The author suggests that it is impossible to motivate students. He said that in fact, it's not really possible to motivate anyone, except perhaps oneself. What a teacher "can" do--"all" a teacher can do--is work with students to create a classroom culture, a climate, a curriculum that will nourish and sustain the fundamental inclinations that everyone starts out with: to make sense of oneself and the world, to become increasingly competent at tasks that are regarded as consequential, to connect with other people. Motivation--at least intrinsic motivation--is something to be supported, or if necessary revived. It's not something teachers can instill in students by acting on them in a certain way. "You can tap their motivation, in other words, but you can't motivate them." On the other hand, what teachers clearly have the ability to do with respect to students' motivation is kill it. In this article, the author suggests seven ways to kill students' motivation. They include: (1) Quantify their reading assignments; (2) Make them write reports; (3) Isolate them; (4) Focus on skills; (5) Offer them incentives; (6) Prepare them for tests; and (7) Restrict their choices. (Contains 10 notes.)