By Luca Canever
TAGtots! What A Blast!
The TAGteach methodology has been used many
times with kids, (as you can see in this video), but this was the first time an
entire TAGteach Seminar was dedicated to parents and educators of children aged
3 to 10 years. The seminar was presented by TAGteach co-founder Theresa McKeon.
Theresa introduced us to TAGteach tools and the laws of behavior and how they
can be used to communicate with our children in a positive, caring, and
empathetic manner.
We were also able to discuss and watch
videos demonstrating how to change an emotion by changing physical behaviors as
seen in this video. Here the child’s
attitude towards swimming was changed by reinforcing the desired physical behavior.
Practical Applications
During the afternoon session we worked
together on three different projects to identify behaviors that can be
identified, highlighted, and reinforced in everyday situations.
EATING VEGETABLES: One group chose to use
successive approximations to introduce vegetables to their children. They could reinforce looking at vegetables,
then smelling, touching and finally taking small bites, observing the child's
body language to establish when they are ready for the next step. Theresa also
suggested that parents initially play tag game together “ignoring” the child.
The parents could start with the same approximations (looking, smelling,
touching, tasting) that are to be ultimately be performed by the child. In this way the child is gradually introduced
to the practice in a playful manner and with a low emotional impact.
RAISE YOUR HAND (Before speaking in the
classroom): In this scenario a single, specific behavior was requested by a
teacher. A focus funnel was used to provide context for the tag point.
The instructions are: Raise your hand
before speaking
The tag point is: Raise your hand
Theresa suggested initially giving the
taggers to the students and having them ‘tag the teacher’ each time the teacher
performs the tag point, ‘Raise hand before speaking’. This process could help
the children participate in the learning process and pay more
attention to the teacher. The students could have tagulators hanging from their
desks and pull a bead each time the teacher raises her hand. After a few
repetitions, the teacher would collect the taggers and begin tagging the
student’s behavior of ‘Raise hand before speaking’. When all the beads have been
pulled, the students could choose a favorite activity as an added reinforcer.
HUDDLE ROUND: The purpose of this project
was to discover a positive way to gather children back together as quickly as
possible after being separated by activities within the classroom. The process
had to be compatible with a class of children ages 3 to 6 years.
The process started with the teacher taking
the hand of one child and proclaiming “Tag!” That child grabs another student’s
hand and calls “Tag!” and so on and so until everyone is holding hands in a
circle. They end with everyone raising their clasped hands in the air and
proclaiming “Tag!” In this way the children are part of the process of
gathering together physically and mentally with the benefit of having the children
part of the process.
A special thank you to all the participants
who have chosen to accept the challenge of finding new and positive ways to
interact with their children.
To Theresa McKeon who has accepted this new
challenge ... thank you is not enough!
P.S. Success!
Two days later I've got some news. One of
the teachers has already began to experiment the marker in her classroom and
one of the dads has already taught his son to tie his shoes!
