Upcoming TAGteach Seminars

Register now for an open TAGteach Certification Seminar or contact Theresa at t@tagteach.com to schedule a personalized seminar for your group.


Register at http://www.tagteach.com/events or call 704-995-9237 for more details.

If you can't make it to a live seminar, you can take our online course from the comfort of home at your own pace.

Chicago March 2011

Upcoming Seminars

Detroit MI (5/7-8/2011)

Milpitas CA (5/18-19/2011)

Portland OR (6/11-12/2011)

Calgary AB (10/1-2)

Solothurn, Switzerland (10/22-23/2011)

San Diego CA (11/05-06/2011)

Recent comments we have received about TAGteach...

"Absolutely fantastic. Great mix of backgrounds- human behavior analysts, dog trainers, musician, teachers of all backgrounds... lead to a very enriching environment" - Colleen Koch (veterinarian)

As always, love the practicality of TAGteach. We have time to work through our own scenarios and are ready to use TAGteach when we return to the educational environment the very next day.  Sheila Smith (special education - Arkansas)

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TAGteach Seminar Report - Hershey PA

Theresa and I were in Hershey PA last week for a terrific TAGteach seminar at the wonderful Vista School. The Vista School brings state-of-the-art special education and therapeutic services to children living with autism in Central Pennsylvania. We had a great group of people from several different backgrounds and we all learned a lot from each other. There were four behavior analysis professors there and all of them have plans for research studies, which is very exciting for us.

One of the homework exercises is to think of something that you would like to change in your own behavior and do some self-tagging to see how this works. Everyone takes home the tagulator that they made for themselves and pulls down a bead to mark the tags when they successfully execute the tag point they set from themsleves.

Here are some creative examples of self-tagging tag points that people invented:

After printing off a sheet from the printer file it right away rather than leaving it on the printer to pile up. The tag point is file the paper

While shopping, rather than getting annoyed at other people for pushing or other rude behavior, have empathy for them and think about what they might be thinking and why they might be in a hurry or stressed out. The tag point is think about others.

Instead of giving unsolicited and often unwanted advice to older teens and twenty-something children, keep quiet and let them enjoy the time together as a family. The tag point is keep quiet.

Associate Professor from Penn State, Rick Kubina told us that he has a 6 year old client with autism whose parents have struggled unsuccessfully for the past year trying to teach the child to tie his shoes. Rick had also been unsuccessful in an attempt to teach this. Rick went straight home and tried out his new TAGteach skills on this problem and posted the following on his Facebook page:

After my two day TAGteach seminar I had the chance to use my new acquired skill with a 6-year-old boy (he has autism). For the last year parents have been trying to teach him to tie his shoe. I tried about a month ago and failed miserably. After one, 20 minute TAGteach session I tagged what you see in the picture. Very proud of my little guy.

We had lots of interesting discussions about the application of TAGteach principles to real-life teaching situations that the attendees face. We look forward to hearing from everyone about their successes with TAGteach.

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Seminar Feedback from Educators

One of the areas in which we think TAGteach could have a profound impact is in the classroom, so we are thrilled to have been able to conduct seminars for educators from the Alternative Organizational Structure 94 Board Special Services in Maine and Arkansas Department of Education - Special Education Unit. In attendance were behavior analysts, early childhood behavior specialists, school psychology specialists, speech pathologists, and other specialists. TAGteach cofounder Theresa McKeon said:

Every state should be lucky enough to have a group this educated, dedicated and open-minded.

Here are some comments from attendees at the first training session in AK:

It truly was one of the best trainings I have ever had the opportunity to attend. Not only will help me in my professional world, but my daughter also learned to tie her shoes without the normal frustration we would experience. Thanks so much! - Sheila Smith

I agree with all Shelia said! I never believed I could teach my daughter to tie her shoes in less than an hour! I'm excited to see how I can use all I learned professionally. - Jennifer Hennessey

Thank you for investing your time bringing your training to AR. I agree with Shelia and Jennifer. Definitely was one of the best 2 days of training in 15 years. I look forward to applying the strategies at work and home and expect amazing results. - Laura McKenzie Cooke

And some comments after the second session:

Once again, the training was amazing!!! One of the most practical trainings I have ever attended. I highly recommend it to others in the field of education. Can't wait for the advanced training! - Sheila Smith

I agree with Shelia. I got positive feedback from all attendees. One sent me a text saying "I LOVE TAGTEACH" Thanks for another awesome training! - Jennifer Hennessey

If you are an educator and you have a training budget give us a call. Your teachers and specialist educators will love TAGteach!

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Continuing Education Credits for TAGteach Seminars

Attendees at TAGteach seminars qualify for continuing education credits from the Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers and from the Behavior Analyst Certification Board

BACB CEU's

A TAGteach seminar falls under the description for Type 3 Continuing  Education:

Completion or instruction of a seminar, colloquium, presentation, conference event, workshop or symposium not approved by the BACB, or engaging in supervision activities, only if they relate directly to the practice of behavior analysis. A maximum of 25 percent of the total required number of hours of continuing education may be applied from this category during any three-year certification period.
http://www.bacb.com/maint_frame.html


CCPDT CEUs

The TAGteach online course qualifies for 9 CE credits from CCPDT. Just make a copy of your certificate and submit this. There is no need for any other form.

TAGteach live seminars qualify for 13 CCPDT credits.  We don't apply for these every time, since each seminar requires a separate application. If anyone whats these credits please tell us ahead for time so that we can do the application.

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TAGteach Level 1 Certification in Japan by Webcam

A group of creative TAGteachers got together in Japan to earn their Level 1 TAGteach certification via webcam and Skype link with Theresa McKeon in the US. The participants had previously attended a TAGteach seminar with Theresa in Japan to earn their primary level certification. After practicing their skills they were ready to work towards their next level of certification and demonstrate to Theresa. The webcam and Skype links allowed Theresa to observe and comment on the session. Everyone agreed that this 2 hour session was a great success.

Here is a short video that shows some parts of the session:

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Seminar Summary - Portland April 2010

By Keri Gorman

Just wanted to share some highlights from the Portland TAGteach seminar. As usual we had a diverse group which included horse trainers, dog trainers, a nurse, an occupational therapist and a dance teacher, 15 people in all.

I've been teaching TAG for about 5 years now and the seminars have evolved so much! We are at the point where people are already familiar with TAG before attending the seminar, many of them having already used it. We spend much more time in discussion and practice which is challenging and rewarding for me. This group in particular already had a sense of why tagging would be better than not, but wanted clarity in the best use of the methodology and language. TAGteach is such a simple tool, yet brings up so many complex questions.

Here are some of my "ah ha" moments:

A mother of 3 boys (ages 5, 7 and 9) spent the weekend developing a TAG plan for helping one of her boys get out of bed in the morning and off to school. The whole routine had become very toxic to both mom and son. It seemed that just tagging the individual components of the routine would not be enough and the process needed some creativity. Well, what boy wouldn't love spitting some toothpaste on the mirror in the morning? By 7:30am, the TAG point is "spit toothpaste on the mirror". Certainly incompatible with lying in bed and the morning can start out with a little humor!

A group of us were tagged for square dancing, always fun! I can add that to the list of Irish dance step, hula, belly dancing and swing, all of which Ihave learned thanks to TAG.

The group came up with some very creative ways to teach a class of medical field managers how to "read their manual", a normally daunting and boring task.

TAGpoints for a Blind Contour Drawing lesson, that was a first!! We all got to participate in this one and it was so cool! It's amazing to me that such a structured and scientific teaching tool can be SO useful in teaching
creativity. It was the first time in my life I haven't been scared to create art, I have complete trust that a  TAGteacher can get me through it.

Thank you to Theresa and all the attendees for another amazing seminar. Lots of great contributions and I'm sure more to come from this particular group!

I'm on my way to the local fire department tomorrow morning to introduce a little TAG to the captain. I just see endless possibilities for this application! Talk about a profession that requires instinctive skill recall!

Find out more about Keri or contact her at TAG Northwest

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Why Host a TAGteach Seminar?

Many of our TAGteach seminars are hosted by people who have already come to at least one seminar in the past. Why on earth would anyone want to come to see the same thing twice, let alone run the risk of having us actually show up on their doorstep? The seminars are never the same twice since the attendees are always different and interesting and come from many walks of life. More than half the seminar is spent interacting and doing hands-on activities so it is never the same experience twice.

We decided to ask some seminar hosts what made them decide to host a TAGteach seminar and we will post their responses at the blog from time to time.

Here is what Jane Jackson of Bookends Farm had to say:

After attending a TAGteach seminar last August, I looked forward to coming home and putting my new education to work in my lesson and training business. I had been using “clicking for people” ever since hearing about TAGteach and acquiring a Clicker+ but I learned so much more at the seminar about applying TAGteach for humans as it differs from clicking for animals.

My students last year ranged from age 5 to age 70, and from complete beginners to folks active in jumping competitions, as well as people learning to train their own horses with clicker training (so I was training the owners to be trainers). The obvious use for TAGteach with riders is working on physical skills such as body position and movements. But I also found wonderful mental and emotional benefits as well. Sometimes I was actually focusing on these skills, such as the young boys who would come, worn out after a long day at school. They were tired of following directions all day. So I could use TAG points to engage them in catching ponies and working on grooming them which soon brought smiles and cooperation to the afternoon. Other times, I was focusing on physical skills, but because of the nature of TAGteach, the emotional benefits were icing on the cake. A student frustrated with her abilities over fences and anxious about making progress would hear repeated confirmation of her success with each ping of the Clicker+. Having a specific TAG point, as defined by the four criteria given at TAGteach seminars, made instruction and skill acquisition much more successful.

I anxiously look forward to my next seminar in the end of March!

Jane's seminar will be held in Norwich VT at the public library, 368 Main St on March 27-28. The early bird deadline is Feb 26. The seminar will be led by Theresa McKeon, TAGteach co-founder.


For more information or to register: Click here.

Watch this snippet from a TAGteach seminar:

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Update on Cascade Fishing Company Training

Update from the second annual Cascade training weekend with TAGteach/Legacy/I WorkWise

We just held our second annual TAGteach + A Mini-Chicken Camp seminar for the managers of the commercial fishing and processing ship, Seafisher.

This ship fishes the crazy waters in the Bering Sea and maintains a crew of over 80 for several months at time.The crew and managers come from all over the world and try to use English as a common language but all have heavy accents from their native tongue. Add all the testosterone and seriously hard work under less than ideal conditions and you have the potential for a perfect storm of broken communication and management issues.

Cascade, the company that owned the Seafisher realized this and decided to turn the tide so to speak. You could say they wanted to be "crossover" trainers. They already had Amy Duz and her company IWorkWise to do the skill training aboard the boat but she quickly realized that communication skills were what was lacking (she is a behavioral genius!).

She convinced the management to try clicker training for humans (TAGteach) and to include a day a chicken camp led by Terry Ryan. It was a bit of a long shot…would the guys get the correlation between training chickens and working in a positive manner with their crew?

Well they certainly did! Every manager including the ships captain, head engineer and processing managers have now attended at least 2 TAGteach and Chicken camp combo's! They all learned to train a chicken and how to add the principles and TAGteach methodology in their day to day management arsenal.

After the first seminar, the guys brought the principles back to the ship and boat yard. Training and communication on the boat improved tremendously and accidents were nearly wiped out.

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