End of the Year Blues

We have three weeks left of school! We have finished all of our district testing and are ready for summer. Monday and Tuesday were hard days...I went to bed at 8:00 both nights! I was so drained and exhausted! The kids were burnt out from testing, being silly, and the behaviors were through the roof! We reviewed the classroom rules, but my kiddos needed some extra motivation to behave. I upped the stickers and classroom tickets, but nothing significantly helped until I announced the BOWLING party we would be having! Thank you Target for the giant inflatable bowling set for $5. What a deal!

I drew a bowling pin on our white board, and I told the students that when I see someone being respectful, responsible, safe, and kind in the classroom, I will write their name down in the bowling pin. Then, the students with their names in the bowling pin on Friday, can come to our bowling party.

The behaviors in my classroom immediately changed! Yay! The students were so excited for something new and exciting, and they wanted to get onto the pin so badly!
And whenever the students started to get off task or rowdy, I would add a student who was on task to the pin. All the others students would see that and get back to work and stay on task :)

Bowling party logistics:
This bowling party was very low prep for me!
It was on a Friday. Our lunch time is 12:30-1:15, and on Fridays, school ends at 1:30.
We have a 45 minute lunch (the students eat for about 25 minutes and then play for 20 minutes). I just called them into the classroom for the party 10 minutes before play time was over-about 1:05. The students had so much fun! All of the students made the list, and I decided that I NEED to extend this for the next two weeks. We will have another bowling party the next two Fridays. I seriously hope this keeps the students motivated to keep working hard and being kind for the next two weeks!

How do you keep your students motivated when they are sooo ready for summer break? I would love to hear other ideas!