This talking board allows teachers and pupils to discuss a situation calmly using the 7 cog model to frame and support the conversation of the emotions experienced.

In this example, the 7 cog conversation board has been used as a tool to unpack an incident with a child when they experienced big feelings after losing a game of football during break time. The situation escalated quickly but the child was given time on their own in a safe, quite space to calm down. This was a strategy previously identified by the child as a way for them to self-regulate and was part of their toolkit (see Blue Cog – Regulation Ready practice example).

During a restorative discussion, the conversation tool was used to explore what had happened. The child was able to talk through the different cogs and the teacher was able to use them to formulate questions to give the child a deeper understanding of the incident.  The child could identify the undesired behaviours using the symbol folder to support communication and could talk about why they were unacceptable.

For this child, the influencing factor to their big reaction was due to them already having their Xbox removed from their room as a consequence for something that had happened the previous weekend and they didn’t want to get in trouble again. Throughout the discussion, the child and teacher were able to identify the trigger point and how that body sensation felt. The discussion lead to a joint decision to make a plan going forward for when this child plays football with his peers, which in itself is a trigger.

These versatile, dry wipe ‘Conversation Tool’ boards can be used to facilitate discussions around emotions. As well as real life incidents, they can be used successfully to unpack scenes in films, novels or songs. The simpler 4 and 5 cog version can be used for younger children are also available to purchase in the online shop.