Alysha,
Creating an environment where students feel as though they are getting individualize attetion is important. It has to be meaningful and relevant feedback and occur on a consistent, frequent basis.
Some times we have to tell the students what "frequent" is. It is not "immediate" necessarily, but frequent. Frequent/immediate tome is within 24 hours, but that is just my rule. Whatever your rule as a teacher, it must be communciated to students and followed.
And, you're correct - being positive is very important. Once you model these things in your feedback, you may see the same from your students.
Thank you.