Sparking Student Motivation- State Tests

I was inspired by Joanne over at Head Over Heels for Teaching with her state test motivation!  This year am I am loving the fact that I don't  have to administer a test in Spain- but I easily remember the prep, worry, and fear that goes into it.  Last year was my first year administering the test to 5th graders.  Wooh- it was a doozy.  However, me and my fab co-teacher did everything in our power to motivate our learners.  We decorated our room in a fun (walls-completely-covered) way, we bribed students to continue working the entire testing time, and we passed out pounds and pounds of mints, decorated #2 pencils, and encouraging notes. 

To administer the test in Colorado, everything in our classroom must be taken down or covered.  Taking everything down is so much more work than just covering it all.  So Ms. co-teacher and I had a little fun decorating everything with a Dr. You Know Who theme! 

Before- Posters and learning everywhere!

 Aaand, after!

 So sad and covered... but our class was so excited by the decorations when they walked in that they were okay with all of our learning being covered for a little while. 

We also stocked up on tons and tons of mints.  We passed them out during the test and pretty much let them have as many as they wanted.  Who knows if mints really help increase their short term memory- but if they believe it does, then that's all that matters! We also had their families write letters to them to pass out the first day.  Grab an editable copy of the letters <here>!  To keep them motivated we passed out letters from us half way through the testing weeks.

We also got a ton of tickets... like the type you get at a carnival!  Halfway through the test every day, we passed a ticket out to anyone who was still working.  Then, 10 minutes before the test ended, we passed out another set of tickets to anyone still actively working. At the end of each day we drew two tickets and the winners could choose from all sorts of prizes. At the end of the entire testing period {three weeks worth!} we had a party and did a huge drawing- with one grand prize of a Kindle!!  Students who finished early would spend their time looking over their tests just to get more tickets.  It worked really well and I plan on doing it again in the future. 

Motivating students to do well on a test they never see again can be hard.  I'm not normally a huge fan of external motivation- but for this instance I think it's helpful and important!  What are some other ways you motivate your learners?  I look forward to hearing some other things people do!

Stop by Head Over Heels for Teaching to link up!!