My 7th old boy getting in trouble in school

[Frankieny]

My son is sweet &loving, but also very smart &seems to have issues focusing on a task. He has mastered the art of negotiating &is always trying to work his way out of a situation. People commonly joke that he should go to law school. But this is be owing out of control in school. Last yr he had a very structured, no tolerance, type of teacher, but this yr we werent so lucky, she has no control over him &she is describing behavior I've never seen from him before. He has also recently become a better liar then in the past. I want to be able to trust him, bur it's becoming clear that I can't. I don't want him to think he can't confide in me, but I don't want him to think m a sucker either. He has been punished for a week already (with no privileges at all) and it still doesn't seem to be working. He finds some way to entertain himself. Any suggestions? His grades are pretty good considering according to his teacher he pays no attn in class.

[tiredbuthappy]

Have you met with the teacher? Discussed his specific behaviors?
Do you know what methods his previous teacher employed that did help? Unfortunately, it is very difficult to determine what the problem is based on the info you have given (and you may not have enough info). However, if the punishment hasn't work until now, it probably won't work and you have to keep trying to find the reason for these behaviors. I would start with communicating with the teacher daily to look for patterns in the behavior. If you do not have access to the teacher (if drop off and pick up is outside, or if there is before or aftercare) then you may want to ask her to write in a notebook the behaviors she sees and in what context. This may help narrow down what exactly triggers his behaviors. Is he out of control all day? Is he following the example of another child who is acting out? Is he bored? Is he seeking attention? Etc. What has she tried? Has she tried to seat him in front of the class? In a quieter corner? Is he already singled out as the "bad" kid and next to her desk all day? Are there any times of day that are better or worse?
Answers to these questions may help pinpoint what the problem is, or at least give direction, whether it is due to an inexperienced teacher or an underlying developmental problem. Good luck!

[Sandman2]

   Opps, just reread your post and realized that you said 7th year old boy.  I thought you meant 7th grade - hence my first question.  If he is 7 years old - regardless of having ADD or not - a week of no privileges is a very ineffective punishment and doublely  so if he does have ADD.  I think that it might be a good idea to get the book,"The ADD/ ADHD Answer book," by Susan Ashley.   Besides covering AD/HD she also talks about working with schools and behavior control medthods.  
   Please feel free to post any more specific questions.

[Sandman2]

    I guess he is not in a typical middle school if he only has one teacher for the entire day?  I wonder because some schools have better resources to help kids then other kinds. So what kind of a school is he in?
    Any way, he certainly does exhibit many of the characteristics of a child with ADD.  And I could make a case for every thing you have mentioned that it would fit with a child with ADD, but there are always other personal things that he could be going through.
    The problem with ADD, is that intelligent kids with it don't get noticed.  Yet all the hyper ones with bad grades do.  And unfortunately, I have never really found a good web site devoted to kids with ADD. There are several good ones for adults such as totallyadd.com which have a lot of good information.
     Check out this site - http://www.rxlist.com/attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder_adhd/article.htm#tocc
   and if after reading it, it sounds possible - I can recommend other resources.  Best wishes.