If you are a coach using TAGteach and you want to explain what you are doing to the parents of your athletes - we have just the thing! You can download these cool pamphlets created by Michelle Ma and Maya Rankupalli. One is generic and one is specifically for skating. These are PDF files. If you want to add your own contact information you can do this by importing the file into Adobe Photo Shop or similar program and making changes. We are unable to help with this.
Not only are these available in print, but TAGteach is also explained in ASL in this wonderful video created by ASL interpreter Bonnie Gibson-Brydon and her beautiful assistants Sissy and Nicole Paniagua.
Thanks to Lynn Loar, Libby Colman and Judy Johns for mentoring and facilitating the production of these materials. Produced by The Pryor Foundation.
Tags on Ice
For more about TAGteach with skating, purchase the Tags On Ice DVD produced by TAGteacher and skating coach Lynn Loar. Here is a video trailer:
More About TAGteach and Sports
TAGteach works incredibly well for sports training. Check out the sports page at our website for more information and our recorded webinars with sports-related content
Let’s do some simple math to start. Don’t be scared, I promise it is simple! You have a structured class once a week, which leaves how many days a week without a class? Six! Very good! Wouldn’t it be great if there was some way for you to make progress in those six days in between classes? Yeah, that would be quite awesome. Luckily, there are some things we have discovered through practice that will help you to get the most use out of each of your lessons.
Find a Training Partner!
Two minds (or even three!) are better than one. Ideally, this training partner excels at different things than you do. They don’t have to be MORE skilled than you, often it will actually be to your benefit to be of similar skill level. That way you explain things in terms you both can understand.
Pay Attention
Watch the instructor, but also watch your classmates who can do the skill. See what works. Make note of the little things. Pay attention to their hand position, foot position, where they are looking and what the rest of the body is doing. If you are doing a skill one at a time, each person’s turn is an opportunity to learn something important about the movement. You are looking for movements that are smooth and effortless. Those are the ones you want to model. If you can, come up with tag points you think might be helpful later DURING your lesson or practice session.
Read more about how to create great tag points that will accelerate your learning.
YouTube! Use It
Class can teach you the basic skills and what you need to focus on outside of class. YouTube can help you refine them and come up with tag points to make them better. If you find yourself really struggling to figure out a movement, watch several different people perform that movement on video. Pay particular attention to the components that are similar between different people and where there seems to be some “play” in the performance. Things that are often key elements are often: foot placements, foot order, hand placements, and core body position.
Keep it Simple
Focus on one section of a skill at a time. This is where TAGteach is a HUGE help. Decide on a skill that you want to focus on and then break it into small components. You might have to hunt for specific obstacles that let you practice one component. Height is often the easiest and most useful element to remove. For example: when practicing vaults, find a place where the railing only has a drop on one side and gradually increase the drop on the other side.
Video!
Take video of your training sessions and use it DURING that session. Watch what seems to work and what doesn’t. The more you watch people move, the easier it will be for you to figure out how a particular muscle group contributes to a movement and how these movements will fit together into a fluidly performed skill. Don’t be afraid to experiment as the video will tell you if something is working well before you will see it on a larger scale. Find something you are struggling with, come up with a tag point you think might help, practice it a few times, and then check the video to see if you see ANY signs of improvement. If you do, great! If not, the new way you moved in this video will likely give you an idea for a new tag point. Use that.
Ask Questions
If you don’t know something, ask! If you are struggling with a specific skill, ask. Ask your coach for one thing that you could do to make the skill better. Just one. Make this into a focus point during the session, only focus on this one aspect of the skill (for example, legs straight in lazy vault). If your coach struggles with giving you just one thing, try to pick out what you think is the key point and ask specifically if that is a good thing to focus on. When you are on own, use this focus point to guide your practice! Even better, have someone tag you. They don’t even have to know the skill. You should be able to explain it clearly enough that they can tag you with no outside knowledge.
Get Stronger
Know when something is a strength issue and when it is a technique issue. Practicing climb-ups 8 million times does you no good if you just aren’t strong enough to do good climb ups. It simply starts building movements into your muscle memory that will be difficult to fade later. Conditioning to increase your strength is as important (if not more so for some movements) than just training techniques and movements.
Watch this video of a practice Parkour training session using TAGteach to focus and improve skills and reduce fear:
Learn More About the Extraordinary Power of TAGteach Now available is a recorded webinarpresented by Karin Coyne and Abigail Curtis along with TAGteach co-founders Joan Orr and Theresa McKeon on the topic of TAGteach for sport coaching. Sport coaching is where TAGteach got its start and where it truly excels. If you are a coach or an athlete this is must have information and a low cost way to learn about TAGteach.
Because we want to get this information into the hands of more coaches, we will give you a discount code for you to give to your coach or your child's coach to access the recorded webinar for free. Coaches need to know this stuff! You will get an email with the free discount code after you register for the recorded webinar.
We noticed our dancers were showing up for class less than properly prepared recently. Nag them? Nah, there's an easier way = Tag them! Without saying anything I began taking photos of our daily "Hair Heroes" and posting them to our studio facebook page (A Dancer's Dream). Literally THE NEXT DAY we started seeing the girls line up to be considered for the day's Hair Heroes. By the end of the week everyone was arriving prepared and polished = worked like a charm ;o)
Corporate Trainer? A case review by TAGteach certified Glenn Hughes, director of Global Learning Architecture at KLA-Tencor.
Last week, I was able to use the TAGteach principles in my work context for the first time.
BACKGROUND
On December 21st, I contracted author Ed Muzio (Four Secrets to Liking Your Work and Make Work Great) to certify my team (8 people) in 'Advanced DISC'. DISC is a behavioral assessment tool, much like Meyers-Briggs. http://www.groupharmonics.com/
On day one, Ed noted that we were going to be a challenging group. We all possessed between 3 and 10 years of DISC training/facilitation experience. Our language patterns were well established. We were used to using phrases like "She's a D", "He's an I", and "I’m a D".
In advanced DISC, it is very important to steer away from labels and move to observations of behavioral patterns. Ed wanted us to use phrases like "you show high D behavior", "she shows low I behavior", or "he shows high S behavior".
Despite his pleading, begging, modeling the correct behavior, and 'calling out' our misuse of the language, we didn’t change our behavior.
On the morning of day two, Ed and I were chatting about different learning events we've been doing, and I shared my TAGteach experience. Ed asked, "Could we use it on our problem?"
My response was, "Hmmm... I hadn't thought about using it to change language or culture, but it's an observable behavior, so, yes. I think we can."
On day two, we implemented TAGteach, with great results.
WHAT WE DID
Since everyone in the room was a facilitator, I opened the morning by teaching them the history and process of TAGteach.
We identified the target behavior. We would tag anyone who used the phrase, "Hi/Low 'X' behavior" - such as "Jodi is showing hi D behavior". If either "high or low" or 'behavior' were missing, we would not tag.
We did not have Taggers, so we had to improvise. We agreed that a finger snap or hand clap would be the Tag.
We identified the TAG point. The tag point is: "Hi/Low 'X' behavior"
Ed then spent fifteen minutes modeling correct and incorrect behavior, so we could practice tagging.
We agreed that we understood. Ed spent the rest of the morning (2.5 hours) teaching us advanced DISC. Anytime Ed, or any of us used the language correctly, they were tagged with a clap or snap.
In the afternoon, each facilitator lead a teach-back for our certification. During these 3 hours, the audience was reinforcing the targeted phrase with claps/snaps.
RESULT
In one day, we re-patterned the language (behavior) of 8 facilitators.
In my debrief with Ed the next day, he commented that our 'success rate' of using the correct phrase on day one was 0%. By the end of day two (facilitator teach-backs), he estimated that we were over 70% success rate. He felt that we would NOT have improved more than 10% without applying TAGteach.
Additionally, we saw a number of classic effects:
increased energy: everyone had fun with it, as opposed to being annoyed by corrections
self-correction: by mid-morning, people would sense that they were not 'tagged' and correct their language
self-learning: one facilitator missed the morning history, process, AND TAGpoint identification. In the afternoon, after her teachback, I asked if she knew why we were clapping/snapping all day. She responded, "Of course. You're reinforcing the use of the correct phrase"
NOTES
Obviously, we're thrilled with this outcome and can see many more applications. Theresa, I'll definitely want to have you run an onsite certification session for my colleagues in the spring.
We are delighted to share a third installment of the Niabi Zoo story. This “Anniversary update” describes the exciting progress the zoo training programs have made this year. In order to grow and improve, modify and enhance, every training program should be evaluated on a regular basis. It’s important to revisit and revise goals, and assess and celebrate achievements. At Niabi Zoo we do that regularly, looking ahead to see what the possibilities are, and making plans to ensure those possibilities are realized. We continue to build collaborations with others in our field, collaborations that emphasize the varied facets of our shared expertise.
This past year has been full of growth and excitement at Niabi Zoo! Two healthy reticulated giraffe calves were born, and the colobus troop has grown by one new baby, too—all while the zoo was under renovation. Through it all, we augmented and advanced our animal training programs to start fresh in 2011.
To help move our programs forward, we looked at the human end of training. After all, we experience day-to-day interactions with more than just the animals in our care; we have frequent interactions and conversations with our colleagues and zoo patrons. As great trainers know, good people skills only enhance and improve any work surroundings. Our goals in the human area include helping others know what is expected of them without nagging, and focusing training beyond the animals and toward zookeeper continuing education and professional growth.
Time for TAGteach!
In 2008, while I was a student in the Karen Pryor Academy (KPA) Dog Trainer Program, I learned about Theresa McKeon and TAGteach International. When Niabi Zoo heard that I attended Theresa’s TAGteach seminar in Chicago to earn primary certification, they offered to host her at the zoo in March 2010. Theresa invited TAGteach Level 3 instructor Eva Bertilsson from Sweden to join us as well. We were very lucky to have both women teaching a two-day seminar at the zoo, working with us toward several of our goals. TAGteach lessons helped staff members achieve even more success clicker training the zoo animals. The lessons also helped staff members feel upbeat about themselves and their many workday interactions.
We received very positive comments from keepers who attended the seminar:
“Clicker training has opened my eyes to a new perspective of zookeeping. I have been able to do daily husbandry and vet visits with so much less stress on the animals. In the last two years I have seen animals go from not wanting any interaction to waiting to be trained on a daily basis. Clicker training and TAGteach have had nothing but a positive effect in my life and on the animals at Niabi Zoo.” ~Jessi Lench Porter
“The clicker provided our team with an effective tool of communication that transformed the behaviors of a variety of species such as giraffe, gibbon, lion, and jaguar. Clicker training brought our overall animal management to the highest level of care.
To enhance and expand the communication skills of our staff, we were introduced to the principles of TAGteach by Theresa McKeon. Theresa's contagious enthusiasm about TAG brought to light how we all process information in a variety of ways, which sometimes leads to different interpretations in our everyday communications. Using the concepts of TAG, we were able to clearly set criteria and offer positive feedback to each other. We can all benefit from this type of teaching, which focuses on what is correct rather than the opposite.” ~Colleen Stalf
“Clicker training has made me so much more aware of my interactions with animals (and people), has taught me patience, and has helped me understand that effective communication can work wonders. Training a lion or having a positive interaction with a coworker, the skills have been invaluable. Such a warm feeling of accomplishment to realize that small, positive steps can lead to a finished behavior that will reduce stress levels during veterinary procedures. Clicker training can deepen the relationship and create trust between trainer and animal. When you start training animals and practice that positive spin on life, it becomes second-nature and is so much easier to transfer to your human relationships.” ~Mandy Turnbull
Observing Theresa and Eva while they taught was extremely reinforcing for me. I knew that the keepers would gain first-rate information easily translatable and applicable to their daily interactions with people and with animals. We all learned how to be more effective, proactive, and positive with our communication skills. We had a lot of fun with this process!
TAGteach in action: using food tools
One of the safety goals we worked on with the keepers during Theresa’s workshop was feeding the large cats (lion, tigers, cougars, leopards, jaguar, and bobcats) with tongs, spoons, or feed poles. These tools keep zookeepers’ hands safe. For the keepers, learning how to mark the desired behavior with the clicker and then move the hand to load the primary reinforcer can prove challenging! We found it helpful to practice clicker mechanics before we actually trained and fed any animal, and made that step part of a fun training game. But the keepers’ biggest challenge was to replace a previous behavior (feeding the large cats with their hands), especially since the behavior had a strong reinforcement history.
In this video (view the original article to see the video), keepers Colleen, Mandy, and Jessi practice feeding techniques using TAGteach. To determine their focus they used the Focus Funnel, a strategy for organizing and delivering verbal lessons and instructions to a learner.
It begins with: The Lesson is…
Follows with: The Directions are…
And ends with a tag point of 5 words or less: The TAG point is:
Using the focus funnel reduces the amount of language that must be processed by a learner right before attempting a behavior.
Lesson: The hand that delivers the treat needs to go to a neutral place immediately after delivering the reinforcement. This way the lion will turn his direction back to you instead of following the feeding stick. We call that neutral place “home.”
Directions: Move your feeding hand back to home position immediately after delivery.
tag point: Initiate hand to home.
Training sequence: Mandy cues mouth open behavior-> Jessi offers mouth open behavior-> Mandy marks behavior-> Mandy moves reinforcement hand to place food onto pole-> Mandy places food into Jessi’s hand-> Mandy initiates hand to home (tag point).
Watch Colleen in the background as she observes the sequence. She is observing the series of behaviors patiently without talking and without giving extra verbal information to Mandy. The tag point was discussed ahead of time. Each time Mandy offers the tag point (initiate hand to home) successfully, Colleen marks that behavior with a clicker.
Later, as I worked on earning TAGteach Level 1 certification, we focused on Jessi’s tag point: feed with tongs. At ~36 seconds into the video loop, you can see Jessi self-assess as she reaches for the food with her bare hand, only to correct herself and then reach behind her with the tongs. My role was to mark with the clicker each time she offered the tag point successfully.
Theresa McKeon was as positive as the Niabi keepers and I were about the TAGteach learning experience. She saw that we all understood the connections between the human and the animal training, and worked hard to benefit from the positive principles in action. She shared some of her thoughts about the Niabi seminar:
“When I was asked to present a TAGteach workshop to the keepers at Niabi Zoo, I was beyond thrilled. Not only for the opportunity to work with Laura, but to see the clicker training technology come full circle. Laura had already been teaching the keepers that optimal animal learning occurs when information is delivered in finite bits, immediately marked, and followed up with reinforcement. She also wanted them to experience how the principles of clicker training hold true for any learner—including people.
Because of our reliance on verbal language, people need a bit of practice when transferring clicker training skill to other people. People teachers can quickly progress from using language to abusing it. Important points get buried in long lists of criteria and even longer explanations. Social responses divert concentration. We resort to nagging and escalate from there. Nagging doesn’t work on cougars and it doesn’t work on people.
The TAGteach workshop demonstrated to the Niabi staff that we can learn and teach each other with the same respectful process they use with their animal learners. Deliver information in finite bits, immediately mark an acquired behavior, and follow up with something that is reinforcing for the learner (usually success). I can’t think of a better gauge of an application’s power than its flexibility. This clicker ‘stuff’ can bend all the way around in a full circle.”
One of the things we learned early on with TAGteach is that the principles we have been developing are brilliant for allowing the rehearsal of specific small pieces of behavior. In our work with children and with adults in occupational and management training we have used a lot of role playing with tag points for specific areas of focus. The role playing allows us to set up situations that are non-threatening and allow the learner a chance to practice and succeed while gaining the skills required to accomplish a specific task in a real situation.
In his excellent book "The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child with no pills, no therapy, no contest of wills", Dr. Alan Kazdin explains that children need to practice desirable behaviors in a no-stress simulated situation so that they have the skills available to offer these behaviors in a real situation. Building a strong alternative behavior is the best way to eliminate unwanted behavior. For example, if a child has trouble sharing, he is more likely to be able to share in a real situation if he has practiced sharing in a simulated role-playing situation. If a child has never had the opportunity to practice the behaviors associated with sharing, and any time he has been exposed to a sharing scenario it has ended in stress and frustration, he will never develop the skills required and will become even less likely to share. Giving a child (or an adult) the opportunity to succeed by applying a new skill in a low stress simulation, increases the likelihood that he will employ these skills in a real-life situation.
We have posted a video that illustrates how we insert a tag point into a simulated situation to help Lear (who is four) practice polite manners. We want him to ask permission before opening the fridge. The tag point is "ask to open the fridge". We have provided motivation for him to open the fridge by providing a bowl of melon pieces. This keeps the game going as long as he wants some melon. The tag comes when he asks, and the primary reinforcer is a plastic sea creature.
You may wonder why we don't just let opening the fridge and getting the melon be the primary reinforcer after the tag. The main reason for this is that we want to be in control of the primary reinforcer. He wants a sea creature more than he wants a piece of melon (or perhaps he is smart enough to know that he can get both!). He is free to open the fridge and take a piece of melon when ever he feels like it. If he did that without asking there would be no tag and no sea creature. We do not want to have to hold the fridge closed or otherwise use force if he does not ask permission. This would ruin our tag session and would result in a tantrum and no learning is possible in this state of mind. In fact he never did just take a piece of melon, he asked every time. In this session Lear asked permission to open the fridge many times. This increases the chance of him asking in the future under similar circumstances. The more practice a child has with polite behaviors, and the more these are reinforced with a positive outcome the more likely he is to use these habitually.
This video was submitted by Anne Wormald as part of her Level 1 Certification project.
The customary way to put a nail through a board is to pound it with a hammer. It’s fast, forceful and hammering can be a physical outlet for frustration. But what if there was a superior nail that with a little guidance would pull itself through the board and hold longer and stronger? Could you put down the hammer?
The following techniques are designed to help athletes build a repertoire of problem solving skills and a path towards self reliance in place of coach reliance.
Reinforce the Process
Step 1
Although feedback from the coach is imperative, an athlete who can self-assess will ultimately decrease his dependency on an instructor and increase his desire to look inward for answers. The process of handing over some of the reins may take a bit of time. At first athletes may be stymied by the prospect of being part of their own coaching staff. They have been programmed to take corrections directly from their coach, not to look inward. Coaches may initially fear wasting practice time while athletes find their ‘coach within’, but the results are very motivating.
Success is motivational so athlete and coach need to find immediate reinforcement opportunities. The techniques used in the TAGteach methodology are very helpful in providing organized opportunities for reinforcement in combination with self assessment. This can be valuable in the transition from passively being coached to participating actively in the process. With TAGteach, (Teaching with Acoustical Guidance) feedback from the coach is transmitted audibly with a simple device that produces a sharp click sound. This sound, called a 'tag', marks a single response, action or position called a tag point. The tag means "yes, correct". The absence of the tag means “self assess”. This binary feedback eliminates the need for immediate verbal performance feedback from the coach which can be loaded with social and emotional nuances. It allows the athlete to make the judgment "I did it right" or "I need to try something else next time". The athlete focuses on the results of the performance of the specific tag point and not on the tone of voice or other irrelevant information that often accompanies verbal corrections.
To make this work, the coach creates a single issue task that is set up for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. Take for example a volleyball player who has trouble remembering to bend her knees before she bumps the ball. The coach sets up a single issue task (tag point) that can be judged as correct or not correct. “The tag point is…knees bent.” If the athlete bends her knees before the bump, the coach tags. The athlete, conditioned to identify that sound as, “yes”, captures the mental snapshot of this correct placement and immediately moves on to assess any internal feedback of the position.
If the athlete does not hear the tag he uses this information to self assess:
“No tag? What was the tag point?
It was…knees bent.
My knees must not have been bent.
I will focus on the bend next turn.”
The athlete self assesses before the coach provides additional feedback. This fosters accountability and may decrease the athlete's dependence on commentary from the coach.
To stave off frustration, the guidelines of TAGteach recommend that if the learner hears ‘no tag’ in three successive tries, the coach lowers the criterion for the tag to a level where success is more certain. The coach then increases the difficulty gradually with ever more challenging tag points. This creates a climate of success for the learner and keeps frustration to a minimum.
Step 2
Now that the act of self assessing has been made reinforcing for the athlete (the sound of the tag is associated with success) and the coach (less corrections, more athlete accountability and faster skill acquisition), the next step is to develop the athlete’s problem solving skills.
First the athlete must be given problems to solve. The tagging technique gently introduces problem solving. The final answer can always be found in the clearly stated tag point.
“I didn’t receive a tag…why?” “The tag point was...toes touching in the handstand” “If I’m not getting tagged it must be because my toes are apart.” “I’ll put my toes together” (athlete hears the tag) “yep, that’s what it was!”
Step 3
Say an athlete attempts a tag point three times and does not succeed. Instead of automatically giving an easier tag point the coach may ask the athlete, “this is what we are trying to accomplish, what you think the new tag point should be?” Depending on the athlete’s age and skill level, the coach can quickly shepherd the athlete to a new tag point or allow a more extended dialogue. For example,
Coach: "The tag point was swing the tennis racket parallel to the ground. You didn’t receive a tag on the last three swings. Do you know why?"
Athlete: "No! I understand the tag point but I really felt like I was swinging the racket parallel."
Coach: "OK, what should we do?"
Athlete: "First we should find out if we mean the same thing by ‘parallel’."
Coach: "Great idea. Show me what parallel feels like to you?"
Athlete: (Athlete demonstrates)
Coach: "Aha! There is the problem. The racket head needs to be tilted farther forward." (Coach tilts the athlete’s racket to the correct spot and marks it with a tag)
Athlete: "OK, that’s different from what I thought the tag point was. Can we tag this position a few more times without the swing so I can get used to it?"
Coach: (Tags the corrected racket placement and the athlete feels more successful and confident)
Athlete: "OK, I am ready to put it back into the full swing.”
This scenario illustrates how useful athlete input can be and that with a little guidance the athlete can solve problems and ultimately shorten learning time. If the coach had simply kept repeating, “Parallel…the racket needs to be parallel…why are you ignoring the correction?” both parties could have become frustrated resulting in stalled progress. By creating a concentrated formula for delivering information (the audible tag), the TAGteach methodology reduces the time spent on external feedback, allowing for increased attention to internal feedback. Now it is possible for athletes to be part of the process and to take a cognitive role in their journey to accomplishment.
The nail, with a little guidance, can pull itself through the board.
“This is the hundredth time I’ve told you…and last time I am going to say it…”
Ah nagging; the most beloved teaching tool in the world. Just keep at ‘em until they fix it, do it, drop it or stop it. In fact, experienced coaches, teachers and parents often use a highly advanced system called, multi-nagging. Hit them with multiple corrections every turn. One of them may stick. This leads us to the question…
How do you amplify the critical feedback athlete’s need, while reducing the amount of language that accompanies it? There is a way.
In a process called TAGteach, (Teaching with Acoustical Guidance) feedback from the coach is transmitted audibly with a simple device that produces a sharp click sound. This sound, called a ‘tag’, marks a single response, action or position called a tag point, and says, “Yes, that’s correct”. No tag means, “Self-assess and try again”. The feedback is positive and students don’t have to interpret verbal instructions or corrections while trying to interpret their own intrinsic feedback.
For example, a gymnast must learn the basic skill of keeping good form while performing a handstand. Instead of repetitive requests that bear a considerable resemblance to nagging, such as “get your feet together”, the coach can establish a ‘tag point’. A tag point is something the coach wants, phrased in a way that can be answered yes or no, such as “the tag point is…feet together”. If the athlete puts her feet together in the handstand, the coach marks the exact moment her feet come together with a ‘tag’. If she hears the tag, she hears success. If the athlete doesn’t hear a tag, she must self assess. No tag? She thinks, “The tag point was… feet together. Mine must still be apart.” The athlete decides on a corrective action, pulls her feet together and receives the tag. Changes are considered and made by the athlete through self-assessment before further feedback from the coach is given. Now the athlete is in charge of her progress with minimal intervention from the coach. This fosters accountability and reduces the need for immediate and constant verbal corrections.
Break it Down
The coach can also decrease nagging and boost the athlete’s chance for success by increasing criteria in manageable increments and limiting unsuccessful attempts. The athlete can only truly focus on improving one aspect of a skill at a time, particularly if it is a new skill. When they receive multiple corrections it’s a coin toss. Legs straight? Back straight? Legs together? Toes Pointed? Which correction is the most important to the coach? Even if they do make a correction, there seems to be a “better, but” that lands them in the “you aren’t concentrating” hole again. With TAGteach, the coach chooses and tags for the point that is sequentially most important to the make-up of the skill. If the athlete does not receive a tag within three tries, it is the coach’s responsibility to create a tag point that is within the skill level of the athlete. In all cases, tag points are addressed one at a time and the student does not receive commentary on other errors. These errors will be addressed in future tag points. Because the criterion for success is the attainment of the single tag point and not the completed, perfected skill, the athlete and coach can learn to appreciate incremental successes on that never ending road to perfection.
The Tag Point Is…
There are several direct benefits of using the phrase “The tag point is…” First, a tag point is always phrased in the positive. This helps both the coach and the athlete to focus on what should happen. “Your toes aren’t pointed”, becomes, “The tag point is…pointed toes.” “Stop bumping the volleyball with straight legs, there’s no power in that” becomes “The tag point is…bent knees”. Now both parties are focused on what should happen instead of what shouldn’t happen.
Secondly, the unique construction of the phrase sets the stage for a balanced relationship between coach and athlete. Jim Mernin works with athletes of all ages and cognitive abilities in the art of horsemanship for the Festina Lente equestrian facility in Wicklow, Ireland. He found his students felt less intimidated when objectives were phrased “The tag point is…” instead of the standard “I want you to ….” The absence of the words “I want” allows the coach to become more of a facilitator and less of a dictator. This leveling of the playing field is not lost on the learner. Jim says the phraseology helps create a relationship with his students based on assistance instead of dominance, opening the door for better communication and respect.
Finally, because tag points are broken down into easily recognizable bits with simple yes or no answers, athletes can become the ‘coach’ and tag each other. We call this ‘peer tagging’. Athletes instantly fill with a sense of responsibility and pride as they are handed a tagger and put in charge of deciding if the tag point was preformed or not. They learn to look for correct actions in their partner, while mentally reinforcing the same points within themselves. The student who teaches learns twice.
For instance, a baseball coach breaks his team members into groups of two. The tag point is… step into the swing. One player is the ‘coach’ and will tag if the tag point is achieved. The second in the pair is the ‘athlete’ and will perform the skill. Each group of 2 is now completely focused on their individual assignment and after a set number of tags can flip flop the coach-athlete role. Each athlete is now getting a mental workout even though they may not be the one currently performing the skill. Bonus- with the athletes tagging each other, the coach is now free to give an individual attention, without halting the rest of the group.
Positive Reinforcement
Historically coaches are not given many tools to focus on the good. We acknowledge something performed correctly only as long as it takes to consider what still needs to be improved. The key to TAGteach is to increase a correct response, action, or position by pinpointing and reinforcing it. Although studies show that especially in adults, feedback and accomplishment are in themselves reinforcing, the definable and measurable successes of the audible tag can be counted and used in a token economy. As an athlete collects a pre-defined number of “tags,” she may choose to turn them in to “buy” stickers, trinkets, come in late on a Saturday practice, choose the next skill, or even choose next tag point. Groups of athletes can combine their earned tags and turn them in for open gym time, compete in skill contests, or team sleepovers.
Working with Special Needs Athletes
Although TAGteach is being utilized by nationally ranked main-stream athletes, the methodology of marking a predefined response, action, or position (the tag point), utilizing non-threatening language and positive reinforcement also make it perfect for work with the special needs community as noted by the following: Special Olympics: “We saw an almost immediate improvement in skill execution and confidence in our Special Olympics rhythmic gymnasts”, said Debbie Boycott, head coach of the Oakville Butterflies from Oakville, ON Canada. “The athletes were very quick to understand and appreciate this way of teaching and were even able to teach each other using the TAGteach methods”. [Editor's note: Athlete Emily Boycott won 5 gold medals in Special Olympics rhythmic gymnastics]
Jennifer Golynsky, Special Olympics coach in aquatics and tennis relates, “I have been coaching Special Olympics for 11 years and feel that TAGteach is aligned with the Special Olympics philosophy in that it emphasizes positive reinforcement, athlete confidence and breaking down skills into manageable tasks.
Students with Autism: “Applied Behavior Consultants, Inc., founded in 1986, by Dr. Joseph Morrow and Brenda Terzich, M.A., has provided behavioral services for over 3000 clients worldwide. TAGteach™ allows us to be “language-free” with our reinforcement. This is a tremendous benefit since many of our students have communicative deficits. Once paired with a reinforcer, the “tag” is universal. Preliminary research at ABC, Inc. has shown positive results using TAGteach and positive behavior change. TAGteach™ is not just for competitive athletes and gymnasts; it can be proven functional and invaluable for children with Autism, as shown here at ABC, Inc.” [Editor's note: visit our website and blog posts for research on TAGteach and autism]
Say Goodbye to Nagging
Like the much loved video game, TAGteach provides instant, positive, audible feedback. It’s easy to use and understand and backed by the science of learning. The methodology described, provides coaches with a tool other than a notional hammer to present feedback in a supportive, productive fashion beneficial to coaches and athletes.
Comments from dance teachers after attending a TAGteach seminar:
Thanks to Marcia Nelson who tells us how learning about TAGteach has changed the way she teaches...
I have turned my teaching style upside down from my old ways when I was introduced to the TAGteach system complete with taggers for my students a few years back at the Clicker Convention in LA.
I've used it now for several years with children in their horsemanship and riding lessons. I use it when I see something they do extraordinary in remembering something they were taught. I use it to set up a challenge for them that either they set up or I set up and I use it for other kids in the class to watch for something that their classmate is working on.
I find that children can only hold a small amount of instruction without being discouraged because coaches like me that are perfectionists tend to find what still needs fixing and forget how much is going well!! Especially when they are riding a horse because there are sooo many elements. I let them know we're picking only one thing to tag, the rest of the things can be whatever, we're only looking at one thing. What a mind blower it is for kids that think they have to get it all right or nothing!! It helps me to keep it age & maturity appropriate for each child this way too. The funny thing is that once we have positively worked with them on something and go to another item when it is good is that they stay pretty darn good on the previous thing we worked on and so we build them up while only focusing on one item at a time!
I have a very bright young one that is succeeding very steadily with this process as I shape her a bit at a time and don't worry that it is not all being fixed in one setting. I'm jazzed to see where she has come in just two weeks of working the tagger system. Prior to that she was good the first few lessons when it was all new and then she knew it all and was like a greased pig to keep in line and heading in a steady direction which is an absolute necessity around horses.
Finding a balance with each personality is sure a necessity and it has to be shaped over and over as you go. Who says we aren't creative artists?? This is incredibly artistic to sort out and keep moving in a forward positive direction.
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
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.
Maggie Ouillette is a nurse, a dog trainer and a certified Level 2 TAGteacher. Maggie volunteers at the Michigan Humane Society helping to implement the Pawsitive Start Program. This is an enrichment program for shelter dogs to help them develop life skills that will make them more adoptable and will also improve their lives at the shelter. The dogs are trained using clicker training by volunteers. Before the volunteers can work with the dogs they must learn the necessary dog handling and clicker training skills.
Maggie has worked to develop tag points for the various skills that the volunteers need to learn. She presented the results of this work at a TAGteach seminar in Tonawanda NY in August 2009 for completion of the requirements for Level 2 TAGteach Certification.
You can download Maggie's project report from the files section at the TAGteach Yahoo discussion group to see all the tag points, what worked and what didn't.
Here is a video that shows some of Maggie's presentation:
Here is a video showing how TAGteach is incorporated into handler training. The dog gets a click for looking at the handler. It does not matter what else he is doing, if he looks he gets a click. He gets a treat after each click. The handler places the treat on the floor and after doing so, takes one step forward. The targets on the floor are to guide the handler so that she know where to step. After placing the treat on the floor, the tag point is step on the target. The tag sound for the handler is a different sound from the clicker used with the dog. The handler does not get a treat after each tag, her reinforcement comes from knowing she did the correct thing and from seeing the dog improve.
Here is what the finished skill looks like. The handler does not need to be tagged here, because she knows the skill (dog looks, click, treat on the ground, walk on):
This past week I introduced the basic concepts of TAGteach to the trainers at Niabi Zoo. We acquired amazing video of myself tagging the trainers during Colobus and Lion training on Tuesday (stay tuned...fun video to come!). Below is the initial feedback I received from the trainers after they were "tagged":
Colleen (Head Keeper): "TAG teach made me more conscious of what I was doing as a trainer"
Jessi: "TAG teach made me realize that what I was trained to do is actually what I'm doing right"
Mandy: "It was great positive reinforcement as a trainer to let me know I was moving in the right direction"
Katy: "It was interesting and helpful to have positive feedback on "my training" behaviors, not always how I am working with the animals"
Kristina: "TAG teach was helpful because it made me focus in on exactly what I was doing at a certain moment. It's always nice to learn through positive feedback!"
Thanks again to Colleen and her great Team at Niabi for allowing me the flexibility and positive teaching atmosphere to always try something new!
Here is a video showing Laura tagging one of the trainers. The tag point is "hand at home base". This is to help reinforce good training technique and to prevent superfluous hand movements during training that the animal might interpret superstitiously.
Laura is using a ping sound to tell the trainer when she has performed the tag point correctly.
There is more than one clicker training session going on here and so many of the clicks you hear are not directed at the animal in the video. Try to ignore the clicking as you watch and focus on the trainer's left arm. Listen for the "ping" sound when she returns the hand to home base (at her side). Being able to focus only on the tag point and not on all the other things that are going on is one of skills of a good TAGteacher.
Here is another video in which Laura uses "ping" sound to tag the trainer when she meets the tag point. The tag point here is "feed with forceps". Previously the trainers had been feeding from their hands and so using the forceps is a new skill that must be learned. Rather than nagging or reminding, Laura uses a tag point and reinforces with the ping sound when the trainer gets it right. Notice at about second 37, Jessi, the trainer begins to feed with her hand, realizes there was no tag, self assesses and then uses the forceps.
