Brag Tags

During my first student teaching placement, I developed a Positive Behavior Support system called “Brag Tags” for use with my fourth-grade students. The target behaviors selected for the Brag Tag system were homework completion and appropriate class participation. Initially, my students struggled with turning in homework on time, as well as maintaining on-task behavior during classroom instruction.

I designed three types of tags: academic tags, behavior tags, and a birthday tag. The academic tags promoted homework completion and participation during instruction. The behavior tags reinforced positive behavior throughout the school day. The birthday tag was a formal and fun way of recognizing students on their special day. The tags were printed, cut out, laminated, and hole-punched. When a student earned one, they were provided a tag to put on their necklace. Earned tags would hang on the bulletin board for all to see throughout the day.

With the assistance of my cooperating teacher, we established clear expectations for earning a Brag Tag. We often reviewed classroom expectations with the students. This was necessary for both students and teachers to ensure the students’ behavior was worthy of a tag. Students could not request a tag nor point out behaviors of others that they deem to be worthy of a tag.

At the end of the month, students could take their necklaces and the Brag Tags they earned home to show to their families.

The Brag Tag bulletin board was set up in front of the classroom so students could monitor their progress throughout the day. The board was the first thing they could see when they walked in the classroom. It was big, visual and accessible for students to use. Each student had his or her own classroom number, by which they identified their necklace.

Students could earn a tag at any point during the day, but they could only put tags on their necklaces during transition times (i.e. between classes, before lunch or recess).

By the second week of the system’s implementation, most of my students turned in their homework assignments. Students demonstrated an increase in active engagement and on-task behavior by volunteering in class, completing assignments, and minimizing chatter.  Because it was concrete and visual, it was easy for students and teachers to get a sense of student progress on the targeted behaviors.  This also became a major boost to classroom climate.  I especially liked that even students who were usually withdrawn and never raised their hand began to interact more readily.  In my classroom, the Brag Tags were a huge success!

— Kori McManus, Student Teacher

Every Child Deserves to Have Someone Be Crazy About Them

Speak to anyone and they will name the teacher who made a difference in their lives. Whether the teacher was a source of encouragement to succeed and pursue opportunities outside of their comfort zone, someone who made them feel valued, or perhaps the person that rescued them from a harmful situation, the thing that all influential teachers have with their students is rapport.

 As the new academic year commences, we should remember that establishing rapport with each and every student is critical to students’ academic success and overall mental health. By seizing the opportunity to build rapport with each student, the teacher is validating the student’s importance in the school community. As a result, students may feel safer, experience a sense of belonging to a community, and be motivated to work hard in the classroom. Students who have rapport with their teacher feel safer to talk to the teacher regarding serious issues that may be impacting their physical or mental health.

I’ve learned through my experience that a great way to establish rapport is to greet each student individually by name when he or she enters the classroom. This lets the students know that they are welcome and you are excited to have them in the classroom. Rapport may be very easy to establish with some students, whereas, others may make you work for it. These students may have a history of behavioral issues, academic failures, or persistent issues at home. To make these students feel part of the classroom community, I advise new and experienced teachers to find opportunities for brief conversations. Talk with these students about general topics, not academics or behavior, to demonstrate that you, as a teacher, value what the students see as important. You may just find your name mentioned some day when someone describes the teacher who helped them reach their potential.

As the late newscaster Andy Rooney once said, “Most of us end up with no more than five or six people who remember us. Teachers have thousands of people who remember them for the rest of their lives.”

Kate Nichols, Director 

McDowell Institute for Teacher Excellence in Positive Behavior Support