Basics Article #3: Peer Tagging

TAGteach™ (Teaching with Acoustical Guidance) is a new way of teaching using positive reinforcement with a click sound marker to identify successful performance. In past articles we have talked about the tag point—the exact response, action, or position that a teacher pinpoints with a tag (the click sound) to tell the learner “YES, that was right!” and how to associate the audible tag with a tangible reinforcer.

The most powerful—and empowering—aspect of TAGteach comes from handing the taggers (handheld sound makers) over to the learners. “Tagging lets you be the teacher and you feel good about helping your teammates do better,” said one 10-year-old cheerleader from North Carolina. “When learners tag each other they learn twice and they become caring compassionate teachers,” said Theresa McKeon, coach of national level gymnasts and TAGteach pioneer.

How do learners learn twice when they tag their peers? First, they practice and learn while being tagged themselves. Second, they learn by assessing the tag point when tagging their partner—which offers a very different perspective. Suddenly everyone is busy and learning, even if it is not their turn.

All learners receive positive feedback equally, including the quietly average learners who tend to escape the teacher’s notice. The teacher is free to move from group to group giving guidance. The learner who is doing the tagging often internalizes the movement and performs it herself subconsciously while watching her partner. The teacher or coach can see right away if the learners understand the tag point by having them tag a peer. The most important benefits of peer tagging are that it promotes empathy for others, gives concrete practice in focusing on the positive (while ignoring errors), and provides a mechanism for moving away from old-style teaching based on scolding and punishment.

Peer tagging in pairs

There are several peer tagging configurations that are used to get the most out of a session. The simplest of these is tagging in pairs. Learners work with a partner and take turns tagging each other for the tag point assigned and explained by the teacher. They switch places after a preset time limit (three minutes possibly) or after the learner has earned five or ten tags.

Groups of three work together with one learner tagging the other two. This configuration works best when the activity involves actions by two participants. For example, two learners bump a volleyball back and forth while the third person tags the other two for bent knees during the bump. Once the players have 10 tags each, the group rotates so that everyone gets a chance to tag.

Peer tagging in lines

Some sports drills are conducive to tagging in lines. Learners line up and one person at a time from each line moves across the floor while another learner tags. Dribbling a soccer ball through a series of cones with the tag point being “kick with the side of your foot,” is an example. The fun of this can be increased by having two parallel lines race against each other to see which team can earn the most tags.

Peer tagging during drills

Any sports or lesson drill can be modified to include a peer tagging position. Just insert another position into the drill through which the learners rotate, handing the tagger off to the next person when the positions switch. If there are injured players, they can take turns tagging during the drills and still be involved with the practice.

Peer tagging with heterogeneous groups

Groups of learners of different ages and skill levels can work together, tagging each other. As long as the tag point is well defined, even young children or those with learning or cognition deficits can see the correct response, action, or position—and tag it. Give younger children tag points that are easier to achieve, or require fewer tags from them for prize redemption compared to older learners. Design tag points based on ability so that all learners can have fun helping each other improve. You’ll be amazed to see the effect of peer tagging on sibling relationships when competition and criticism is turned into cooperation and positive reinforcement.

Next time we’ll talk about the versatility of TAGteach and how you can seamlessly incorporate tagging into existing lesson plans, without changing the technical content of your teaching.

We invite you to join the TAGteacher discussion group at www.tagteach.com to meet others who are implementing TAGteach in various disciplines and to see the list of upcoming TAGteach seminars.