Why won't the children work harder?

Over and over again, I have been bothered that I can't get my students to love learning as much as I do. Why won't these children work harder to learn? What must I bring into my classroom to encourage them, to create such an environment, that they would tire me as I taught, taught, taught; coached, coached, coached; supported, sup-, well, you get the picture. Instead, I am tired because I can't get them to self-motivate. In turn, my motivation tires, as I fall into a slow downward spiral, trying to grasp onto a tool to help us all!

As I watched Dateline last night, I was taken by the story of a high school class in Pomona, California. The teacher, Mr. Michael Steinman, recognized that there were students in his class worried about their personal family financial situation. Mr. Steinman asked them to share their concerns, and actually videotaped the sessions named, "Is Anybody Listening?", and posted it on You Tube. President Obama heard of the video, obviously viewed it, and mentioned by name one of the students (Yvonne) in a speech this week. President Obama then visited the school. I think it's fair to say that those students in Mr. Steinman's class are quite motivated right now. Mr. Steinman said, "For me as a teacher, the whole process was about giving the kids a voice and allowing them to use freedom of speech to express the heartache they and their families were feeling because of the economy. I made them a promise if they did it [the video], I’d make sure the president found out about it."

A few themes ran through my thoughts:

• isn't it cool that Mr. Steinman recognized that a basic necessity was lacking ($, housing, food) in his students' lives and it would be tough to motivate them to learn when they were thinking about the rent being late, or that there is no butter in the refrigerator?
• isn't it cool that technology exists that allows students to talk and the President has access to listen?
  
• how motivated are the Pomona students now?
• have they been heard?
• will it help?
  

After reading Dan's Blog, dated March 9, 2009 about motivation, I was drawn to his comparisons between our students and Pakistani students. He had read "Three Cups of Tea", by Greg Mortenson. I happen to be 2/3 of the way through that particular book and have also been struck by the motivation of these poor children, scraping letters and numbers in the dirt with sticks... without a building, a teacher, a book. Why are they so motivated?

Why won't our children work harder? I really wish I knew. Why is education such a 'trivial' component to some families? Has it been so easy to attain that is no longer considered valuable, like it is in Pakistan? Does it take a You Tube post to make it real for others? What will it take?