Writing Benchmark Enthusiasm

I've not been teaching too long, but I have been around long enough to know that students hate taking standarized tests, especially the writing portion. It was a little different this time, however. Last week I didn't have many students who grumbled about having to take it. Usually I have several students that write a little and submit, not caring about their score. This time most of the students took their time and wrote a lot more than what I expected and when they submitted their essays, they were angry. They wanted to retake it right then. They wanted higher scores! I'm not 100% sure why they felt this way, but I do believe that they're beginning to experience intrinsic motivation. It felt good to witness that as their teacher.