Report from Switzerland: TAGteach Advanced Workshop

By Doris Vaterlaus

Doris Vaterlaus: Workshop host

We are back from the first TAGteach Advanced Workshop in Solothurn with Theresa and the first snow in Switzerland.

We had people from US (Theresa), Canada, England, Scotland, France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland - speaking 5 different languages English, French, Italian, Dutch and German (incl. Swiss German ;).

Some of them had already their Primary Certificate - others came with the Primary Online Course. Some have longtime experience with clicker training and others are already using TAGteach in their work.

We all had a good time discussing, learning and watching and going home with new ideas.

We have seen different topics - from tagging learning to ski, body posture for training chickens and horse trainers, first aid for emergency, training for dog trainers, training for dog owners, working with autistic children, how to tag a person in a hotel, how to use TAGteach in school - and great discussions about how to tag this and that...  What is the tag point?  Five words or less!

We are convinced about TAGteach and we surely will have another Advanced TAGteach Workshop - I hope in 2013. Prerequisites will be the Primary Certificate or having done the Primary Online Course. So, go for it!

Advanced Workshop participants

Theresa - always working!

Thanks to Doris for being a wonderful host and to everyone for bringing so many ideas and interesting discussions to the workshop!

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TAGteach at the 2012 Association of Pet Dog Trainers Conference

TAGteach will be presenting a workshop at the APDT conference this year. Theresa McKeon will provide dog trainers with ideas and techniques to help teach human students with more success and less frustration. Many trainers tell us that training the dog is easy, it is teaching the human that is the hard part!

Here is a video overview of the TAGteach workshop:



Click here for more information or to register

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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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TAGteach Presentations at ABAI

Every year TAGteach presents a session at the Association of Behavior Analysis state and international meetings. This gives us a chance to show our research results to the scientific community and to generate interest from others who want to apply TAGteach in their area of endeavor.  Each year excellent presenters join us to show the world what they have been doing with TAGteach. Below are slideshows of two of the presentations from 2010 ABAI. The third was discussed in a previous blog post.

The Combined Effect of TAGteach and Precision Teaching on Learning for Children with Autism - by Kevin Cauley and Elizabeth Benedetto-Nasho, Step By Step Learning Group Inc

Tagteach and Precision Teaching 2010

Creating and Following Directions In Hazardous Situations - TAGteach on the Bering Sea - by Theresa McKeon, TAGteach International.

TAGteach_ ABASymp_2010a

You can see a video that accompanied this presentation by clicking here. This video shows clips from a TAGteach consulting workshop where workers applied the TAGteach approach to solve some problems with training on work-related tasks.

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Learning to use TAGteach (Cascade Fishing Company)

Video shows a TAGteach workshop for the Cascade Fishing Company. The management has identified several tasks that on the boat have become NAG points. They broke them down and created TAG points. They really had to be creative, using props within a classroom to create the tag scenario. These inconveniences don't stand in their way of desiging clear directions for teaching. Bravo!

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Theresa Goes to Jail

By Theresa McKeon

I was invited to visit the James River Correctional Center for Men and the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Virginia to introduce TAGteach to groups of specially selected inmates. These groups of men and women are involved with the Pen Pals program in which they are paired with a shelter dog to train. Since they use clicker training to train their dogs, they are familiar with the principles underlying the TAGteach approach. Even so, I was a bit concerned that going into a maximum security prison to teach inmates to communicate and be nice to each other might be somewhat of a challenge.

The inmates were very cooperative and enthusiastic about TAGteach. In fact they were the politest, most attentive group I have ever worked with. The women were kind enough to take the time to provide written comments after learning about TAGteach. Some of these are framed below in terms of the TAGteach principles they embody:

Because a core component of TAGteach is to highlight success, leaders become proficient at looking for what is right, instead of focusing on what is wrong. Building on success is a skill that generalizes into a lifestyle.

"It has made me be on the lookout for my teammates’ TAG points, which encourages them while helping create a habit of observation in me.” Theresa- Inmate at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women

“It also made me realize that I need to start looking at the positive in my teammates.I have to rearrange my way of thinking and even communicating.” Tracey- Inmate FCCW

"We are so apt to notice the bad things in people that we overlook the positive.” Denise - FCCW

TAGteach is also designed to prevent confusion and build trust between leader and learner. Condemnatory language inherent in punishment based teaching is replaced with a collection of nonjudgmental tools like, “the tag point is” to initiate behavior, and a non-verbal marker to highlight it.

“In this type of setting, it’s difficult to receive feedback without looking for judgment and/or negativity.
The neutrality of the TAGteach technique makes it possible.” Theresa- FCCW

“It’s not so much a compliment – which can be hard for us to accept – but more of an affirmation that we are being mindful of our actions.

"It has really helped me to focus on my issues, and instead of feeling bad when I do wrong, I now feel positive about myself when I do something right.” Denise - FCCW

The program provides a platform upon which anyone can create achievable goals with clear beginnings and well defined endings. The audible marker component provides a non-judgmental method of marking, magnifying and instantly reinforcing any targeted response. The marker also adds an element of fun, encouraging repetition of success.

“Having taught more than half my life, I’ve always believed any learning should be fun. TAG is fun.” - Janice FCCW.

Success is guaranteed from the first moments as every first tag point is a point of success, something that is already within reach. This reinforces the leader’s goal to look for the positive while setting up a safe learning environment for the student. Each challenge subsequently builds from this point of success and moves towards a finished product.

“Learning TAGteach is a great self-esteem builder and positive reinforcer.
I would suggest that everyone try it.” Tecia - FCCW

“Positively reinforced teachers seeing success in their students due to TAG become more dedicated teachers. Students being positively reinforced by pointing out (tagging) their successes will be more dedicated students. It’s a wonderful positive circle!” Janice – FCCW

"On the next day at work (teaching math and computer aided drafting), I found myself thinking, How can I TAGteach this? Instead of fussing…I started discussing. The immediate result…improved performance and mood. At the end of a fraction session, I had several women tell me this was the first time they hadn’t hated math or felt stupid when dealing with it.” Theresa – FCCW

The men were willing to let us videotape their comments:

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TAGteach Workshop in Portland in June

A 1-day TAGteach workshop hosted by Paws to Freedom will be held in Portland OR on June 8. This is an 8-hour workshop featuring Keri Gorman of TAGteach Northwest. Attendees will get lots of hands-on practice and will learn from videos and demonstrations.

Click here to download the flyer for the event for more details.

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