When I Grow up I want to be a Teacher: Brag Tags Part 1

This summer I have been trying to research a lot of classroom things that are new and different from what I do. So far I have learned about Rocket Math, Read the Room, Reading Genre Passports, Fluency Cards, and finally Brag Tags! Some are very popular but not something I learned in college in Pennsylvania or something my school uses in Maine. I really like a lot of them and am going to try to implement some in my 1st & 2nd grade classroom this upcoming year.

So here goes my preparation for Brag Tags! If you haven't heard of them either, brag tags are a fun way to recognize students and hopefully bring a positive climate to the classroom environment. Children each get a chain necklace and they earn tags that they can "brag about" when they reach certain goals, or even just for different holidays. Teachers usually have them attached to backpacks as keychains (smaller length of chain) or hang them on a bulletin board in the classroom. I like the latter because I can just picture some getting pretty roughed up on a backpack or even getting ripped or lost. It also seems like most teachers allow students to wear their brag tag necklaces every Friday or to school assemblies or even field trips. I'm not sure what I think of that... bringing something to play with around your neck to assemblies? It sounds like a distraction to me and although I want my students to be proud of their accomplishments, bragging about them at every assembly (even if passive) seems like a push in the wrong direction- however I realize they might not even get mentioned at all at an assembly. I'm just in a small school, where it will be sure to seem out-of-place or obviously noticeable. I haven't decided when I will allow my students to wear their brag tags yet, but I'm sure it will be something along the lines of one day a week or the first of the month, etc.

With all that said, I have begun to prepare how I am going to utilize brag tags in my classroom. I purchased all my supplies at Michael's... my favorite store! They had all sorts of storage containers for beads or rainbow loom bands starting as low as $2.99. I settled on a 23 compartment storage container from Bead Landing, which has a built in handle and two clip closure things. It was $11.99, but I got 25% off my entire purchase with a current running coupon. I could have also used a 40, 50, or 60% off one item coupon as well (Michaels will allow one coupon for the entire purchase and one for one item- I used to cashier there), but I didn't have one on hand and forgot to search for one (or even a competitors) before I reached the register. So I could've saved about $4 more if I had done that. I'm really glad I went with this one, as some of the $2.99 boxes would've probably been had compartments that were too small for most of the brag tags I've downloaded.

Speaking of the downloads, I did a search on TpT for free brag tags and found a plethora which I will share the links for the ones I liked below. Any particular ones I didn't find, I made myself and you can pick those up for FREE in my Tpt store: Mrs. Garnier's School Store

Over 50 Behavior Brag Tags
Substitute Brag Tags
Earth Day Brag Tags
Valentine's Day Brag Tags
Perfect Attendance & Honor Roll Brag Tags

Next I bought the ball chain on a spool for $9.99. It had 12 yds, which I thought would be enough, but I only got 14 1/2 necklaces out of it. I only needed 12, but I wanted a couple extra in case I get a new student in the middle of the year. I could've got it for 1/2 price if I strategically waited for a coupon, but I'm over it. It came with only 4 closing connector pieces, so I searched and searched and couldn't find more separately. After asking the store associate for help, she suggested the Jim Holtz 3 bead chain necklace set (pictured below). It was the only thing I could find so I don't mind that the connectors are slightly different colors. I'm saving the nicer chains for future craft projects.

So all in all I spent $27, but that was because of my own choosing. You could spend way probably as low as $10, if you used half price coupons and made multiple trips to Michaels. I don't want to pay for brag tags, so I will probably keep making any more that I find I need.

Stay tuned for a future brag tag post later in August, when I hang them in my classroom and start utilizing them. My plan is to have the extras in a storage container where the students can peruse them so that they will be excited. I can just hear them now saying, "Oooh, I want to try and earn this one!" or "Look at this one we will earn on Valentine's Day!"