Brag Tags

One way that we encourage hard work and good choices is through the use of brag tags.  These are colorful printed and laminated tags that tell what behavior the child exhibited to earn it. Tags are given by the teacher for things she notices: effort, problem-solving, kindness, improvement in different academics, success at activities, following directions, etc.

There are special tags for holidays and achievements so that they are like a scrapbook of the school year together.

Tags are kept on a necklace that students can wear on Fridays if they choose. New tags are gathered throughout the week and passed out on Fridays. While many teachers will give out material prizes for good behavior, our goal is that children see that their choices and effort are what they should be proud of, encouraging them to do more. The tags are colorful and cute physical reminders of what the student has achieved. We have tags for behaviors we are encouraging (walking quietly in the hallways, checking work carefully, etc) that we keep handy as a reminder for students.  We compare our string of tags to a scrapbook of our 2nd grade year - tags are given for holidays, performances, mastery of math facts, birthdays and lost teeth, etc.