The marker that we most commonly use with TAGteach is the tic-tac sound made by a mechanical tagger.

We refer to this sound as a tag and it remains the most effective marker for most applications.

The tag replaces the use of words in communicating success to the learner.

Sometimes people ask us if we use a word such as “yes” or “good” as a marker. The answer to this is no, unless it’s unavoidable. Words carry nuance and emotion and thus elicit interpretation that defeats the purpose of the non-verbal marker.

Here is an example to illustrate using the word “good”. As you listen, imagine that the word “good” is used to mark performance for the student.

Good [say it in flat voice]

Good [say it in excited, happy tone]

Goooooood!

Suzie might wonder why she got a “good” while Jim got a “goooooood!”. She might wonder why she didn’t get the same good today as yesterday. The difference in the tone and inflection of the various “good”s may have nothing to do with learner’s performance. Perhaps the teacher had a fight with her daughter this morning or just heard she won the lottery. Perhaps she is getting tired of saying “good” over and over by the time she gets to Suzie. Using a tagger eliminates all problems associated with using a verbal marker. The tag sounds the same all the time no matter who is holding the tagger or how they are feeling.

Using a word requires that the brain process the meaning as well as the emotional nuance of the word, when all we really want to convey is that the learner got it right in that split second.