Okay... So, we all love sitting down with our own children and asking them how their day went. Often times it includes any funny or special things they did during their day, what they ate for lunch at school and the Pepperoni Report. Simply put in the words of a five year old, "Who got in trouble today."
Yes, we all love pizza. Who doesn't?
Well in our Kindergarten classrooms we have a behavior management system that is often talked about for years after their first year in school. Each student creates their pizza on the first day of school and it is posted on the bulletin board closest to the door.
At the start of each day the students start with a 4 pepperoni pizza. For those students that need extra reminders throughout the day to display desired behaviors, they are asked to pull a pepperoni off their pizza. Their shoulders often drop to their toes and their head hangs in disappointment. Oh... the pain in pulling off a pepperoni! It is so hard!
For those students that keep all 4 pepperonis on their pizza (which happens to most students on a daily basis), they earn a Pizza Point. It is our classroom $$$ system that the students use to buy fun prizes as a reward.
When setting this up at the beginning of the year I explain to my students that their job is to be a good listener when they are at school. Just like their grown-ups, they will get paid for doing their job. They can then use their money to buy things. Just remember if you have this discussion with 5 year olds their answers may not be censored when you ask them what their parents buy with money!!! ... Oh how we love Kindergarten!
