This parenting shit really is hard!

Alex got suspended. Well, not suspended...well, yeah he did. He got punished to two days of in-school suspension. Apparently, he can't stop talking in class. Oh, and the other day he decided to stick a screw in Ms. Jackson's electric pencil sharpener and completely broke it. What am I going to do with him? He is such a great kid in so many ways; he is quite possibly the smartest kid I've ever known, and I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom. He really is so incredibly smart for his age. He's six, in first grade, and can read mommy's college textbooks with virtually no problem. He was adding and subtracting ten-digit numbers when he was 4. Several teachers have said he should be tested and possibly put into a gifted program. He's also so funny! He really cracks me up. Family and friends are constantly entertained by his fresh, energetic, (and sometimes very sarcastic) sense of humor. He is also quite possibly one of the funniest kids I've ever known. And he's so incredibly athletic. I'm serious- this boy could easily be the next Albert Pujols or Tiger Woods. He creams every other little kid at baseball; he hits homerun after homerun without even breaking a sweat. He's awesome at soccer, basketball, and he's really starting to perfect his golf skills. We're going to the driving range this weekend, and I guarantee he can hit better than a lot of adults (myself included). He's also really outgoing, very social, and can fit in with just about anyone, anywhere. So my dilemma is this: why does he get in so much trouble???? I'm really at a loss because I have tried just about everything I can possibly think of. I've tried the time-outs, spanking, grounding, etc. To get technical for a moment, I've tried both positive and negative reinforcement, which only seem to work in the short-term. Punishing him doesn't seem to help all that much either. After this suspension thing, I grounded him from video games (which he loves), tv, and playing with his friends for 2 weeks. I thought that last part would really get him because he's in love with Camryn from across the street. (She has a total crush on him I just found out- how cute is that?) I don't know. Is that enough? Too much? I really don't have a clue. The only thing that seems to instill any sort of fear in him is the threat of possible spankings, which, as a mother, I HATE to do!!! But sometimes I just have to. I don't really know where to go from here. I want to be hard on him, but it's really hard to do that for some reason. I guess because he's my little baby and I love him more than anything in the entire world, and I hate to see him unhappy. But at the same time, to make him the man he needs to be, he needs some serious discipline so he can get his shit together. I think I just have to suck it up and be harder on him until he gets it through his head that he can't misbehave at school. Aaagghhh!!! This is just so hard! And VERY frustrating!