Expertise: Many educators apply to explosive students
the same principles of discipline that were effective
with their own children, generally with poor results.
Other educators believe that the expertise necessary
for understanding and helping an explosive child is
well beyond their grasp. Not true. You need expertise
in three domains: five pathways, three Plans, and three
steps for doing Plan B. So chin up: If you’ve read the
ten chapters that preceded this one, you’re well on
your way in the expertise department. Now you just
need experience. No time like the present.
APlanBRoadMap: We’re going to have to replace
the school discipline code with something that will
actually work: a road map for implementing Plan B.
It’s a pretty easy road map to follow. The first goal is
to achieve a consensus on a given student’s pathways
and triggers (see Chapter 3). This usually requires a
meeting or two involving all of the adults who inter-
act with the child at school. It often makes sense to
have parents and relevant mental health professionals
present as well. Intervening before you know what
pathways and triggers are coming into play is akin to
a hunter firing a shotgun randomly into the air and
hoping to hit something good. The next goal is to pri-
oritize which problems are to be proactively solved
(triggers) and which skills are to be proactively taught
