What is TAGteach?

FROM: Liz Norris, Master Trainer
AKC-CGC Instructor and Therapy Evaluator
Pawsibilities Unleashed
Pet Therapy of Kentucky, Inc.






Teachers and coaches draw from personal experience, wisdom, technical skill and a wide variety of tools to address the individual needs of each student. TAGteach™ is a powerful tool that has its basis in the laws of learning and a key focus on breaking skills down and shaping using positive reinforcement.

TAG stands for Teaching with Acoustical Guidance and uses a sound marker to indicate correct performance.

The TAG refers to the distinctive sound made to mark or “TAG” a moment in time. This sound becomes an acoustical binary message, a sort of “snapshot” that is quickly processed by the brain.

A TAG means “yes.” Absence of a TAG means “try again.”

The student no longer has to perform a time-consuming language analysis while attempting complicated movements. The immediacy and clarity of the feedback allows the student to form a mental picture of the movement or position.

“The TAG helps me make a picture in my brain so I can find the right position on my own.” —11-year-old dance student

TAGteach principles, take the frustration out of the learning environment

FROM: Liz Norris, Master Trainer
AKC-CGC Instructor and Therapy Evaluator
Pawsibilities Unleashed
Pet Therapy of Kentucky, Inc.

Leaps and Bounds: How TAGteach helps your dancers
(swimmers, golfers, racers, etc., go further, faster!

Tired of begging your dancers to point their feet? Using science-based TAGteach principles, take the frustration out of the dance environment—for your students and yourself! Discover how to create an interactive learning environment where dancers of all ages and disciplines are motivated and will work HARD to meet the criteria you set. Learn to break down and build strong technical skills that dancers will recall and repeat again and again. Find out how to seamlessly implement these methods into your existing lesson plans and achieve remarkable results—positively!

What is TAGteach?

Focus is placed on correct responses (positions, answers, behaviors) only—thus reinforcing and increasing repetition of those (desired) responses.

TAGteach, Teaching with Acoustical Guidance, is a science-based, positive reinforcement methodology that utilizes a proven and remarkably effective marker system. By marking a correct response (physical or behavioral), a neurological message is instantly received by the learner. Focus is placed on correct responses (positions, answers, behaviors) only—thus reinforcing and increasing repetition of those (desired) responses.

A new perspective
Dance education today is based on solid studies in the physiological and anatomical sciences as well as centuries of artistic tradition; verbally inherited methods of conditioning, technique, and vocabulary. Classical training has produced brilliant performers and proficient dabblers alike and has, as well, produced a myriad of sound syllabi in a wide variety of disciplines.

Teaching to touch a target : Video

By Liz Norris, Master Trainer
AKC-CGC Instructor and Therapy Evaluator
Pawsibilities Unleashed
Pet Therapy of Kentucky, Inc.

TARGET WORK

Liz working a 10 month old Weimie. You can hear her clicking the desired behavior from the dog. Got this in just an hour of clicker work.

Teaching a dog to go out over an object and touch a target
then come back over a jump and target to your hand.

---

MeBO Research

FAQ TAGteach

FROM: Liz Norris, Master Trainer
AKC-CGC Instructor and Therapy Evaluator
Pawsibilities Unleashed
Pet Therapy of Kentucky, Inc.

Here are some FAQ we get from people starting TAG training...

1. Tagging sounds like fun, but what about serious skill development?
2. Will the sound of the TAG get annoying after a while?
3. Can you TAG with a large group?
4. How long before the newness wears off and the TAG loses its impact?
5. Can the TAG be heard while music is playing or other groups of students are nearby?
6. How long should a TAG lesson last?
7. What happens if the athlete never does the action I want to TAG?
8. Will they get bored?

1. Tagging sounds like fun, but what about serious skill development?

It's all about serious skill development; from a gymnast safely landing a double back flip dismount off a 4 inch wide balance beam to a hearing impaired student correctly pronouncing a difficult word. TAGteach creates a direct line of communication, information and motivation that benefits both students and teacher.

2. Will the sound of the TAG get annoying after awhile?

After a few minutes, the sound of the TAG becomes a non-issue, part of the ambiance of the gym or classroom. Nothing is as disturbing as the sound of an aggravated coach or the sound of a child crying from frustration. The TAG is a sound that on introduction draws attention, but it is the sharpness of the sound that guides the focus of the student. It allows them to capture a finite slice of time, photograph it and have brilliant recall later. Actually, while being tagged, students are so incredibly focused on their skill, they react to the sound, but most don't remember actually hearing it.

Clicking Tough Kids

FROM: Liz Norris, Master Trainer
AKC-CGC Instructor and Therapy Evaluator
Pawsibilities Unleashed
Pet Therapy of Kentucky, Inc.

From: Liz Norris
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2007 3:52 AM
Subject: Clicking Tough Kids

A Note of Explanation:
More and more parents are beginning to use the clicker system, and sometimes the actual clicker, to shape behavior and skills in their children. People in professional circles, however, are sometimes still nervous about the idea. Here’s a report from a teacher faced with an emergency situation who put the clicker to work in a truly imaginative way.

Stuart Harder, Ph.D., a behavior analyst in the Minnesota public school system, posted the October 6 letter, below, to a precision teaching discussion list of which I’m a member. Many people, including me, immediately sent praise and queries. In the second post, October 7, Stuart responded to some of those comments.

He is continuing this work and teaching others; other schools are also giving this a try. We will try to keep new information flowing to this site as it comes in.

Karen Pryor

---

From: Harder, Stuart R. [BSMTP:scred.srh@norsol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 1999 5:28 PM
To: SClistserv@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Tough Kids & Clicker Training