How Teachers Can Meet the 5 Needs in the Classroom:

In our previous blog post, we talked about why meeting the 5 needs—Safety, Comfort, Autonomy, Belonging, and Competency—is absolutely essential for motivation. If you missed that post, you can check it out HERE.

This blog is all about how to meet those 5 needs in the classroom, and honestly, this is my favorite topic to dive into because:

1. It’s incredibly effective.

2. It doesn’t require tons of effort or money!

You just need to know what to look for and take the time to understand yourself and your students. That’s where the magic happens. Let’s get into it!

Meeting Your Needs:

If you’re trying to figure out which of your needs aren’t being met, you can do a simple needs assessment. Start by looking at the 5 needs—Safety, Comfort, Autonomy, Belonging, and Competency—and reflect on your situation. Ask yourself these questions:

👉 How do you feel at different times of the day?
👉 Which of these needs feels most desirable to you right now?
👉 Which need feels like it’s the most lacking?

After reflecting, go through each need and check off the ones that feel met most of the time. Then, focus on the ones that aren’t being met. Is there one (or maybe two) that you know are chronically missing and really draining your motivation?

Once you’ve identified the gaps, you can take action. Start putting strategies in place to meet those needs, both inside and outside of the classroom. If you’re looking for additional guidance, two excellent books packed with strategies are Demoralized by Doris A. Santoro and Burnout by Amelia Nagoski. They’re game-changers for tackling unmet needs and reigniting motivation.

Meeting Students’ Needs:

If you’re trying to figure out which needs aren’t being met for your students, the process is a bit different. Here’s what you’ll want to do:

👉 Interview your students to hear directly from them.
👉 Consider their strengths and struggles to get a fuller picture of their needs.
👉 Observe their behavior to identify patterns and clues.
👉 Conduct a needs assessment similar to the one you did for yourself, but with your students in mind.

The goal is to gather as much information as possible so you can accurately identify the chronically compromised need. Once you know what’s missing, you can take targeted steps to address it.

This entire process, along with 100 strategies to meet these needs, is detailed in the Neurodivergent Toolkit—your go-to resource for understanding and supporting students in meaningful ways.

👉 Check out the Neurodivergent Toolkit HERE!

Considerations:

👉 When focusing on student needs, prioritize the student or students whose behavior is most frequently or intensely compromising your needs. These are the students you’ll want to focus on—but remember, you’re targeting their behavior and needs, not the student themselves.

👉 Once you’ve identified the behavior to target, use a behavior checklist to observe and track it. This tool helps you identify patterns and better understand what’s driving the behavior. I always recommend the behavior checklist included in the Neurodivergent Toolkit—it’s the same one I share with all my mentees and coaching clients.

👉 Check out the Neurodivergent Toolkit HERE!

Start Taking Action!

Once you’ve identified the compromised needs for both yourself and your students, it’s time to take action! Start by considering the compromised need and what it signifies. For example:

👉 If the compromised need is belonging, it likely means the student is struggling to build relationships or feel connected to the classroom community.

👉 If the compromised need is autonomy, the student might feel like everything in their life is out of their control—whether it’s consequences, their future, their relationships, or even day-to-day decisions.

Understanding what the unmet need represents is key to choosing strategies that truly address the root cause and help your students (and yourself) move forward. This is where targeted actions make all the difference!

A Note on Autonomy:

Autonomy isn’t about giving students free rein to do whatever they want—that actually doesn’t fulfill the need and can even make things worse. When there’s no structure, it can create a power vacuum where a louder or more dominant student takes control, leaving the original student feeling just as powerless—or even worse.

Instead, think of autonomy as the feeling of having control over one’s future or destiny. Students who experience autonomy feel like they have a voice, that their opinions matter, and that they can influence their environment and how it interacts with them.

Autonomy is absolutely CRITICAL for healthy psychological development. One big reason is that autonomy is the opposite of helplessness. When students lack autonomy for long periods, it often leads to intense feelings of helplessness. If you want to learn more about this connection, check out our last post HERE.

Take Action To Meet The Needs

Taking Action to Meet Students' Needs

When addressing your students’ needs, start by reflecting on the need that’s often compromised. Make as many personal connections to it as possible—this helps you choose strategies that truly address the specific need for your students.

Once you’ve done this reflection, talk to your students about the need and how they feel about it. If the issue is only affecting a few students, keep the conversation limited to those involved. Work together to figure out how you—and the class—can help ensure the need is met for everyone.

Tips for Facilitating Effective Discussions

To keep these conversations productive and prevent them from spiraling, try the following:
👉 Give students a heads-up. Let them know the discussion is coming and share the questions you’ll be exploring ahead of time.
👉 Use the Ripple Technique. Start with individual reflection, move to partner discussions, and finish with a whole-group discussion.
👉 Allow students to pass. Give students the option to participate at their own comfort level.
👉 Use talking sticks. These can prevent students from monopolizing the conversation or avoiding participation entirely.

✨ Discussions are a major focus in The Neighborhood. I’ve built a ton of resources around facilitating meaningful discussions, and we often reflect on them during our weekly live sessions. You can check out The Neighborhood HERE for support.

Resources for Strategies

If you’re struggling to find effective strategies to meet specific needs, these books are a great place to start:

• UDL Now by Katie Novak

• The Inclusive Classroom by Daniel Sobel

• Total Participation Techniques by Persida and William Himmele

For a more comprehensive list of actionable strategies, check out my Neurodivergent and ADHD Toolkit HERE.

Final Takeaway

The most important step is to accurately identify the need being compromised and then target it with strategies designed to address the circumstances causing the issue. This focused approach will make the biggest impact for your students. 💡

1️⃣ If the need for safety is compromised (e.g., by a fight in the classroom):

• Use restorative practices and communal activities to reintegrate both the victim and the offender back into the community.

• Emphasize moments of joy, kindness, and empathy to rebuild emotional and physical safety.

• ⚠️ Important: Chronic compromise of safety creates real harm. If safety is consistently an issue, document every incident. Report via email, CC your union rep, and include any admin responsible for your building or program. Make that paper trail long to ensure accountability.

2️⃣ If the need for comfort is compromised (e.g., overstimulation from lighting, noise, or smells):

• Identify the environmental factors causing the issue and take action.

• Add fluorescent light covers.

• Use noise-dampening materials or headphones.

• Remove strong scents, like oils or perfumes.

• Small adjustments can make a significant difference in creating a calmer, more supportive environment.

3️⃣ If the need for competency is compromised (e.g., students feel incapable or unsupported):

• Build in targeted scaffolds to support their growth, such as:

• Word banks

• Checklists

• Question-and-answer stems

• Visuals

• Chunking tasks into manageable steps

• These strategies help students feel capable and set them up for success.

🎯 For over 100 more strategies, check out the Neurodivergent Toolkit HERE.

In Conclusion:

🤗 Motivation is influenced by 5 Needs: Safety, Comfort, Autonomy, Belonging, and Competency.

🤗 Identify compromised needs by observing student behavior, noting their struggles, and interviewing them.

🤗 Apply specific strategies to meet those needs, which increases motivation and reduces negative behaviors.

🗣️ If you enjoyed this and want to dive even deeper into how motivation and behavior are connected, join us for the January Workshop:
✨ The Power of Understanding: Understanding Behavior to Reduce Its Effect on Our Stress Response.

👉 Check it out HERE! 💝