250 The Explosive Child
though it would be more efficient to have all the stu-
dents in a classroom have the exact same learning
styles and capabilities, it never works out that way. So
it’s always necessary to adapt lessons and assignments
to individual learners. The learning disability of in-
flexibility and poor tolerance for frustration is as
good a reason to do Plan B as any other type of learn-
ing disability.
- Time: Teachers often complain that they don’t have
time to do Plan B. Of course, doing the right thing and
fixing the problem always takes less time than doing
the wrong thing and not fixing the problem. But it’s ab-
solutely true that the school schedule isn’t designed to
give school personnel the time they need to discuss a
student’s pathways, develop action plans for teaching
the thinking skills a child lacks and using Plan B, and
meeting periodically to assess the student’s progress
and reconfigure the action plan. On the other hand,
what’s done with the meeting time that does exist is
often—don’t take this the wrong way, please—a waste
of time. Too much time is spent telling stories (about
the student’s behavior) rather than making sense out of
the stories with the pathways. Too much time is spent
agonizing and obsessing over categorization (“Does he
need a 504 Plan or an IEP?”) rather than developing ac-
tion plans to get the job done.
