But with 60+ students, this self-examination can be exhausting.
And if you begin to micro-manage/criticize students, you risk them making them feel stupid. I have found that you have to do the opposite: you have to give them more freedom, more personal responsibility, and you have to challenge them to succeed. They have to own it. They have to have the agency to figure things out and ask questions. It's the only solution. You can't coddle someone to success.
Of course if this fails, I look like a shitty teacher. Teaching is hard. Managing is hard too, I am sure.
I teach middle-school students to be clear. At certain ages, yes students need a lot of structure and they can't figure things out themselves.