I have a couple of students in my class that need constant positive reinforcement in order to be actively ingaged in class. What do you think is the best way to back off a little so they will still be involved?

Being very firm from day one with the uniform policy at our school has helped me maintain order in class

I have applied the technique of splitting them into smaller groups to get them more involved, but still sometimes it doesnt work. Any thoughts as to how to get them more motivated

what are some better techniques to apply in class for older generation students to make them feel more at ease during lecutures, since they have been out of school for so long?