A Break Through

I posted an entry about a class that would not speak in class, even when I asked them very simple questions, a little while ago. Well there has been a break through with them as of this week. I'm not sure if it was because the students did very well on their mid-term tests or if it's because they figure that it's time to speak up, but something changed over the past 2 weeks.
As I mentioned before, these are middle school teenagers. I'm not really sure of the reason for their constant quietness in class, but it might be because they are not confindent or they just get a kick out of seeing me try to make them talk. It also could be because they are lazy and don't want to try. Whatever the reason, they have begun to talk in class, even though it is just a little.
So, this class has 5 students in it. 2 of the girls are the most shy and quiet girls I have ever seen. The other 2 girls think it's funny not to give answers or to wait for the answers to be given to them. The one boy in class, I'm not sure what his problem is, but it might be because he doesn't understand or he thinks he's tough. Anyways, the shyest girl has started to whisper answers. At times it's very hard to hear her, but she does give an answer. The other shy girl only speaks when she absolutely knows the answer, but she is starting to try and if she's wrong or is a little off in her answer she seems okay and I try to reaffirm that. One of the girls who doesn't like to talk and waits for the unbarable silence has started to give answers before the awkward silence.
Even though it's a little progress, I still need to work on the boy. I'm not really sure how to get him to speak, but eventually I would like to see him progress. The other girl was absent because of being very sick. She's usually not too much of a problem and I find that she's usually the one who would answer, but she still waits for the long silence while I wait for answers. I would like to see her progress in her confidence so she doesn't wait so long to give answers.