Teachable moments

I've been thinking more and more about punishments and rewards in my classroom. I know that this year I am focusing less on rewards and really trying to eliminate unnecessary punishments. As I'm reading Alfie Kohn's book, he talks about replacing punishments with teachable moments. This makes a lot of sense to me and I realize I'm not really doing that with my students. When when one of my students has been in trouble for not turning in homework, I've talked to him about how important homework is, asked him why he's not getting it done, and even talked to his guardian, but I haven't really listened to what's going on with him, whether he's struggling with the work or what the reason is for the issue. Instead of punishing him, and talking to him about the consequences of his actions, I need to work with him to solve the problem.