Introducing TAGteach to Fishermen Part 6

An ongoing account of TAGteach introductions, triumphs and tribulations!
Chapter 5 of
TAGteach, Parrots and the Men from the Bering Sea!

Tagging the Table

By the afternoon, I thought the class was really starting to understand the TAGteach concepts and the benefits of delivering clear information and positive reinforcement.
Later that evening, I was sure of it.

While half sitting, half leaning on those cozy casino stools provided for those of us who station ourselves at nickel slot machines, I heard a louder than normal ruckus coming from the nearby roulette table.

Intrigued enough to leave my chance at nickel fortune; I found the guys from the Seafisher gathered tightly around the roulette wheel and table. Phil, yelled out, “Theresa, watch this!”
He showed me the tagger and started chanting to the roulette dealer…
“Click it, tip it…click it, tip it…click it, tip it”
The dealer just looked up a me with a big Cheshire grin.

They had been telling the dealer about TAGteach during the night’s gaming and jokingly told the dealer that every time they won, he would hear a tag (click) and that would mean a tip was coming for him. The dealer played along and soon everyone was clicking and tipping and laughing about the whole thing.

All of the laughter brought a bit of attention from the other casino customers and also produced a few security guards. Nothing illegal or suspect, just seventeen large burly fishermen chanting and making clicking noises at the roulette table…

The guys and the dealer explained to the security guards that all was quite well; they were just practicing positive reinforcement that they had learned about in a training seminar.

Although positive reinforcement can’t make a little ball fall into the desired slot of a roulette wheel, the dealer was rewarded when it did. Interesting concept…can one reinforce fate?

I told you these guys were brilliant!

Theresa

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New Level II TAGteacher: Maggie Ouillette

I would like to introduce the newest TAGteacher to achieve the Level II certification status, Margaret (Maggie) Ouillette.

Maggie has been diligently practicing her TAGteach skills with many clients and introducing TAGteach to volunteers at a local humane society shelter.

Here is an excerpt from her project:
“My level II certification project involves volunteers at the local humane society shelter. The organization has recently introduced a training program for dogs awaiting adoption. Volunteers work with the dogs at the shelter each evening. The goal of the program is to reduce the dogs’ stress levels by getting them out of their kennels and teaching them basic behaviors such as loose leash walking, object targeting (go to place, push easy button, use a doggy nail file). The volunteers use clicker training/Operant conditioning techniques to train the dogs. After reading the training logs and viewing video footage of the training, I noticed that the techniques were sometimes being applied incorrectly. Because the program is new, I felt it was the perfect opportunity to get incoming volunteers off on the right foot by using TAGteach to train them.”

You can see Maggie’s project journal by going to the TAGteach Yahoo group and then links.
Congratulations Maggie and thank-you for all of your hard work!
TAGteach International

Photo from Maggie:
"What I love about the photo is how the person in black is holding her right hand.
A previous tag point was... non clicker hand to post it. The post it is gone, they're working on a different tag point, but her hand is totally plastered to her leg! TAGteach, I love it!"

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TAGteach Overseas!!

TAGteach fans -As we are back from a second successful trip to Japan, here's a quick reminder that we have two more very exciting overseas TAGteach certification seminars coming up…please feel free to cross post.

TAGteach International announces upcoming Certification Seminars
Madrid, Spain on the 18th and 19th of April
This seminar will be given in English and translated into Spanish

Balmberg, Switzerland on the 9th and 10th of May
This seminar will be given in English and translated into German andFrench

Guaranteed to change the way you look at teaching and learning!
TAGteach is proven to accelerate learning and improve communication
TAGteach builds positive, focused communication and self-assessmentskills
TAGteach can help you to motivate even the toughest group
TAGteach is a technology universally applicable and beneficial to any population

You can register at www.tagteach.com/events
http://www.tagteach.com/events
For more information on TAGteach
www.tagteach.blogspot.com http://www.tagteach.blogspot.com/
www.tagteach.com http://www.tagteach.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tagteach

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Dentist Saga Update

I posted a link to a video in a previous blog post about a preschooler afraid of the dentist. His mother has been using TAGteach to help him overcome this fear. There are several videos in this series that you can see at YouTube. Here is the third dentist visit, which shows that huge strides have been made since the first visit, when the child was clearly terrified and was wary even of approaching the door. Now he goes right in and sits in a chair in the waiting room.

To see this video at the YouTube site and thus be able to see all the other videos in the series, click on the YouTube logo on the bottom right of the video screen.

Thanks to Sara and Callan for setting a positive example and sharing their adventures. For more of Sara's videos visit her YouTube site.

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Introducing TAGteach: Lessons Learned

Theresa has gone off to Japan and abandoned us. I am bereft. So you will have to get by with a post from me today. Well, it's technically not really from me since I copied both the text and the photos from others (with their permission of course).

Maggie Ouillette who is a clicker trainer and TAGteacher has kindly provided this excerpt from a summary of a project she is working on for further TAGteach certification. Maggie's project involves implementing TAGteach in the teaching of shelter volunteers to clicker train the dogs.

Shelter Volunteer TAGteach Project - Some Things I've Learned

Implementing TAGteach into a training program was a learning process for me as well as for the shelter volunteers. Understanding the TAGteach methodology was just the beginning. It took some time to become comfortable actually using the process to teach dog training. The first step was to identify the skills needed to work with the dogs successfully. They fall into categories of:

• Leash/dog handling
• Timing of reward marker
• Timing and placement of reward delivery
• Ability to observe and shape behaviors

The tag points that I came up with were designed to break these skills down into the smallest denominator. Whenever possible I used `value-added' tag points which prevented undesirable behaviors as well as identifying a skill point.

Things I've Learned Through TAGteaching

Start small

My initial impulse was to jump in with both feet, using multiple tag points. The first training session was less than perfect because of that impulse. I started out wanting to tag everything. Over time I realized that using a limited number of well chosen tag points was most effective. I learned how important it was to introduce this new concept gradually.

Begin with the basics


I developed a set of introductory tag points which dealt with the skills needed from each of the four categories. For example, a set of tap points dealt with the basics of clicking and then delivering the reward. Each training session began with these tag points before we ever introduced the dogs. The learners practiced the exercises without a dog, then with a stuffed dog, then with a shelter dog. The learners were often a bit bemused about the simplicity of the introductory exercises. One teenaged learner remarked jokingly "Oh, we're in Kindergarten! She mastered the intro exercises easily. When we added the dog she was the first to comment "Oh, yeah, it's harder when you have the dog!"

When in doubt, break it down

In the past when I was working with dog training students, when they were having trouble performing a skill correctly, I would gently take the leash, saying, "Let me just show you how to do it". That may give the learner an opportunity to observe the skill in its completed form, but it doesn't teach them how to do it themselves. Now when those moments happen, I stop and say to myself "This would be a great place for a tag point!"

Verbal markers are problematic

When the program began, I tried using a verbal marker such as `yes' or `good' . I was teaching the volunteers to use a clicker as the dogs' reward marker, and needed a different marker for the humans. Theoretically, it should have worked. After viewing some video footage of my efforts, it was clear that I was having trouble maintaining a consistent signal. I also tried using the word `tag' to avoid conveying emotion, but that word sounded harsh. My solution was to use clickers for the humans when possible (no dogs present) and used an inexpensive child's toy that created a chunk-chunk noise when the volunteers were working with the dogs.

Let the tagger do the talking

This project taught me to talk less and tag more. There are times when I need to give an explanation of how and/or why something is done in a certain way. I still spend time talking about the exercises. The difference is that there is a separation of lecture time and hands-on practice. I explain the basics of an exercise, then give the tag/focus point, then the learner works on the skill. When I observe off-point errors, I don't do any talking while the learner is working. I make a mental note to add a tag point to address the off-point error.

Post-its and tape are my best friends

A target is worth a thousand words. Even clear instructions to "hold your hand like this" or "take a step" sometimes gets lost in translation. Giving the learner a specific location for hand/foot/treat placement sets the learner up for success. It feels great to get it right. It has been my observation that adult learners find it hugely rewarding to be successful. I found that material rewards or even praise were not necessary for the volunteers. Because they mastered the basic clicker training skills early in the process, they saw the dogs catch on very quickly. This was immensely rewarding to everyone involved.

Maggie Ouillette
Whitmore Lake Michigan

Thanks to Oliver Beverly of C.L.E.A.R Dog Training in Australia for the photos

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Introducing TAGteach to fishermen Part 5

“The true test of a teaching methodology is its success across a spectrum.”

The first sentence of the first slide of the first TAGteach day said it all. TAGteach is a methodology that works...regardless.
I wanted to let the guys from the Seafisher know that although many of the examples and stories in the presentation were about TAGteaching gymnasts, golfers, kids with autism, and medical students, the methodology was universal and would certainly apply to them as well. Their minds should be set on “how this applies to me in my world”.

We continued with history and basic TAGteach information.
What is TAGteach?
What does TAG stand for?
What is a marker and why should you use it?
What are the benefits?

We let the guys practice tagging people on videos. This step is great to bridge the gap between clicking chickens and tagging people. It is a different feel and using the videos builds confidence and precision.
The group tagged examples like:
Using the inside of the foot in a soccer kick
Bent knees during a volleyball set
Straight legs in a handstand on balance beam

The seminar continued, loaded with games and practicals that provided on opportunity to experience teaching and learning with a focus on creating clarity. We talked about how to break down tasks into small crystal clear behaviors that could be tagged; tag points. The group had an “aha!” moment when they realized the added value that comes with tagging; competency assessment

Incorporating tagging and tag points provides the management or teacher a real time assessment of skill acquisition. An audible tag means “yes” success. No tag means “self assess and try again”. This method delivers as much information to the teacher or person tagging as it does the learner.

We often teach and then say “do you understand”.
The learner shakes their head “yes” because they don’t want to get in trouble, or do it again, or look foolish or whatever.
I have found that it is the rarest of times that the “yes, I understand” head toss is true to its implication.
This miscommunication between parties is the fuse that can torch a teacher/student relationship.
The teacher assumes the learner understands and moves on, expecting the behavior will be performed precisely as it was taught. The learner fears the impending failure.

Tag points provide clear incremental staging sites for success and assessment.
The tag point is given, “fish head facing in” (this was a real tag point for the guys lining fish up for efficient processing).
The tag is heard, the learner is reinforced by the sound of success (the tag).
If a tag is not heard then the learner looks at the position of the fish, mental replays the verbal tag point “fish head facing in”, corrects the position of the fish and receives reinforcement with the sound of the tag.
If the leader sees that the learner does not know why he didn’t receive the tag and cannot make the correction within a particular time frame, then the tag point can be taught again.
The leader is immediately made aware that for whatever reason, the information was not initially processed by the learner.

This particular benefit of tagging was meaningful to the group. A crew member not doing his job correctly can cause a myriad of problems: loss of production due to improperly cut, laid or packaged fish and of course any range of injuries from improper operations on the ship.

Next Chapter: Tagging the Roulette Table

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Introducing TAGteach to Fishermen Part 4

An ongoing account of TAGteach introductions, triumphs and tribulations!
Chapter 4
TAGteach, Parrots and the Men from the Bering Sea!

How Does One Reinforce for Learning to Reinforce Reinforcement?

Not a chair was left out of place, not a soda can or candy wrapper left on a table. This crew not only participated in every activity with great enthusiasm but now were seated and prepared for the second day even before the power point projector had even finished warming up.

OK, the guys were great, but what did we do to facilitate the process on day one?
We asked Amy and Tim “What do the guys really like?”.
"Well, they really like cigarette breaks but on the boat, once they start to work it’s hours and hours before they can even think about a break.
It is also difficult to eat while they are working."
Ok, Terry made sure there were frequent smoke breaks during the first day.
There was also a well stocked snack table close by for easy access.

Then there were the casino chips. They were handed out liberally during the first day for answering questions, asking questions or anything resembling active participation. After the completion of the first day the crew was driven out to a local casino, provided a great dinner and then allowed to gamble for several hours. Black Jack and roulette tables were well attended and I was told substantial sums were won by several of the guys.
Unfortunately, that did not include me as my limit of $20.00 was greedily gobbled by a five cent slot machine in under ten minutes…no reinforcement for me...I digress…

On the second day the chickens were tucked away for good and it was time to transfer the clicker training into a methodology that could be employed on a ship.

The first thing was to get the guys comfortable with giving and receiving positive reinforcement. Usually in a formal setting like this we rely on the leader to deliver praise or affirmation.
I wanted the guys to also get comfortable with saying to their peers or bosses, “yes”, “good job”, “I agree”, “I don’t agree but thanks for the input”.
It’s not as easy as it sounds.
When was the last time you felt confident giving a coworker or your boss a literal or figurative slap on the back and a hearty verbal, “good job”?
In the beginning it can make you feel a bit vulnerable. It takes practice.

Since the guys enjoyed the games of chance, I designed a reinforcement system from a deck of cards and a chance to play a hand of poker.
Actually it was an adaptation of a brilliant reinforcement plan developed by a fellow TAGteacher, Kevin England. Each guy was given a hand full of playing cards. If they liked anything a fellow attendee did or said or thought, they could hand them a playing card.
At each break the guys would look through the cards they had, pick out the best 5 and see who had the best poker hand. The more cards given out the better chance they had of a having a winning hand. The best hand received a casino chip.

It took a while for the guys to understand that it was not only the leader in the group (myself) who could dole out the cards… they had just as much responsibility to encourage participation and acknowledge success as I did.
To reinforce what I wanted (for them to hand out cards to each other) I would hand out a card to anyone who handed out a card. Now the guys were reinforced for reinforcing….

Stay tuned for chapter 5

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