You must have passion to inspire passion – passion about your subject and passion about the students whom you teach.  That is just the beginning of inspiring students.  What you will soon come to find out, though, is that the passion for your students will begin to trump anything else.  You will find yourself doing whatever you can to help them be successful, whether it’s designing an engaging lesson, creating non-traditional tests, or just giving them emotional support in all their endeavors.  If you truly want to inspire your students to learn, you must first allow them to inspire you.  You must be inspired by their tenacity to come to school when they have no parental support.  You must be inspired by their imagination and humor.  You must be inspired by the possible future that lies within each student.  Once you are inspired, you will stop at nothing to return the favor.  The relationship you build and the care you show will cause them to love you and the learning you give them.  Teaching is a profession that blesses you with the opportunity to become a part of others’ lives.  This is a great and noble task, and one that will seem less and less like a job and more and more like a privilege. If you want to motivate and inspire students, let them motivate and inspire you.  See them as human beings with whom you have been given the chance to make a difference in their lives.  See them as who they will be one day.  Then show them your vision.  Your greatest teaching tool in inspiring students is opening the door and letting them see the possibilities of what can be.