Citizens’ well-being and motivation was strongly impacted due to the intrusive, long-lasting and unpredictable nature of COVID-19 pandemic. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, a widely accepted social-motivational framework, and a large-scale, population wide study on motivation and mental health (www.motivationbarometer.com), the critical factors underlying students’ and teachers’ threatened motivation and well-being will be discussed. Specifically, a psychological need-based framework (Ryan & Deci, 2017; Vansteenkiste, Soenens, & Ryan, 2020) is presented that helps to explain peaks and dips in individuals’ well-being and motivation across the pandemic. It is discussed how both teachers and students can pro-actively try to foster their own psychological need satisfaction and well-being through the process of need crafting. At the same time, teachers also play a key role in supporting students’ needs through motivating interactions and engaging in “Corona growth dialogues” as to promote student resilience and self-acceptance.