Lexi’s Story: TAGteach in the Classroom

After my competitive gymnastics career, I became a teacher, working with exceptional children. In June of 2003, I joined the competitive gymnastics coaching staff at International Sports Centre in Matthews, NC, after having my fill of waiting tables part-time to supplement my teaching income. I had coaching experience, I love the sport, and best of all, I always know what time I’ll get off work, unlike when I was a server and at the mercy of customers.

Shortly after I started coaching at International, I heard a strange clicking noise. I didn’t know where it was coming from, but I wanted it to stop. I remember asking (in a somewhat disgusted tone), “What is that?!?” It was the sound of a clicker, a positive reinforcement tool. What was then an irritation soon became a pleasant and very positive sound for me. It’s amazing how a simple question completely changed the way I approach teaching and coaching!

Join Amy Roberts and the TAGteach faculty in the fall: Coaches and Educators Seminar Oct 9-10, Boston Regsitraion and information available at www.tagteach.com or call 877-TAG-0002 or Click Here

I am very fortunate that Theresa McKeon at International took me under her wing and trained me in TAGteaching. I started using it in the gym and then Theresa asked me if I was interested in using it in my classroom. My students took to it like ducks to water and it has become a natural part of my daily classroom life.

I teach deaf and hearing-impaired children who use the auditory-oral method of communication. (Most people who have a hearing impairment, including those that are considered deaf, have at least a small amount of residual hearing.) This means that my students do not use sign language to communicate and it is my job to teach them how, with the use of high-powered hearing aids or a cochlear implant, to capitalize on and use whatever hearing they have. I am also responsible for teaching them how to communicate orally through speech. Theresa and I both knew TAGteach had potential in the educational environment, but I did not realize how much potential it had until I met Lexi. In the short time that Lexi and I have known each other, we have had an interesting history.

As a general rule, it is possible for teachers of self-contained classrooms for exceptional children to get new students throughout the school year due to changes of placement and new identifications of children with special needs. Before a child is placed in our classes, there’s usually a buzz about it that passes through the grapevine. Many times the receiving teacher is not included in the placement meeting, but fortunately, in this case, I was invited to attend. This meeting gave me a heads-up about Lexi’s background, but as with anything else, I did not know exactly what was in store for me and I know Lexi was not prepared for her new teacher.

I knew the change of placement would be potentially difficult for Lexi because she was not only changing classrooms and teachers, she was changing schools as well—and it was only two months into the school year. My assistant and I also knew it was going to be an adjustment for us, because we’d started the year with two students and within about two weeks of each other, two new students were placed in our room, both of whom required much more support than the original two.

Lexi was placed in my class for hearing-impaired kindergarteners, although unlike most of my other students, hearing is not her only impairment. She is a child with multiple needs, the three major areas being speech, gross motor, and fine motor movement. Many times, it is difficult to determine where to start when working with a child with multiple needs. I found out quickly that the first order of business was Lexi’s behavior. Along Lexi’s journey through life, she has learned that people find her irresistible and has come to use that knowledge as well as people’s assumption that due to her disabilities she is not able to follow the rules like her peers. It has become a coping strategy for Lexi, because many skills that are expected of typical six-year-olds are difficult for her.

Unfortunately for Lexi, from her perspective, but fortunately for her in the long run, I clued in on this behavior relatively quickly and Lexi and I spent our first two months together hashing out our “pecking order.” Frustration levels were high for both of us during that period and I was not sure how we would get through it. We did, and I believe there are two reasons: 1) Lexi realized that I had her number and that I was not going to back off and 2) I became more comfortable with TAGteach and began to see more fully its potential.

Initially, my assistant and I only used TAGteach to indicate correct answers. It was working better than I had hoped. The best part was that it taught my students to think for themselves. They know that when they do not hear a TAG they need to reassess the question and their answer, reach back into their knowledge base, and try again. It has been so wonderful to see the “wheels” turning in their little heads as they search for and find the correct answer.

“They know that when they do not hear a TAG they need to reassess the question and their answer, reach back into their knowledge base, and try again. It has been so wonderful to see the ‘wheels’ turning in their little heads as they search for and find the correct answer.”

Theresa McKeon came to visit and collect more data. We decided to TAG Lexi on the stairs. Her first time up and down the stairs was the same as always, but as soon as we started TAGing her for one foot on each stair, she climbed the stairs with almost 100% accuracy and by the third or fourth attempt she was 100% accurate. The next time Theresa visited, we tried to get a baseline of Lexi climbing the stairs, but she climbed them correctly the first time!

Recently, Lexi and I went upstairs to run an errand and for fun, I decided to TAG her on the stairs. On the way down she started reverting to her old ways and at first I did not understand why, but then I noticed that when I’d refrain from a TAG due to incorrect foot placement, Lexi would look at me with a smirk on her face then break into a giggle. She was trying to trick me!

Soon after Lexi’s success on the stairs, I started using the TAG when we walked the halls. Lexi has difficulty walking in a straight line. In fact, she is constantly looking around and weaving down the hallway. Many times she has come precariously close to walking into the walls that separate the doorways in the halls. We have colored tiles on each side of each hallway to help the children stay in line, but that alone has not worked for her. One day I told her that I was going to TAG her each time she stepped on a colored tile. Instantly, her eyes were looking straight ahead and she was walking in a straight line and keeping up with her classmates! I was amazed.

Lexi’s After School Education Program (ASEP) teachers came to me for advice about how to best help Lexi. She and I demonstrated her success at walking down the hall using TAGteach and the teachers were astounded! They could not wait to learn more about TAGteach and asked to observe it being used during our school day. Lexi’s one-on-one ASEP assistant came to observe and began using TAGteach that afternoon.

The ASEP teachers’ primary concern at the present time is Lexi’s eating habits. Lexi eats finger foods for lunch and snack and instead of putting a piece or two in her mouth, chewing them, and then putting more in her mouth, she continues to put food in before she’s finished chewing. I asked the ASEP assistant to cut Lexi’s granola bar into small pieces, keep them on a tray out of Lexi’s reach, and TAG Lexi when she finished chewing the piece in her mouth. Once that piece was chewed, she was given a new piece.

Lexi was very successful and after-school snack time went much more smoothly. We then tried a similar activity during our classroom snack, but this time the chips were placed in front of Lexi and she was told not to put another one in her mouth until she heard the TAG for chewing and swallowing the previous chip. It worked. What an improvement!

What started as an experiment in my classroom has spread to my students’ speech therapy sessions, the ASEP program, and just recently our physical education teacher approached me about TAGteach at the request of our principal who read the information Theresa provided and passed it along. TAGteach is also being used at another elementary school by the physical education teacher, who just happens to be my mom.

As I look back on the last four months with Lexi, I don’t who has learned more—me or her! I do know that Lexi has taught me that all children have immeasurable amounts of potential and if the adults in their lives have the right tools, the possibilities are endless.

“It's simple, when you don't get a TAG, you know what you have to work on.”