Henry Learns to do Fun Stuff: A TAGteach Success Story

March 24, 2022March 24, 2022 Joan Orr Leave a comment

By Emma Wicks

My son Henry (now 11) was diagnosed with autism at the age of two and a half. Despite his complex needs and communication difficulties, TAGteach has been a simple yet effective tool for Henry and his family and tutors to help pinpoint the precise movements that enable him to get the most out of his hobbies, school, and day to day routines.

Happiness for Henry was Paramount

Like all parents, I wanted Henry to gain the skills needed to enjoy an independent, fulfilling, and happy life. With complex special educational needs (SEN), this throws up some challenges both for the child with SEN and the parent. I qualified as a Montessori teacher in 2013 and believed in the importance of following a child’s interests and allowing them time to discover, explore and just ‘be’.

Do You Know the Difference Between a Tag Point and a Pinpoint?

August 16, 2020May 29, 2024 Joan Orr Leave a comment

By Joan Orr M.Sc. and Anne Wormald M.ADS, BCBA

TAGteach and Precision Teaching go together like ice cream and apple pie. Each makes the other even more awesome. Add TAGteach to your Precision Teaching and watch your acceleration lines soar. Add Precision Teaching to your TAGteaching and you’ll see exactly what’s working and what tag points are the most effective.

If you’re a TAGteacher and you’re wondering “what’s Precision Teaching”, watch Amy Evans of Octave Consulting explain it in 11 minutes:

If you’re a Precision Teacher and you’re wondering “what’s TAGteach?”, visit TAGteach Online Learning for a free course: A+ Tag Point – How to Create a Perfect Learning Goal and additional paid courses.

What’s a Tag Point?

A tag point is the goal behavior in a TAGteach session. The teacher tags (marks) the desired behavior with a click sound (tag) when the behavior occurs so the learner knows the exact moment that they got it right. A tag point has four criteria (WOOF):

What you want: the tag point must be phrased in positive terms

One thing: the tag point can be only one behavior

Observable: the tag point must be observable

Five words or less: you must be able to articulate the tag point in five words or less

TAGteach Tip: Ask for One Thing (Understand Multitasking)

July 29, 2015June 4, 2022 Joan Orr Leave a comment

You know when you really want someone to learn to do something? And you really want them to do a bunch of other things as well, because all the things are really important? They’re all so important that one can’t be done without the others and they all have to be done right? We’ve got the solution for you! Could it be multitasking?

Actually… it turns out that there’s really no such thing as multitasking as far as your brain’s concerned. Neuroscience research has shown us that when you’re doing many things at once, your brain is task switching, rather than multitasking.

Are You as Good a Multitasker as You Think You Are?

Here’s a simple exercise from Psychology Today that illustrates this (it’ll take you less than a minute – so come on – try it):

TAGteach Tip: Ask for What You Want (Don’t Think About Elephants)

July 9, 2015June 4, 2022 Joan Orr Leave a comment

You’re thinking about elephants aren’t you? I know you are! Despite the very explicit and clear written instruction in the title and even a carefully designed picture (worth a thousand words apparently), you are doing precisely the opposite of what I have wanted you to do. Is this a reflection of your inability to understand and follow even the simplest of instructions? Perhaps you are stubborn, slow to comprehend, lazy or just plain contrary? Or perhaps I have gone about the whole “not thinking about elephants” thing entirely the wrong way?