Salamz bros and sis...
Well as a teacher myself I know exactly what ur chatting about...
Man, they are proper lazy on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons...its like they at a funeral or summat...but usually I wake em all up by talking bout footie, and Alhumdollillah they start tackling their tasks and they reach their goal.;D
>Have jokes in between when ur teaching, tell em an interesting story, maybe summat relating to the topic...
Have fun plenary sessions(Teachers should know what im talking about) like games etc, this will motivate em.
Tell you what usually works with my students. When I mark their books, put in some funky stickers to say how good their homewrok has been, good classwork etc.even if its not good, a sticker wud be nice it will be some kind of encouragement). The older students love it too...lol..Trust me it will work.InshAllah.
Good Luck
wasalam