Distracted: Why Students Can't Focus and What You Can Do About It

Lang certainly did his homework to write this book. If the Amazon preview allows it, I recommend looking at the "Chapter Notes" section of the book. There you will see the extensive bibliography that Lang draws upon to formulate his views. He does a great job at presenting the latest research without getting too bogged down in the details of each study. He summarizes and references other studies effectively and always extracts practical pieces of advice and theory from the studies.The book is written primarily for college educators, but I would say about 90-95% could potentially work for high school classrooms. High school students don't have the level of autonomy and "maturity" that college students have, which is why not all strategies in the book can be used in a HS classroom.Overall, great book. Well-written and great practical advice with a balanced perspective on the various ways to cultivate attention in the classroom.

"Attention is an achievement, and a difficult one at that. Sustained periods of attention in the classroom are like islands from the ocean of distraction, in which we all swim on a regular basis."The creation of a master writer at the top of his craft, Distracted provides both an invigorating new take on an important educational topic (much like Lang did for academic dishonesty in Cheating Lessons) and a series of practical, actionable steps teachers can take into their very next class (which will delight fans of Small Teaching).Delivered in Lang's well-loved friendly, folksy voice, Distracted's easy reading belies its very well-researched and strongly theoretical backbone.Sure to inform and improve the work of new and veteran teachers alike.

There is good information in the book, but it takes an annoyingly-long amount of time to reach it in the later half of the book. I can summarize the important points here:* Create a sense of community in the class (greet and converse with students before class begins)* Be mindful of student attention levels* Create a list of "modules" which are different activities you can use during class* Vary the modules to create excitement and novelty in the class rhythm

This was an excellent book and provided great strategies to use in the classroom and online

This book is a must-read for all teachers, from K-12 to higher education. Well researched, engaging, thought provoking, and practical.

Great ideas to manage attention! I like how We acknowledge it's not about removing distraction but more about managing attention. Great ideas!