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EST400 A1 Community Project: Cool-Off Cards


Part A

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Problem & Design Brief
Working in schools there are often moments when students react
impulsively to situations and in ways that are not always helpful (eg
having a temper tantrum or being verbally abusive to fellow students or
teachers). Or sometimes they are having a bad day and with an inability
to fully recognize what is happening emotionally, they react and explode
because they feel out of control. I work with a lot of students with
behavioural issues and emotional instability and a main focus of my work
has become about finding a way to build up students understanding of

how to recognize what they are feeling and then choosing how they are
going to respond to those feelings, hopefully in a way that is beneficial for
all involved. With this in mind, the concept I wanted to explore in this
report is the idea of a cool-off card. There is a current system in pace at
the school I work in where certain students have been issued with a cooloff card. The card has a picture and the words Cool Off on it which the
student needs only to give to the teacher and then they may leave the
classroom for a varying amount of time (roughly 5-10minutes). When
the student comes back to the room there may or may not be a discussion
around how they are feeling now, or what happened to cause them to feel
the necessity of using the card - usually there is no discussion. This lack of
accountability or follow up has led to students abusing the system and
even reinforcing negative behavioural patterns. I wanted to look for a way
to bring more accountability to students regarding their
actions/behaviours and response to the emotional and physical issues
arising, as well as helping teachers to understand what the student is
going through and recognising patterns or potential triggers. My aim was
to expand upon the resource already available and create something that
would be accessible for students to use as a way of helping them to
develop healthy ways of processing their emotions and impulsive reaction
to situations in the classroom and other social settings.

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I approached the welfare coordinator at the school I work at - Yarra Hills
Secondary College, Mooroolbark. We had informal conversations
discussing the concept and what improvements could be made and
whether she thought it would be affective. She was very interested and
eager to try it out at the beginning of Term 2. I would also like to introduce
the idea to my supervising teacher during my net round on placement as
we have some students in the class that would benefit from a system such
as this.

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The product
The basis of the cool-off card is that students who are assessed by their
classroom teacher and/or the welfare team as needing help in developing
their behavioural, emotional and social awareness skills would be given
the cards to be kept in their pencil case. The laminated cards have an
array of different emotional cues which the student is able to choose from
as they decide what best aligns with the emotion they are experiencing
and then circle the number on the scale which is the level of intensity that
they are experiencing that emotion. If the student indicates that they at
either a 4 or 5 on the scale they are given the chance to have 5 minutes
of quiet time away from the rest of the class. If they are at a 3 then the
teacher monitors their behaviour for the next few minutes and checks in
to see if it has escalated, or if the feeling is decreasing. If students are
between 1 and 2 this gives the teacher an understanding of how the
student is feeling, without there being a need for immediate action.
When a student is given the option for quiet time they are required to
use this time to reflect on what they are feeling; emotions, physical
reactions being experiencing, as well as the trigger of the emotional and
physical responses. To assist in this reflection there will be a card with
physical reactions listed and the student simply ticks which are relevant.
There will also be a card that assists in determining the trigger point for
the child, and again all they need to do is tick the relevant box. Once the 5
minutes of quiet time is finished, the teacher comes in and looks at the
cards and the relevant boxes ticked, and is then able to have an informed
discussion about the incident and how the student is now feeling and the
steps that may now happen.
Investigation
To work out the best design for the Cool-Off Cards I did some research
online to see what resources were already available. While looking on
website Pinterest I found a couple of different resources which were
similar to the product I wanted to make. I have included photos of these

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products so the development of my own concept can be understood.

Image
sourced
from:
http://www.victoriesnautism.com/self-management--emotionalbehavioral.html

While this resource was appealing, in closer analysis I could see


elements that I would want to incorporate in my own design, and
elements that I would leave off or felt needed further development.
For instance, I liked the facial expressions as examples for students to
see and associate with because I think its always helpful to have a
visual element to go along with written instructions. However I dont
like the fact that students have to get basically to breaking point
before it is realised that they are not coping with a situation - which is
why i wanted a scale of intensity on my own cards.
The next resource I found had something similar to this scale idea, as
it had numbers from 1-5 on a laminated card which students could
mark to indicate the number they associated with. Along with the
numbers, there were faces up one side indicating the emotion they
may be feeling.

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Image sourced from: http://www.victoriesnautism.com/self-management-emotionalbehavioral.html

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While I thought the number scale was good, I did not like the idea of 1
being happy and 5 being angry as the pictures indicate. When
students reach a 5 it may not mean they are angry, it might be that
they feel incredibly sad and upset, or anxious and stressed and are at
their peak of that feeling, which is why each emotion on my card has
its own scale. Students can be more than one thing at a time as well,
so they can fill in as many of the thermometers as they like.
I also liked that the two cards were joined through a hole and metal
link. This is why I decided to have three cards, all joined together on a
keychain which students can attach to their pencil case, school bag,
chair bag etc.
The importance of appropriate and relatable visuals became my next
focus in the research of my desire. I researched online to see if there
were any emotions charts that had been developed which may be
useful as starting point, however my plan was always to draw the
images myself. That is when I found this picture chart:
Image sourced from:

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http://allthingsupperelementary.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/Moretime2teachmoodwithmusicartan
dcaricatures.html

This is a well-known emotions chart, and I have seen it used in many


different schools, welfare offices, doctors rooms etc. I really liked all of
the faces but did not want too many on my cards because that in its self
would be overwhelming for a student.
Design, Sketches & Solutions
I chose five images that I felt best fit the emotions/feelings students may
experience when they desire to use the Cool-off cards: Sad, Angry,
Anxious, Frustrated and Overwhelmed. Once I had chosen what
faces/emotions I wanted to use, I set about designing the cards and
creating sketches, which is shown in the following image:

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These sketches were quick and not as detailed which meant that I was
working efficiently and effectively. Dalton addresses the importance of
effectiveness and efficiency and that they work together for students to
gain the best result, both in terms of learning and meeting the
requirements of the task (1996, p 1). If students spend too much time on
their first sketches trying to make them as attractive as possible they
waste time and remove the ability for manipulation further down the
track (Dalton, 1996, p 5). These preliminary sketches were ismply to
work out the best layout for the cards; how could I best display the

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information so that it was clear and concise for the students? I briefly
considered using individual cards for each emotion and scale, but
decided it would be too much and that I preferred having them all on one
page. I also worked through the issue of where and how to display the
scale. I wanted a visual that was easy for the student to access and
understand, as well as clear for the teacher to see and assess easily.
I had decided that three cards would be enough to display everything I
wanted, so the next process was designing a rough copy of what each
card would look like and the information necessary for each individual
card.
These I
spent a
little
more
time on

because I wanted to see what the final product would look like.

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The next step in my design process was to create a thermometer that


would be clear enough but also not too big. I researched online and
found a template that i could cut out and use as a guide. The next step

was creating the hand-drawn copy of the emotions card. The following
images are the design process and completion of the cards, step by step:

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Reflection

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AusVELS describes design as a vital step in transforming ideas into
creative, practical and commercial realities by optimising the value of
products and systems (2014). Throughout this experience I have seen
exactly what is meant by this statement and the benefit design and
technology has in education. I was able to take an idea/challenge and
allow my imagination to think creatively and critically, exploring different
solutions in order to create a product that could be used practically and
would benefit the user.
In hindsight I would have liked to have changed a few elements of my
design; such as finding or digitally creating a thermometer rather than
having to drawn one because it would have looked more professional;
using a fine-liner to trace over the photocopied images rather than a
Sharpie; or changing and/or adding a few other options to the physical
symptoms card and the triggers card. However, for a prototype I am
happy with the final result and I would actually use this product in my
work as part of a student welfare team, and later as a classroom teacher.
Impact
The development and construction of this product has opened my eyes
further to the large process that goes into creating, designing,
constructing and distributing products such as this and the many
aspects that need to be taken into consideration; ie challenges,
processes already in place and products similar that are on the
market, different classroom set up and varying student cohorts. With
regard to varying student cohorts, Mawson encourages a teaching
approach that allows tasks to be sufficiently open in relation to
possible solutions as this allows and encourages students to figure out
their own starting strategy and work in their preferred leaning style
(2003, p 7). This approach was evident within our own assessment brief
as there was no limitation placed on the community project we chose
explore, and allowed for me to explore an area that is of great
importance already (student wellbeing) in a learning style that works
best for me (creative, hands on, drawing etc).

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My understanding of the importance of the research and designing
phases was also deepened. Sometimes students want to jump right into
the construction of their product, however if they explore the designing
and theoretical construction of their design before jumping straight in
they can work out the kinks before they begin constructing and save
a lot of time and energy. By asking questions and clarifying
understanding, without telling students what to do, throughout the
designing processes a lot of the potential issues can be exposed and
solved, helping develop students abilities to enquire and explore
throughout their learning experience.

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References
Denton, H. & Williams, P. (1996) Efficient and effective design: the
purpose of sketching and drawing.
Mawson, B 2003, Beyond the design process: an alternative
pedagogy for technology education, International Journal of
Technology and Design Education, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 11728, retrieved
7th April 2015 via Cloud Deakin <http://link.springer.com.ezproxyf.deakin.edu.au/article/10.1023/A%3A1024186814591>
Molleur, L 2012 Self-Management and Social/Behavioural Supports,
Victories in Autism. Retrieved 7th April 2015
<http://www.victoriesnautism.com/self-management-emotionalbehavioral.html>
Thomas, A 2013 Guest Poster, More Time 2 Teach: Teach Mood with
Music and Caricatures All Things Upper Elementary. Retrieved 7th April
2015
<http://allthingsupperelementary.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/Moretime2t
eachmoodwithmusicartandcaricatures.html>
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2013, Introduction,
Design Creativity and Technology Domain. Retrieved 8th April 2015
<http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Design-Creativity-andTechnology/Overview/Introduction>

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