Reward Tags in Music Class

What are reward tags also know as brag tags?  They are tiny little awards that look similar to dog tags.  They are used as a classroom management tool and are insanely motivating for student when used consistently.  When I used these in my music and computer classes, my entire school was using them as student incentives.  We actually just called them "reward tags" instead of "brag tags" which sounds MUCH cooler!

After a year of using this system, administration changed and the incentive system wasn't a top priority.  Some teachers continued to use them, others dropped them.  Can reward tags work in special area classes even if classroom teachers don't use them?  You bet!  

I introduce the tags on the first day of class, but don't really get too detailed about them until day two of music.  During this class period, I'll show them some of the tags that I keep on hand and why they might be rewarded.  This is also when I introduce my two brag tag rules.

1.  There are no replacement tags.  You are responsible for your tag once it is given to you.

2.  Don't ask for a tag or you will not get one.

Pretty simple, right?  I bet I repeated rule #2 a million times!  

I used reward tags to recognize many different behaviors, achievements and special event sin music class.  I loved giving out tags for concert attendance and performance.  I also used them to recognize singing in tune, keeping steady beat, singing solos, performing difficult rhythms, leading small groups and more.

Often I would take 3 or 4 tags and put them up on the board.  Then I would remind students that I would be looking for people who were exhibiting that skill or characteristic to reward.  This immediately focused student energy to what was happening in class.

When the entire school was using reward tags, I would just give out the tags as the students left my room.  They would take them back to their classroom and add them to whatever their home room teacher had set up for them.  For most classes it was a necklace that hung on their desk or on a bulletin board.  For other classes they used a jump ring (as shown in the first picture above). 

When classroom teachers stopped using them, I had to get a little creative with how students were rewarded and what they did with the tags.

My favorite way was to attach the brag tags with a safety pin.  This worked great!  The older students could put them on by themselves and the younger students were easy enough to pin on their way out of class.

A student favorite for displaying brag tags was to string them onto their shoe strings.  I thought this was pretty clever!  They looked great until...well...until they didn't.  *giggling*  Imagine recess just after the rain stopped.  Yep.  Some of the tags didn't last very long.  When that happened, I happily referred students to rule #1.

Some students did not want to wear their tag in any fashion, so they would just slip it into their pockets.  I was fine with that.  Some of them put them in their backpacks, taped them into folders or books.

I experimented with giving students library pockets to store their brag tags, but found with hundreds of students that was a little too much for me to keep up with.  I kept a box of small envelopes at my desk that students could request if they didn't want to wear them.  Most students wanted to wear them, so the envelopes were not used very often.  They were also seriously plain, so that might have deterred them as well. 

My favorite use for reward tags was as an immediate reward for singing.  With my younger classes I would give them out liberally to students who sang by themselves, match pitched or performed a solo for the class.  For older students I used tags to recognize good singing posture, enunciation, eyes on the conductor, etc...

   

Preparing the Tags

I have a HUGE collection of music reward tags in my store that you may be interested in.  Click HERE to take a look at the Music Class Set with has 75 tags.  They were designed to be used with a color printer, but a low in version with no background is included as well.

To use them you'll need to print them, trim the edges and then laminate the whole sheet.  After they have been laminated, cut them apart.  At the beginning of the year, I punched holes at the top of every tag to save class time.  When I printed more copies during the year I usually skipped this step and just kept a whole punch near the tags in my classroom.

The start up time can seem a little overwhelming.  If you have a teaching assistant, school print shop or a parent volunteer, this would be a great job to pass off!  For me, I just picked a show to binge watch on Netflix and laminated the night away.

  There are reward tags for recorders too!  Color tags are included (but do not reference "karate") for white, yellow, orange, red, green, blue, purple, brown, black, pink, turquoise and a master tag with several colors.

I use the Peripole Halo recorders with the neck strap so it was easy to thread them on.  Students with different recorders used a jump ring to attach them to their cases or backpacks.

You can get the recorder set of  tags HERE.  

There are many ways to organize reward tags.  I must admit that my way is not very creative.  I used index card boxes.  I put singing tags in one box, recorder tags in another and so on.  There are many other more innovative ideas out there including pocket charts, photo storage boxes and some brag tag tackle boxes.

I encourage you to consider adding this fun and motivating behavior incentive system in your classroom this year.  Do a little.  Do a lot.  Do what works for you and your classroom.

You can get my set of Reward Tags for Music Class HERE and the Recorder Set HERE.  I also have a set for ukulele!

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