Motivational Strategies For years, maybe centuries, teachers have been motivating students with extrinsic or external rewards in the hopes of encouraging students to work more diligently in school. When that did not work, they would resort to some type of punishment. While rewards and punishment work wonders at curbing students’ immediate behavior, they do not cultivate an intrinsic, long-term desire to learn, behave and achieve (Daniels). Many students can be heard in the halls saying, “I hate school,” “School is boring,” or “Why do we have to come to school?” Many teachers have spent numerous hours discussing the lack of motivation among their students and trying to come up with ideas and strategies to get them engaged in the learning process. Some students will respond to the new ideas that make the classroom more exciting and the assignments more hands-on; others will not. Students are great at telling you what they care about and what they would like to do in the classroom, and we as teachers can learn a lot from them if we just listen! Researchers have spent many years, even decades, doing research on how to motivate students and they have developed a clear definition: to be motivated means to be moved to do something (as cited Daniels). Sustained motivation has to come from within a student; however, it can be influenced by external factors. Teachers cannot make someone motivated, but they can create a motivating environment. Creating a motivating environment for students would make them feel (1) a sense of autonomy or control; (2) connected to the class and the school; and (3) as if they possess the skills necessary to meet the challenges of school (as cited in Daniels). Contrary to popular belief, students are not looking for “easy” work or “nice” teachers. They are looking for the teacher to provide clear and concise instructions so they