Colin is a kindergartener who acted like a three-year-old with an attitude. This author, his kindergarten teacher, had tried visual schedules, positive and negative reinforcement, ignoring disruptive behavior, clear expectations and choices, and nothing was curbing his defiant behaviors. So far, all he had learned was that grown-ups were always trying to make him do unpleasant things in school. He had been on the radar of the special education staff since his days in the Early Intervention Preschool Program. Academically, he was far behind his classmates. His speech disorder made it impossible for him to say the names and sound of the letters, and his developmental delay kept him from understanding 10-minute lessons on the alphabet. Reeves describes how she employed a compassionate, caring connection with Colin to influence his behavior and to make him cooperate.