An often ignored aspect of the study of motivation is the experience of motivation, how it feels to learn. Researchers and practitioners have been clear about the importance of subjective experience to motivation, but have paid little attention to measuring the experience of motivation, possibly because it is so hard to measure. The Experience Sampling Method (ESM) developed by M. Csikzentmihalyi, R. Larsen, and S. Prescott (1977) is suggested as a way to study the experience of motivation. The ESM uses electronic pagers to signal participants in a study to prompt them to fill out a self-report form about the quality of their experience at that moment. Among the advantages of the ESM is that it gathers information about behavior at the same time as it gathers information about the inward stream of experience. It is still, however, a reconstruction of experience, because the pager interrupts the very stream of experience one is hoping to measure. Despite its shortcomings, it is still one of the few methods that can disclose the ongoing experiences of students in natural school settings. Some research applications for the ESM are outlined. (SLD)