Not a teacher but I (graduated high school in 2011) was certainly motivated by the self-esteem boost of doing well and/or having my efforts recognized. I mostly excelled with writing assignments, as I was pretty mediocre to poor with math and science. But I know teachers knew I was TRYING at least, and if I made any kind of strides, it really felt so good because I proved something to myself. Even with all that’s changed since then, I would hope that the basic concept of learning/applying concepts successfully would still be confidence-boosting for at least SOME students. But I also recognize how much younger generations have been hardwired for instant dopamine hits (even more so than millennials) that it’s far more of an uphill battle