What Motivates learners?

Thinking of my  students reminds me that there isn't a magic bullet when it comes to engagement.  Motivating students is complex but it is something that teachers can plan for. If I strive to engage students at the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive levels, I can increase the number of motivated students.
 For me, engaging students at the emotional level is the easiest.  This means I need to work to build personal relationships--to know and care about students. When that relationship is developed kids will often "work" harder just because they like me.  However, just engaging them at the gut level isn't enough.  I also need to set up rituals and routines and model how they work in the classroom if I want behavioral engagement.  However, just being behaviorally engaged isn't enough either.  There also has to be behavioral engagement.  This means there is predictability in the classroom.  I post learning targets on the board each day so students know what my instructional goals are.  I also want to identify what students will produce in terms of annotations, drafts of writing, double entry diaries etcetera so they understand what they will create to show me what they know and need.  When students understand how the classroom work in terms of rituals and routines, they can better manage the rules of school.
The level of engagement that I'm trying to harness more is cognitive engagement. When students are cognitively engaged, they are motivated to learn because the topic is compelling and they see a purpose in their own life for the learning. This requires I flesh out why my content matters.  I have to help students see how what we are studying has relevance to the world outside of school and how it will empower them as learners.  Content can't sit in a curriculum guide if it is going to be compelling to students.  It has to connect to their lives.  When I hit the sweet spot and get students engaged at all three levels, my classroom is humming.