Although not needed every morning, it was felt that Jim requires routine and that it would be difficult to change routine on a day when he is upset.  The TA will have materials ready and can have him work on these materials if it takes him a while to calm down and the class has already begun their activities.  Jim gets quite upset if he walks into a situation where he doesn't know what is expected.  

Jim will not be told that he cannot return to the classroom because he "can't handle it" since this seems to trigger inadequacy, but simply will be told that the TA has been asked to work with him on these materials.  They will be activities that he enjoys (well within his skill range) or an activity that will assist he teacher.  Over time it may be possible to decide with Jim if it is a good time to return to the classroom and prepare him for the work that is being done.  

The counsellor or resource teacher will drop by the room at 9:15 to 9:25 to "visit."  If things are going well, the visit will be kept short.  If there is a problem, the counsellor or resource teacher will decide whether to stay or involve the principal.  Staff will agree on a signal that the TA can give to indicate that they are doing fine and that no further intervention is required.  It is usually best to let Jim talk out his concerns on a one-on-one basis so others should only intervene when there is a major concern or when asked by the TA.

The time spent in this activity will usually be short but the TA:

1. can increase the time if she feels that he is too upset to be in the classroom
2. can involve others for help if needed.

Jim is quite willing to speak with the counsellor but does not like to talk about problems that occurred unless they are fairly immediate.  He takes the stance that things are fine now, so why would he want to talk about problems?  The counsellor will work with him regularly on even days after recess.  This is a good time since he need to talk about events at recess.  Otherwise, they will follow a formal program discussing third party problems and solutions.

The team felt that there were three ways to involve Jim with the counsellor in the counselling process.

1. First, Jim likes to talk about problems when they are immediate.  The TA is available for this kind of discussion and, with some training,  may be able to help Jim organize his thinking about events that are fairly recent.  Jim tends to become overwhelmed by feelings when problems occur and misses any chance to learn from events. With the help of the TA, Jim could share this information with the counsellor at the regular time and demonstrate his evolving skills.   
2. The counsellor may be given authority to develop alternate strategies with Jim as part of the re-entry process when he has been removed from classes or activities.  The counsellor could assign Jim and the TA a specific task as part of this process and have them review their progress.  Jim will likely have some commitment to this process if this gets him what he wants.  
3. Finally, the counsellor may become involved in mediating extreme conflicts.  This is critical for Jim and gets his full involvement since he continues to mull on "injustices" until they are resolved.

1. The counsellor will assist the TA in helping Jim clarify basic problem events.  Jim can share this information at scheduled times (after lunch on even days).
2. He will assist Jim in the re-entry process when he has lost privileges by helping him develop better ways of handling problems.  
3. The counsellor will assist in mediation when there are major conflicts with other students.

The resource teacher would work with a small group of students to develop writing skills. The group would involve two classmates, two older students, and a younger student. It was a "high success" approach allowing for concrete success.

The resource teacher will also set up a cross-age program with the classroom teacher.

The mixture of the group should help with Jim's sense of inadequacy since older students and age mates were present. The program works on simple productivity (number of words) for a lengthy period of time. Credit is given for simply increasing words. Eventual editing skills are to someone else's work which fits with Jim's critical style, the "other person" whose work is being corrected is not known by the students. Work is done at the board so it is action oriented. Done after recess, it may give Jim the change to settle into his medication. It will be done on odd days to ensure consistency and predictability.

Since Jim can be fairly critical with others, it will be necessary to set the situation so that he is encouraging. This will be done by creating a structured "token system" that Jim can use with his student. On random days when Jim has given many tokens, the resource teacher will go through the student's work with Jim and randomly reward Jim for positively encouraging the younger student."

The resource teacher will 

1. set up a group writing process for Jim and some other students to further develop writing skills 
2. assist the teacher in developing an effective cross age tutoring program

The writing program will be highly structured and focus on positive rewards and encouragement.  The program will occur on odd days after recess with seven students.

The cross-age tutoring will be carefully structured with students trained on where and how to give tokens for success.  There will be support for giving accurate positive feedback.

Jim is most oppositional when he gets himself into an extreme state and he challenges power.  It is important that power language be used at these times such as: "Jim, see if you can get yourself to leave the room now."  Our goal is for him to realize that the issue is one of self-control, and that the choices he has in the classroom and school are dependent upon his ability to control himself and to enable himself to follow a teacher's directions when the teacher is concerned about his behaviour.

The place that Jim goes to is not a punishment room and the issue is not what he did or how many days the consequence is.  The focus is on "how will you get yourself to follow the teacher's Ms. Clifford's directions when you return to the classroom."  His re-entry will be based on his ability to address this issue.

The TA and counsellor will go through the progressive plan with Jim so he understands it, but a short directive outlining the plan will be given to Jim by the principal to formally implement it.  Refusal to follow the principal's directions will not be discussed with Jim.  This will be treated as a non-option.

A progressive re-entry plan will be developed for those situations where Jim must remove himself from a class or outdoor activity.

The counsellor and TA will explain the plan to Jim and the principal will give formal direction and answer any questions. The focus will be on Jim developing self control.