadership roles for his school and district. Besides starting a nature kindergarten classroom in his school, he coordinates a schoolwide nature center collaboration and a district-wide family nature club. He has presented about his classroom at play and nature-based conferences across the country, and he is a founding member of the Wisconsin Nature-Based Early Childhood Association (Wi NBECA) and a co-author of the Nature-Based Preschool Professional Practice Guidebook, a project of the North American Association for Environmental Education’s (NAAEE) Natural Start Alliance. He was selected as the 2020 Formal Educator of the Year by the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education. Peter resides in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
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