You teach preschool at a public school with a moderate at-risk population. One of your students, James, often exhibits non-compliant behaviors. He pays more attention to his surroundings than to you and constantly argues with classmates. His cognitive and motor skills are rated low. James's challenging behavior is escalating. He is more physically aggressive with other students and has begun making disruptive and disrespectful comments during class. You must create a discipline plan for James, which your school requires be in writing in the student's file. As you consider how to handle the situation, you take into account information in James' file stating that his recently widowed mother works long hours at a second-shift job. You also have heard James complain about how often he is spanked or isn't allowed to play video games as punishment. You prepare your discipline plan with this in mind.

Focus Assignment

Create a discipline plan for James. First, list at least five strategies for guiding him to more prosocial behavior in the short-term. Next, write a paragraph describing how your discipline plan will promote the long-term goal of self-control.

Self Reflection

1. For each item of your discipline plan, explain how this item addresses the issues in the scenario