The essence of human resource development is that education must play a significant and interventionist role in remedying imbalances in the socio-economic fabric of the country. Basic education has greatly contributed to the quality of human life, particularly regarding life expectancy, infant mortality, learning levels and nutrition status of children. Primary education is the foundation on which the development of every citizen and the nation is built on. Teacher plays a pivotal role in the education especially primary education. There is need to understand factors motivating teachers. This paper tries to investigate the role played by student behavior towards motivation of teachers in primary schools in Mangalore. Semi structured questionnaire was administered to the respondents and data was collected. Data so collected was analyzed using relevant statistical tools to arrive at conclusions. It was found that student behavior influences teacher motivation. Factors such as active, participative, and creative students inspire teachers while Poor academic performance also influence the teachers motivation.