Motivation

Extrinsic motivation is so much easier to identify than intrinsic! In the classroom I've been observing, there are a lot of extrinsic motivators. The teacher calls on the students by using popsicle sticks with their names on them. Because of that, the students want to understand so they don't get embarrassed in front of the rest of the class. That's maybe not the best way to motivate a student, but it's definitely effective. All of the students also are motivated by grades at least to some degree. Some of them want to get an A, some only want to pass. I know some students aren't motivated by grades, but all of the students in the class I've been observing definitely seem to be, hopefully that doesn't wane after 7th grade.
I think the teacher I observe is really good at making all of the students in her class feel like they belong. Again, maybe it's just an abnormal class, but there are always group activities and everyone seems really comfortable working with each other. This isn't obviously an intrinsic motivator, but belonging is one of the main points of the self-determination theory, which seems to me like it is closely related to the growth mindset theory and thereby intrinsic motivation. If the students feel like they belong, they are less likely to worry about looking foolish for asking questions, or be interested in an "uncool" subject. So, if they feel like they belong, they are more likely to allow themselves to develop an interest and some intrinsic motivation to go with it.
Motivation is probably the biggest issue I experience as a student. Especially in high school when I really didn't care about the topics, it was really hard to stay motivated by anything besides the grade. I think it would have been really helpful to me if my teachers talked about the relevance of their topics more than they did, or if they tried to make it more fun. Those are both definitely things I really want to do in my classroom.