What do you think?
Rate this book
Distracted: Why Students Can't Focus and What You Can Do About It
Keeping students focused can be difficult in a world filled with distractions—which is why a renowned educator created a scientific solution to one of every teacher's biggest problems. Why is it so hard to get students to pay attention? Conventional wisdom blames iPhones, insisting that access to technology has ruined students' ability to focus. The logical response is to ban electronics in class. But acclaimed educator James M. Lang argues that this solution obscures a deeper how we teach is often at odds with how students learn. Classrooms are designed to force students into long periods of intense focus, but emerging science reveals that the brain is wired for distraction. We learn best when able to actively seek and synthesize new information. In Distracted, Lang rethinks the practice of teaching, revealing how educators can structure their classrooms less as distraction-free zones and more as environments where they can actively cultivate their students' attention. Brimming with ideas and grounded in new research, Distracted offers an innovative plan for the most important lesson of how to learn.
215 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 20, 2020
About the author
James M. Lang
19 books80 followersJames M. Lang is a nonfiction author whose work focuses on education, literature, and religion. His most recent books are Distracted: Why Students Can't Focus and What You Can Do About It (Basic Books, 2020), Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning (Wiley, 2016), and Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty (Harvard UP, 2013). He writes a monthly column for the Chronicle of Higher Education; his essays and reviews have appeared in Time, The Conversation, the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and more.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
Read
June 4, 2024As this book was written in 2020 and I was written many, many decades earlier, I'm surprised about how much I already knew slash did when it came to work in the Attention Trenches.
Most valuable was the chapter about devices, yes or no, good and bad, policy or non-policy. Your school (or your class) can say yes to everything -- laptops, cellphones, etc. -- or no to everything. Lang thinks there's a happy medium, though. During certain times of class with the teacher's blessing, it's cool. But not during group activities which do not involve a research component. Even kids who are NOT on devices can get distracted by neighbors who ARE on devices, hurting the learning of each. Common sense, I guess. Ever watch someone else's movie on a plane or train? Surely not. Unheard of.
Also Lang shares his sylla-get-on-the-bus and says you can use some of its ideas. That said, don't spend your first class going over the syllabus you spent so much time making because, well, that's what all the other teachers are doing and consider the poor students! (I mean, if they have more than one class, an Opening Day, etc.). Better to cut to the ice breaker and hold off on key points of the syllabus and/or assign it as HW. Better to think of the BIG QUESTIONS your course covers, the almost unanswerable questions, the open-ended questions, the curiosity-hiding-in-cats questions. Get their attention before you bore them. No, wait. Kidding.
As for the obvious, breaking up the time allotted with different activities seems obvious. Making student questions easy (even for shy types) to ask (in any form, spoken, written, etc.? Obvious, too. Avoiding the constant Broadway run of Sage on the Stage? But of course. And so forth.
Well, I have another Lang title on hold so maybe there will be something epic there. I think it's called Small Teaching so it has to be epic (like people from Lilliput).
Most valuable was the chapter about devices, yes or no, good and bad, policy or non-policy. Your school (or your class) can say yes to everything -- laptops, cellphones, etc. -- or no to everything. Lang thinks there's a happy medium, though. During certain times of class with the teacher's blessing, it's cool. But not during group activities which do not involve a research component. Even kids who are NOT on devices can get distracted by neighbors who ARE on devices, hurting the learning of each. Common sense, I guess. Ever watch someone else's movie on a plane or train? Surely not. Unheard of.
Also Lang shares his sylla-get-on-the-bus and says you can use some of its ideas. That said, don't spend your first class going over the syllabus you spent so much time making because, well, that's what all the other teachers are doing and consider the poor students! (I mean, if they have more than one class, an Opening Day, etc.). Better to cut to the ice breaker and hold off on key points of the syllabus and/or assign it as HW. Better to think of the BIG QUESTIONS your course covers, the almost unanswerable questions, the open-ended questions, the curiosity-hiding-in-cats questions. Get their attention before you bore them. No, wait. Kidding.
As for the obvious, breaking up the time allotted with different activities seems obvious. Making student questions easy (even for shy types) to ask (in any form, spoken, written, etc.? Obvious, too. Avoiding the constant Broadway run of Sage on the Stage? But of course. And so forth.
Well, I have another Lang title on hold so maybe there will be something epic there. I think it's called Small Teaching so it has to be epic (like people from Lilliput).
November 6, 2020
“If I can’t read it in five seconds, I don’t read it at all.” – James Lang's wife (referring to PowerPoint slides)
Gather half a dozen faculty together, and it is almost inevitable that they will begin complaining about how phones and other electronic devices have made it impossible for students to focus. And then, someone will remind us that this is an age-old complaint.
Some students focus for long periods, but almost all people, including those of us who have succeeded in university settings, recognize that attention ebbs and flows, easy at some points or during some tasks, but difficult at others.
In Distracted, James Lang looks at some of this variability and normalizes distraction, He argues it is advantageous to both focus and, conversely, scan the environment for change and possible danger. Most of us have been stuck on a problem, gotten up to do something else, and solved their problem. Distractedness serves a protective function but also helps with problem solving and improves creativity.
It can be healthy, in general, to scan, although it is useful to be able to scan when appropriate and focus when needed.
Knowing that distractedness is normal (I've been distracted several times so far while writing this review and actually worked on it over two days), what can we do to minimize the distractedness? Or better yet, what can we do to use distractedness in positive ways?
Lang describes five kinds of things that we can do to decrease of distraction in the classroom: cultivating community; building courses around curiosity; using change and structure to support attention; jolting students out of their mindless approaches to the course or their familiar expectations about the subject; and using assessments, low stakes as well as larger ones, to help students recognize where to focus their attention.
Much like his book, Small Teaching, Lang describes a number of small, doable things that can make a difference. His format here, like his earlier books, is short, accessible, and instantly useful, with several examples of each of his strategies. He includes a useful cell phone policy that puts his foot down in reasonable places and informs and convinces in other places; recommends meditation and mindfulness, not for faculty but students; designs assessments asking students to identify an aspect of the course that has intrigued them for an audience that should pay greater attention to this subject; connects students' values to the course material to build a community of attention; and encourage students to make more connections between one part of their life and another or one part of the course and another.
One of the things that I like about Distracted is that Lang is gentle and compassionate with our distractedness and that of our students. This is an important lesson to carry with us.
Gather half a dozen faculty together, and it is almost inevitable that they will begin complaining about how phones and other electronic devices have made it impossible for students to focus. And then, someone will remind us that this is an age-old complaint.
Some students focus for long periods, but almost all people, including those of us who have succeeded in university settings, recognize that attention ebbs and flows, easy at some points or during some tasks, but difficult at others.
In Distracted, James Lang looks at some of this variability and normalizes distraction, He argues it is advantageous to both focus and, conversely, scan the environment for change and possible danger. Most of us have been stuck on a problem, gotten up to do something else, and solved their problem. Distractedness serves a protective function but also helps with problem solving and improves creativity.
It can be healthy, in general, to scan, although it is useful to be able to scan when appropriate and focus when needed.
Knowing that distractedness is normal (I've been distracted several times so far while writing this review and actually worked on it over two days), what can we do to minimize the distractedness? Or better yet, what can we do to use distractedness in positive ways?
Lang describes five kinds of things that we can do to decrease of distraction in the classroom: cultivating community; building courses around curiosity; using change and structure to support attention; jolting students out of their mindless approaches to the course or their familiar expectations about the subject; and using assessments, low stakes as well as larger ones, to help students recognize where to focus their attention.
Much like his book, Small Teaching, Lang describes a number of small, doable things that can make a difference. His format here, like his earlier books, is short, accessible, and instantly useful, with several examples of each of his strategies. He includes a useful cell phone policy that puts his foot down in reasonable places and informs and convinces in other places; recommends meditation and mindfulness, not for faculty but students; designs assessments asking students to identify an aspect of the course that has intrigued them for an audience that should pay greater attention to this subject; connects students' values to the course material to build a community of attention; and encourage students to make more connections between one part of their life and another or one part of the course and another.
One of the things that I like about Distracted is that Lang is gentle and compassionate with our distractedness and that of our students. This is an important lesson to carry with us.
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it. – Mary Oliver
September 15, 2025
I haven’t read a lot of books on education postgrad, so I can’t say how this compares to others, but I found it quite useful. I am tired of bemoaning how students can’t pay attention anymore (a complaint I am sure has always existed), so it’s good to get some evidence-based grounding and hear some practical advice. I have made several little changes to my classroom as I’ve read, and it has me thinking about teaching a bit differently. I would recommend it for teachers of older students. (The author is a college professor, but I think there would be principles to apply down through middle school.)
July 16, 2026
This is a deeply flawed book that, when it does get things right, is shallow. I would not have made it past even the introduction had I not been reading it for a book club. Do not read it. It does include some good teaching tips, but those same ideas are covered much better elsewhere.
Lang believes “our challenge is not to wall off distractions; our challenge is to cultivate attention” (p. xiv). We teachers need to focus on “cultivating attention” rather than “preventing distraction” (p. 15).
This is a bizarre false dichotomy. Of course we need to cultivate attention, but we also need to provide the structure and space for our students to be able to focus, and that requires minimizing distractions. If I’m in a theater loudly talking on my phone while the play is going on, if I’m in a movie theater streaming YouTube videos on full volume while the movie is playing, if I’m in a concert hall standing on my seat singing show tunes while the symphony plays Brahms, I cannot blame the actors, the movie, or the symphony for not holding my (and everyone else’s) attention.
Lang wants us to “observe what the creators [of gripping movies and TV] do to keep you hooked” and not “bored and itching for your phone” (p. 194), advice that would resonate more if we hadn’t all seen Gen Z people frequently watching movies, TV, and YouTube while also scrolling through their phones. If Hollywood experts spend $800 million and can’t keep their undivided attention for two hours, you expect me to do so… how? Maybe by having them silence and put away their phones, just like actual theaters, movie theaters, and concert halls do.
Lang thinks it would be “strange… that we would ask students who are immersed in technology outside of school, and will be immersed in it throughout the rest of their lives, to come to our classrooms and work in a technology-free bubble” (p. 8). Okay, James. How comfortable would you feel if you were rock climbing and your belayer were scrolling social media on their phone rather than looking at you?
It seems rather naive to claim that we can consistently be more interesting than the tech that trillion-dollar companies designed specifically to engage and maintain attention. It seems absurd to claim that we need to teach students the willpower to ignore their devices and focus on us, when everyone knows that willpower is mostly a myth and making strategic choices to limit your own future choice is by far the smartest thing. Buy and hold an index fund rather than subject yourself to the temptation of day trading individual stocks. Don’t have cookies in the house if you’re on a diet. Turn your phone off and put it away if you want to focus on something else.
Lang has this odd idea that since humans have always been distracted by things, the current moment is no different than any other moment in history (p. 3). “We have always been distracted” (p. 37). This thesis is complete bullshit. Those on the Titanic were always close to the water, right? So ignore all those foolish people complaining that they are now even closer to the water and this is somehow a problem. This street gang has long had a few pistols, right? So it’s definitely not a change worth noticing that they now have cruise missiles.
Anyone with half a brain can see how current technology—particularly smartphones—has radically changed our ability to focus. This is pervasive (The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource), but also well documented in research (Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness). Oh, but this can’t be, says Lang. Our genes haven’t changed, so we can’t possibly have changed!
This is why we don’t normally try to learn cognitive science from English literature professors like Lang. Because he’s entirely at sea when it comes to topics outside his training, apparently. He thinks genes dictate all behaviors and brain states.
Haidt—who is a psychologist—sets us straight. Page 29 of The Anxious Generation,
Haidt notes observable brain changes, including in fMRI studies, from things like meditation (ibid. p. 206) and heavy social media use (ibid. pp. 96, 329).
The crazy thing is that Lang knows everything he needs to in order to understand this. Near the end of the book he talks about his experience with mindfulness training, which slowly but surely enabled him to overcome anxiety attacks. Hmm, it’s almost like learned thought patterns affected the way his brain worked and interacted with the world around him. (The anxiety attacks were initially brought on by the exogenous factors of overwork and stress, by the way.)
And oh, what do you know, Lang even cites research that student access to devices significantly impacted their learning over a semester (p. 52) and “the use of distracting technologies can harm the learning of the distracted student, and … it harms the learning of those around him” (p. 79). It’s almost like devices that are designed to distract people actually do distract people.
Lang claims that “putting students into an artificial technology-free bubble” won’t help them because such technology surrounds them elsewhere in life (p. 63), but then applauds making classrooms a “‘retreat space’ where we step away from our scripted behaviors and become fully present to one another” (p. 243). Did this guy even read his own book?
So why not give this dumpster fire only one star? Well, the middle of the book has some reasonably helpful (if trite) teaching advice. Multitasking isn’t possible (p. 48), attention is a zero-sum game (p. 177), learn your students’ names (p. 108), ask students daily questions (p. 136), make your students pose their own questions (p. 140), lead your students into making connections themselves (p. 191), and read Josh Eyler’s How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories behind Effective College Teaching (p. 126).
Actually, maybe that last point is all you need from this book. Eyler’s book is great. Lang adds nothing to it but nonsense.
Nonsense and speculation: Lang has a “suspicion” that if you use active learning your whole class “you’d see the same cycles of attention turning on and off as you’d see with lectures” (p. 154). No research or even anecdotes, mind you. Just a “suspicion”. And for this he got a book contract.
Sigh.
Lang believes “our challenge is not to wall off distractions; our challenge is to cultivate attention” (p. xiv). We teachers need to focus on “cultivating attention” rather than “preventing distraction” (p. 15).
This is a bizarre false dichotomy. Of course we need to cultivate attention, but we also need to provide the structure and space for our students to be able to focus, and that requires minimizing distractions. If I’m in a theater loudly talking on my phone while the play is going on, if I’m in a movie theater streaming YouTube videos on full volume while the movie is playing, if I’m in a concert hall standing on my seat singing show tunes while the symphony plays Brahms, I cannot blame the actors, the movie, or the symphony for not holding my (and everyone else’s) attention.
Lang wants us to “observe what the creators [of gripping movies and TV] do to keep you hooked” and not “bored and itching for your phone” (p. 194), advice that would resonate more if we hadn’t all seen Gen Z people frequently watching movies, TV, and YouTube while also scrolling through their phones. If Hollywood experts spend $800 million and can’t keep their undivided attention for two hours, you expect me to do so… how? Maybe by having them silence and put away their phones, just like actual theaters, movie theaters, and concert halls do.
Lang thinks it would be “strange… that we would ask students who are immersed in technology outside of school, and will be immersed in it throughout the rest of their lives, to come to our classrooms and work in a technology-free bubble” (p. 8). Okay, James. How comfortable would you feel if you were rock climbing and your belayer were scrolling social media on their phone rather than looking at you?
It seems rather naive to claim that we can consistently be more interesting than the tech that trillion-dollar companies designed specifically to engage and maintain attention. It seems absurd to claim that we need to teach students the willpower to ignore their devices and focus on us, when everyone knows that willpower is mostly a myth and making strategic choices to limit your own future choice is by far the smartest thing. Buy and hold an index fund rather than subject yourself to the temptation of day trading individual stocks. Don’t have cookies in the house if you’re on a diet. Turn your phone off and put it away if you want to focus on something else.
Lang has this odd idea that since humans have always been distracted by things, the current moment is no different than any other moment in history (p. 3). “We have always been distracted” (p. 37). This thesis is complete bullshit. Those on the Titanic were always close to the water, right? So ignore all those foolish people complaining that they are now even closer to the water and this is somehow a problem. This street gang has long had a few pistols, right? So it’s definitely not a change worth noticing that they now have cruise missiles.
Anyone with half a brain can see how current technology—particularly smartphones—has radically changed our ability to focus. This is pervasive (The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World's Most Endangered Resource), but also well documented in research (Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness). Oh, but this can’t be, says Lang. Our genes haven’t changed, so we can’t possibly have changed!
This is why we don’t normally try to learn cognitive science from English literature professors like Lang. Because he’s entirely at sea when it comes to topics outside his training, apparently. He thinks genes dictate all behaviors and brain states.
Haidt—who is a psychologist—sets us straight. Page 29 of The Anxious Generation,
These disorders are caused by a combination of genes (some people are more predisposed to them), thought patterns (which can be learned and unlearned), and social or environmental conditions. But because genes didn’t change between 2010 and 2015, we must figure out what thought patterns and social/environmental conditions changed to cause this tidal wave of anxiety and depression.
Haidt notes observable brain changes, including in fMRI studies, from things like meditation (ibid. p. 206) and heavy social media use (ibid. pp. 96, 329).
The crazy thing is that Lang knows everything he needs to in order to understand this. Near the end of the book he talks about his experience with mindfulness training, which slowly but surely enabled him to overcome anxiety attacks. Hmm, it’s almost like learned thought patterns affected the way his brain worked and interacted with the world around him. (The anxiety attacks were initially brought on by the exogenous factors of overwork and stress, by the way.)
And oh, what do you know, Lang even cites research that student access to devices significantly impacted their learning over a semester (p. 52) and “the use of distracting technologies can harm the learning of the distracted student, and … it harms the learning of those around him” (p. 79). It’s almost like devices that are designed to distract people actually do distract people.
Lang claims that “putting students into an artificial technology-free bubble” won’t help them because such technology surrounds them elsewhere in life (p. 63), but then applauds making classrooms a “‘retreat space’ where we step away from our scripted behaviors and become fully present to one another” (p. 243). Did this guy even read his own book?
So why not give this dumpster fire only one star? Well, the middle of the book has some reasonably helpful (if trite) teaching advice. Multitasking isn’t possible (p. 48), attention is a zero-sum game (p. 177), learn your students’ names (p. 108), ask students daily questions (p. 136), make your students pose their own questions (p. 140), lead your students into making connections themselves (p. 191), and read Josh Eyler’s How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories behind Effective College Teaching (p. 126).
Actually, maybe that last point is all you need from this book. Eyler’s book is great. Lang adds nothing to it but nonsense.
Nonsense and speculation: Lang has a “suspicion” that if you use active learning your whole class “you’d see the same cycles of attention turning on and off as you’d see with lectures” (p. 154). No research or even anecdotes, mind you. Just a “suspicion”. And for this he got a book contract.
Sigh.
June 24, 2021
Lang reviews the research on distraction and discusses how teachers might cultivate students’ attention. Please excuse this part review, part journal entry, part manifesto. I’ve been mystified by lack of student focus for a while now, and I have a lot to say.
Our brains, Lang points out, aren’t fundamentally different from our ancestors’ brains. There wasn’t some “prelapsarian state of attentional grace” (as he puts it). In fact, distractibility is our evolutionary heritage (check out the podcast Pessimist Archive for more on past tech hysteria--it’s great). We have always had “complex attention systems that are capable of focus but open to distraction.” The author cites Daniel Willingham, who has debunked the argument that allowing ourselves to be distracted by technology rewires our brains (both on a group/evolutionary and individual level). Willingham writes, “While there is clear evidence that engagement with smart devices can have an acute impact on ongoing cognitive tasks, the evidence on any long-term impacts of smartphone-related habits on attentional functioning is quite thin, and somewhat unequivocal.” (A related book is Parenting in the Age of Attention Snatchers: A Step-by-Step Guide to Balancing Your Child's Use of Technology, in which Lisa Jo Palladino distinguishes between voluntary and involuntary attention. If kids are only ever using involuntary attention, she argues, their capacity to focus on less stimulating activities can diminish--or more accurately, never develop properly in the first place. It may be inaccurate to say that technology actually “rewires” our brains; still, Palladino makes a convincing argument that kids won’t be able to sustain attention if they never practice doing so. I’m still teasing out the facts here. More research is needed.)
As I read this section of the book, I considered what my own attention was like in school; even though I was a conscientious student, I was constantly multitasking (or, as we now know, task-switching). Research says this isn’t ideal, but I did great in school. And this task-switching felt inevitable to me. It’s just the way my brain works. I still can NOT focus my attention on anything that I don’t find stimulating or personally useful. I’ve always preferred to have my notebook or laptop when I’m supposed to be sustaining my attention on a class or presentation, and I find ways to fill in the “gaps” in stimulation by otherwise engaging my brain: making small words out of bigger words, generating a list of some sort (cheeses, dinosaurs), spewing out the thoughts that lie just below my consciousness, reporting on what’s happening in the room, taking a dive into my imagination. Thankfully I can pretend that I’m “taking notes,” but even if I can’t have a notebook or laptop, I do these things mentally. No teacher or presenter can stop me from doing them, nor do I think they should, because the only person in charge of my attention is me. And there’s no reason my students would be any different. This is what I’ve come to realize about attention: expecting students to sustain attention on class activities for more than 5-7 minutes at a time is unrealistic. It flies in the face of everything I know both from research and from personal experience. Notably, I don’t have ADHD, and I don’t think most of my students do, either--unless you consider “ADHD” to be one end on a spectrum of normal variation.
Our desperate struggle to control every aspect of students’ existences, including what they attend to and think about while in our classrooms, exhausts me. I don’t want to ban devices. I don’t want to be the official monitor of my students’ attention, either (looking at you, Lightspeed). I don’t even seek to capture their attention for 50 straight minutes, which I do not believe can be done.
With these resolutions in mind, then, how should I structure my class to make the most of the time I have with my students? Lang provides some guidelines. I’m already using many of these strategies:
*Creating community positively influences students’ attention. Give “opportunities to make themselves known to both you and their peers as a fully-fledged person, and in doing so invite all of us to see and attend to one another more fully.” Use students’ names regularly. Use your physical space (flexible seating configurations, teacher proximity).
*Harness the power of curiosity. Pose engaging questions about the content and involve students in answering them. Invite students to pose their own questions.
*Use 3-4 different activities in a class period, including “signature attention activities”: focusing (like close reading, particularly collaboratively), creating, and connecting (let students connect material to their own lives/experiences).
*Provide regular opportunities for engagement (even if it’s just a quick poll or “Repeat after me”).
*Give movement breaks or incorporate movement into class activities.
*In every class period, let students know (both visually and verbally) what the activities will be and when they will be expected to sustain attention.
*Use minimal text and engaging images in slide presentations.
*Novelty = good
*Regarding assessment, learning involves attention, processing, and retrieval. Assessment is important because it requires the retrieval that leads to long-term learning. I personally hate grades, but Lang has a pretty balanced perspective: “We can’t and shouldn’t expect all of our students to come into our classes with the energy and motivation to just explore and learn,” he writes. “We should do everything we can to cultivate that attitude, but everything we can do will never be enough for every student in the room… If we do our jobs as we are supposed to, and design our graded assessments so that they promote learning, we are drawing the attention of students to the aspects of the course that will help them succeed.”
I like Lang’s overall metaphor: A teacher needs to be both a playwright (by directing the “plot” or flow of activities of the class) and a poet (by making the strange familiar and the familiar strange).
I am still wrestling with a key element--autonomy. Attention requires motivation which requires autonomy, and as long as school is compulsory, and adults make most of the learning decisions, how much autonomy can students really have? Not that this reality is bad--I think school should be compulsory and most decisions should be left up to adults. But it’s like you have to trick kids into thinking they have autonomy when they really don’t. Then again, how much autonomy do any of us have? Even I, the teacher, don’t have the level of autonomy I would like. This raises questions: Do those “in charge” have the greatest autonomy? If so, are they the happiest people? Are they also the wealthiest? Does wealth equal happiness because wealth equals autonomy? What is the point of life anyway?
I suppose these are questions I can actually share with students. A couple of years ago I started being open with them about the aspects of school I objected to. (I don’t know if it increased their sense of autonomy or their motivation or their attention. I mean, it should have decreased those things, because I was essentially admitting that although there are many aspects of school we might dislike, we can’t change them. That’s actively demotivating.) On a system-wide level, we do things in ways that don’t promote attention. For one, classes are too large. A smaller class is more likely to provide the sense of community that Lang argues promotes respectful attention. For another, groupings (at least in ELA) are too heterogeneous in terms of skill level. How easy do you think it is for students to pay attention when their understanding is either way above or way below the level at which the class is operating? And finally, kids are at school too long and take (at least at the secondary level) too many classes. Let’s be honest: School is about child care, and so many hours are wasted. Kids could approach their study of English with much greater attention if their attention wasn’t already depleted from following the directions of six other teachers. If I have them 7th period, they’re coming to my class tired, hungry, needing to go to the bathroom, and badly in need of having their attention restored. In other words, the system has set them, and me, up for failure.
I think this is where I’m supposed to tap dance out as gracefully as possible?? Largely I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, but next year, I intend to present students with what we know about distractibility and invite a discussion so that they know where I stand and are able to make their own choices about how they direct their attention in class. (Lang recommends this resource: http://teachreflectrepeat.com/wp-cont...) Talking about attention and distractibility seems like a win-win, as nothing’s going to improve by ignoring these issues.
Our brains, Lang points out, aren’t fundamentally different from our ancestors’ brains. There wasn’t some “prelapsarian state of attentional grace” (as he puts it). In fact, distractibility is our evolutionary heritage (check out the podcast Pessimist Archive for more on past tech hysteria--it’s great). We have always had “complex attention systems that are capable of focus but open to distraction.” The author cites Daniel Willingham, who has debunked the argument that allowing ourselves to be distracted by technology rewires our brains (both on a group/evolutionary and individual level). Willingham writes, “While there is clear evidence that engagement with smart devices can have an acute impact on ongoing cognitive tasks, the evidence on any long-term impacts of smartphone-related habits on attentional functioning is quite thin, and somewhat unequivocal.” (A related book is Parenting in the Age of Attention Snatchers: A Step-by-Step Guide to Balancing Your Child's Use of Technology, in which Lisa Jo Palladino distinguishes between voluntary and involuntary attention. If kids are only ever using involuntary attention, she argues, their capacity to focus on less stimulating activities can diminish--or more accurately, never develop properly in the first place. It may be inaccurate to say that technology actually “rewires” our brains; still, Palladino makes a convincing argument that kids won’t be able to sustain attention if they never practice doing so. I’m still teasing out the facts here. More research is needed.)
As I read this section of the book, I considered what my own attention was like in school; even though I was a conscientious student, I was constantly multitasking (or, as we now know, task-switching). Research says this isn’t ideal, but I did great in school. And this task-switching felt inevitable to me. It’s just the way my brain works. I still can NOT focus my attention on anything that I don’t find stimulating or personally useful. I’ve always preferred to have my notebook or laptop when I’m supposed to be sustaining my attention on a class or presentation, and I find ways to fill in the “gaps” in stimulation by otherwise engaging my brain: making small words out of bigger words, generating a list of some sort (cheeses, dinosaurs), spewing out the thoughts that lie just below my consciousness, reporting on what’s happening in the room, taking a dive into my imagination. Thankfully I can pretend that I’m “taking notes,” but even if I can’t have a notebook or laptop, I do these things mentally. No teacher or presenter can stop me from doing them, nor do I think they should, because the only person in charge of my attention is me. And there’s no reason my students would be any different. This is what I’ve come to realize about attention: expecting students to sustain attention on class activities for more than 5-7 minutes at a time is unrealistic. It flies in the face of everything I know both from research and from personal experience. Notably, I don’t have ADHD, and I don’t think most of my students do, either--unless you consider “ADHD” to be one end on a spectrum of normal variation.
Our desperate struggle to control every aspect of students’ existences, including what they attend to and think about while in our classrooms, exhausts me. I don’t want to ban devices. I don’t want to be the official monitor of my students’ attention, either (looking at you, Lightspeed). I don’t even seek to capture their attention for 50 straight minutes, which I do not believe can be done.
With these resolutions in mind, then, how should I structure my class to make the most of the time I have with my students? Lang provides some guidelines. I’m already using many of these strategies:
*Creating community positively influences students’ attention. Give “opportunities to make themselves known to both you and their peers as a fully-fledged person, and in doing so invite all of us to see and attend to one another more fully.” Use students’ names regularly. Use your physical space (flexible seating configurations, teacher proximity).
*Harness the power of curiosity. Pose engaging questions about the content and involve students in answering them. Invite students to pose their own questions.
*Use 3-4 different activities in a class period, including “signature attention activities”: focusing (like close reading, particularly collaboratively), creating, and connecting (let students connect material to their own lives/experiences).
*Provide regular opportunities for engagement (even if it’s just a quick poll or “Repeat after me”).
*Give movement breaks or incorporate movement into class activities.
*In every class period, let students know (both visually and verbally) what the activities will be and when they will be expected to sustain attention.
*Use minimal text and engaging images in slide presentations.
*Novelty = good
*Regarding assessment, learning involves attention, processing, and retrieval. Assessment is important because it requires the retrieval that leads to long-term learning. I personally hate grades, but Lang has a pretty balanced perspective: “We can’t and shouldn’t expect all of our students to come into our classes with the energy and motivation to just explore and learn,” he writes. “We should do everything we can to cultivate that attitude, but everything we can do will never be enough for every student in the room… If we do our jobs as we are supposed to, and design our graded assessments so that they promote learning, we are drawing the attention of students to the aspects of the course that will help them succeed.”
I like Lang’s overall metaphor: A teacher needs to be both a playwright (by directing the “plot” or flow of activities of the class) and a poet (by making the strange familiar and the familiar strange).
I am still wrestling with a key element--autonomy. Attention requires motivation which requires autonomy, and as long as school is compulsory, and adults make most of the learning decisions, how much autonomy can students really have? Not that this reality is bad--I think school should be compulsory and most decisions should be left up to adults. But it’s like you have to trick kids into thinking they have autonomy when they really don’t. Then again, how much autonomy do any of us have? Even I, the teacher, don’t have the level of autonomy I would like. This raises questions: Do those “in charge” have the greatest autonomy? If so, are they the happiest people? Are they also the wealthiest? Does wealth equal happiness because wealth equals autonomy? What is the point of life anyway?
I suppose these are questions I can actually share with students. A couple of years ago I started being open with them about the aspects of school I objected to. (I don’t know if it increased their sense of autonomy or their motivation or their attention. I mean, it should have decreased those things, because I was essentially admitting that although there are many aspects of school we might dislike, we can’t change them. That’s actively demotivating.) On a system-wide level, we do things in ways that don’t promote attention. For one, classes are too large. A smaller class is more likely to provide the sense of community that Lang argues promotes respectful attention. For another, groupings (at least in ELA) are too heterogeneous in terms of skill level. How easy do you think it is for students to pay attention when their understanding is either way above or way below the level at which the class is operating? And finally, kids are at school too long and take (at least at the secondary level) too many classes. Let’s be honest: School is about child care, and so many hours are wasted. Kids could approach their study of English with much greater attention if their attention wasn’t already depleted from following the directions of six other teachers. If I have them 7th period, they’re coming to my class tired, hungry, needing to go to the bathroom, and badly in need of having their attention restored. In other words, the system has set them, and me, up for failure.
I think this is where I’m supposed to tap dance out as gracefully as possible?? Largely I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, but next year, I intend to present students with what we know about distractibility and invite a discussion so that they know where I stand and are able to make their own choices about how they direct their attention in class. (Lang recommends this resource: http://teachreflectrepeat.com/wp-cont...) Talking about attention and distractibility seems like a win-win, as nothing’s going to improve by ignoring these issues.
arcs
August 5, 2020Thanks to NetGalley and Basic Books for providing an ARC!
September 11, 2020
In many ways I enjoyed this book. I teach adults and that is the target audience. The thesis is that it is not enough when teaching to avoid distraction, e.g. through laptop bans. The larger aim is to cultivate attention. Each chapter has actionable suggestions for how to do this, applicable both to large and small group teaching. What I felt was missing from this book was the responsibilities students have to cultivate attention, and how to communicate those expectations. Given the students discussed here are adults, I sometimes found the arguments patronizing. It was a practical, readable, helpful book for the teaching of adults, though, and I recommend it.
*I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an impartial review.
*I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an impartial review.
November 15, 2021
Had some interesting ideas but not that much different than Small Teaching.
January 25, 2022
He starts the book by introducing the idea of distraction, noting that many times professors and other adults claim students are more distracted than other generations because of technology. While this may be true, Lang notes that the nature of technology and devices feeds our distractable nature. Everyone who has ever used a device or social media knows how easy it is to become distracted by it. However, those are not our only distractions. Lang also notes that a technology/device free classroom is not the best option for limiting distractions. Some educational experiences are enhanced by technology when used appropriately. Throughout the book Lang uses personal examples, research, and examples from other professors on how to eliminate or minimize distractions. The basic recommendations of the book are to cultivate a community within the classroom/meeting/learning environment, building the curiosity of students surrounding course content (ask questions), change things up (regularly change the classroom structure), have shifts during the class time, include signature activities (activities specifically designed to engage and refresh students), and use assessments. Lastly, he notes the value of mindfulness on the professor’s part. As professors become more mindful of their own and their students’ attention, they can be more intentional about keeping students’ attention through instructional practices and setting a good example.
I picked this book initially because of the title. I was curious to see what solutions were given to help eliminate distractions. As I was reading, the research intrigued me and made me think of my own distractibility. Even as I was reading the book, I would be tempted to check my email or my phone or stare off into space. I found myself trying to resist the distractions until I was at a new subheading or chapter. I also appreciated Lang’s honesty that everyone gets distracted with or without technology. He gives practical suggestions for helping students stay focused in class. Although the suggestions were more for professors who teach semester long courses, I am considering ways to apply what I read into my instruction sessions. Lang notes there is no magical amount of time that people can pay attention, so varying instruction helps. A couple of strategies that I would like to put into practice are building the community as much as I can with one instruction session and varying my teaching. One way to build community and keep attention is using names. In one class session, it is not realistic to learn everyone’s name, but I can give students table tents to write their names on. I can then call people by name using the name tag. Lang mentions people pay greater attention and perk up when they hear their name. The second strategy involves breaking instruction time up into blocks. Lang used a note card strategy for planning his classes. He wrote down all the types of instructional blocks/activities he uses in his class on index cards (one block per card), then he moves those around to create his class schedule varying lecture with group discussion and assessment or individual reflection activities.
I picked this book initially because of the title. I was curious to see what solutions were given to help eliminate distractions. As I was reading, the research intrigued me and made me think of my own distractibility. Even as I was reading the book, I would be tempted to check my email or my phone or stare off into space. I found myself trying to resist the distractions until I was at a new subheading or chapter. I also appreciated Lang’s honesty that everyone gets distracted with or without technology. He gives practical suggestions for helping students stay focused in class. Although the suggestions were more for professors who teach semester long courses, I am considering ways to apply what I read into my instruction sessions. Lang notes there is no magical amount of time that people can pay attention, so varying instruction helps. A couple of strategies that I would like to put into practice are building the community as much as I can with one instruction session and varying my teaching. One way to build community and keep attention is using names. In one class session, it is not realistic to learn everyone’s name, but I can give students table tents to write their names on. I can then call people by name using the name tag. Lang mentions people pay greater attention and perk up when they hear their name. The second strategy involves breaking instruction time up into blocks. Lang used a note card strategy for planning his classes. He wrote down all the types of instructional blocks/activities he uses in his class on index cards (one block per card), then he moves those around to create his class schedule varying lecture with group discussion and assessment or individual reflection activities.
July 30, 2023
I got this book from the library because I have two kids with ADHD in my homeschool and they are always distracted.
The book was very interesting and provides some insight into the problem of students today and distractibility. It’s about students in a school setting but it was still helpful. I’d love a book on distractibility in homeschool but this will do.
The book is divided into two parts: Theories of Distraction and Practices of Distraction. As you might imagine, the first section is about theories of why students are so distracted these days. Part two talks about what we can do about it.
The theories of distraction were interesting and some of the practices were helpful but the book is really designed for teachers or educators who work in a classroom to put the ideas into practice.
The book was very interesting and provides some insight into the problem of students today and distractibility. It’s about students in a school setting but it was still helpful. I’d love a book on distractibility in homeschool but this will do.
The book is divided into two parts: Theories of Distraction and Practices of Distraction. As you might imagine, the first section is about theories of why students are so distracted these days. Part two talks about what we can do about it.
The theories of distraction were interesting and some of the practices were helpful but the book is really designed for teachers or educators who work in a classroom to put the ideas into practice.
January 28, 2025
Excellent book! As the title makes clear, the work is aimed at faculty helping college students to focus their attention, and it does a great job (I believe my 25 years as an editor of this kind of resource gives my opinion some credibility). So if you are a college teacher, by all means check this out.
The author is such a good writer, I knew it would be worth reading even though I am not a college teacher myself. He brings in many perspectives, including that of his wife, who teaches kindergarten, and frequently reflects on his own experience, as well as citing a wide variety of other researchers and practitioners. I thought I might just skim the book, but it was so information-rich I was motivated to read the whole thing. So if you are curious (or concerned) about the topic of attention in a distracted world, you might also want to check this out.
The author is such a good writer, I knew it would be worth reading even though I am not a college teacher myself. He brings in many perspectives, including that of his wife, who teaches kindergarten, and frequently reflects on his own experience, as well as citing a wide variety of other researchers and practitioners. I thought I might just skim the book, but it was so information-rich I was motivated to read the whole thing. So if you are curious (or concerned) about the topic of attention in a distracted world, you might also want to check this out.
July 29, 2022
Very helpful book for thinking through how to help our students pay attention. (This book is targeted at a higher education audience, but would likely be helpful for secondary education as well.) The ideas and theories presented are far more nuanced than simply “ban devices”. I plan to incorporate several of the ideas in my class this fall.
December 16, 2023
I started this book a couple of years ago in a book club with colleagues. I don't remember what happened, but I put the book down and then misplaced it. I'm now moving, rediscovered my copy, and read the book from start to finish.
I found it to be engaging and thought provoking. I hope to implement a number of Lang's ideas.
I found it to be engaging and thought provoking. I hope to implement a number of Lang's ideas.
July 27, 2020
Unfortunately, I didn't find this book all that helpful. There's some basic key takeaways, but nothing that I found all that innovative or new (I've been teaching for 5 years now). The author is a college professor, so most of what he talks about it is suitable for large lectures halls. He talks about this in his introduction, but claims there this book could also be used in lower grades. However, I found that to be a stretch.
Thanks to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley for my advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
July 15, 2020
Unfortunatley I have read similar books to this many times before. I am not sure at what point teachers transition from new to veteran (5 years? 7 years? 10 years?). I have been teaching for 4 years at this point and all advice in this book were skills I learned either in college training or within my first year on the job.
This book reads very much like a doctorial dissertation. I can understand why many of these concepts were new to the author as he has worked as a professor and not in a traditional classroom setting. They are all relevant and important topics, and I can understand how someone who may struggle with classroom managment could benefit from this advice.
It is very much geared towards educators who work with high school or college level students. I went into reading this looking to see if there were any new techniques or ideas for student engagment. However, I learned all of this previously from other first year teaching guide books or on the job. I might suggest this to new first year teachers and appreciate what the author tried to do.
This book reads very much like a doctorial dissertation. I can understand why many of these concepts were new to the author as he has worked as a professor and not in a traditional classroom setting. They are all relevant and important topics, and I can understand how someone who may struggle with classroom managment could benefit from this advice.
It is very much geared towards educators who work with high school or college level students. I went into reading this looking to see if there were any new techniques or ideas for student engagment. However, I learned all of this previously from other first year teaching guide books or on the job. I might suggest this to new first year teachers and appreciate what the author tried to do.
July 10, 2020
This book provides some interesting thoughts about distraction. The twist on deliberately focusing on attention is very interesting. The book is directed at those teaching in higher education but teachers and adult learners will gain some insight on distraction and attention. The author does a good job bringing up the debate of technology use in the classroom too. As a high school administrator, I could hear some of staff’s thoughts and ideas echoed on the pages. I also could hear the advice of modeling the behavior you want to see. Although those in the Higher Education field will find this most applicable, it was a very interesting read.
Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Book group for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Book group for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
October 19, 2020
"Attention is an essential part of the learning process. Yet, to those who teach, attention can feel elusive and fleeting. In Distracted, James Lang helps us navigate the challenges presented by technologies that bring both a world of information, and the potential for endless distractions, to students' fingertips. Lang encourages us to rethink our attempts to ban anything that may distract learners, and instead, to focus on practices that gain attention."
June 7, 2023
I loved the preface of this book being written/researched pre-Covid. It’s so important to note what an impact Covid had on education and our technology obsession. As I was working on my dissertation in 2021-2022, I had such a hard time finding research the supported the current state of education due to Covid.
The author discusses the use of technology as a distraction in the classroom. The seemed to be aimed towards high school/college students instead of elementary students. In my opinion, I agree with the author that we need to teach students how to appropriately use technology. I’ve been in conversations with people where they stop what they’re staying to look at their phone. I felt like this was really rude and unfortunately we teachers need to model this and explicitly teach this real life skill. Something I really liked that the author mentioned was asking students to create their own technology policy for the classroom. The class would vote if phones or laptops were allowed. I am pro technology in the classroom also because it allows a more equitable outcome. I often times Google words I do not know and I’m a native English speaker. Foreign students might have the need to do this even more so. I dislike my handwriting and can type much faster too.
According to research, hearing your name spoken draws your attention so using names more often in the classroom will engage your lost students. This is a very basic teaching skill that I think most people already incorporate into their classroom and just the basic of relationship building. This is something that is way easier for elementary educators vs. higher education.
The thing I was most satisfied with is that she acknowledged that lecturing isn’t an effective engagement strategy! I’m so glad she put some of the blame on teachers because (coming from a teacher) it can be our fault at times! Having activities where students are up and involved will help engage them. I remember in undergrad thinking that it was so ironic that my professor lectured us about engaging teaching strategies. No one modeled them for us or allowed us to practice them, we were just lectured and told what to do with no students/audience engagement. Yikes. Adults are basically just big kids. Using the strategies Lang mentioned (like the Kagan strategy fishbowl) are fun for adults too!
Lastly, I LOVED that Lang quoted Alfie Kohn, my favorite educational theorist. If you don’t know who Kohn is, I beg you to go read up on him! He will change your perspective about public education!
The author discusses the use of technology as a distraction in the classroom. The seemed to be aimed towards high school/college students instead of elementary students. In my opinion, I agree with the author that we need to teach students how to appropriately use technology. I’ve been in conversations with people where they stop what they’re staying to look at their phone. I felt like this was really rude and unfortunately we teachers need to model this and explicitly teach this real life skill. Something I really liked that the author mentioned was asking students to create their own technology policy for the classroom. The class would vote if phones or laptops were allowed. I am pro technology in the classroom also because it allows a more equitable outcome. I often times Google words I do not know and I’m a native English speaker. Foreign students might have the need to do this even more so. I dislike my handwriting and can type much faster too.
According to research, hearing your name spoken draws your attention so using names more often in the classroom will engage your lost students. This is a very basic teaching skill that I think most people already incorporate into their classroom and just the basic of relationship building. This is something that is way easier for elementary educators vs. higher education.
The thing I was most satisfied with is that she acknowledged that lecturing isn’t an effective engagement strategy! I’m so glad she put some of the blame on teachers because (coming from a teacher) it can be our fault at times! Having activities where students are up and involved will help engage them. I remember in undergrad thinking that it was so ironic that my professor lectured us about engaging teaching strategies. No one modeled them for us or allowed us to practice them, we were just lectured and told what to do with no students/audience engagement. Yikes. Adults are basically just big kids. Using the strategies Lang mentioned (like the Kagan strategy fishbowl) are fun for adults too!
Lastly, I LOVED that Lang quoted Alfie Kohn, my favorite educational theorist. If you don’t know who Kohn is, I beg you to go read up on him! He will change your perspective about public education!
August 8, 2022
This was a fascinating book, filled with captivating stories, paradigm shifts, and common sense.
Takeaways:
1. Attention is an achievement. Our evolutionary default is distraction. Attention is something we learn, cultivate, and achieve. Needless to say, teenagers are still at the front end of that learning. To expect captivated attention from a room of 30 teenagers is simply not realistic or kind.
2. We want to blame phones, but for the reasons above, we should be able to find the same problem before phones, and that is exactly what Lang does. He draws from texts ancient and modern to show that we have always been frustrated with our inability to focus, and that we have always assumed the newest technology would rob us of any headway we had made towards greater attention.
3. There are scientifically proven ways we can help cultivate attention in our classrooms. Much like a screenwriter, a song writer, or playwright, we can structure our lessons to be more engaging, and offer the breaks, variety, and vibrance required to cultivate and maintain attention.
Community: Remembering and using names and values. breaking the barrier between student and teacher.
Curiosity: Start the course and each day with compelling questions. Invite student inquisition.
Construction: Build your lessons using "modular activities" and rearranging them from lesson to lesson. Give them a visible structure to the lesson through an agenda, oral signposts, etc. use images. Accept the ebb and flow of attention and plan lessons that flow with it.
Confound/Convey: Lang calls them "signature attention activities" which basically are designed to "awaken students to the wonder of your discipline." We do this by helping students look more closely than they have at something, helping them create, and helping them connect course material to their everyday lives and what matters most to them.
One of the most powerful takeaways for me was Lang's suggestion to practice mindfulness and self-compassion, as this helps you as the TEACHER to be attentive to your students and not be distracted so that you can respond with compassion to them in their efforts to attend to your instruction.
SUCH a powerful book and can't recommend highly enough. (Five stars is reserved for truly life-transforming books. This one was incredibly helpful and instructive, but I wouldn't consider it life changing.).
Takeaways:
1. Attention is an achievement. Our evolutionary default is distraction. Attention is something we learn, cultivate, and achieve. Needless to say, teenagers are still at the front end of that learning. To expect captivated attention from a room of 30 teenagers is simply not realistic or kind.
2. We want to blame phones, but for the reasons above, we should be able to find the same problem before phones, and that is exactly what Lang does. He draws from texts ancient and modern to show that we have always been frustrated with our inability to focus, and that we have always assumed the newest technology would rob us of any headway we had made towards greater attention.
3. There are scientifically proven ways we can help cultivate attention in our classrooms. Much like a screenwriter, a song writer, or playwright, we can structure our lessons to be more engaging, and offer the breaks, variety, and vibrance required to cultivate and maintain attention.
Community: Remembering and using names and values. breaking the barrier between student and teacher.
Curiosity: Start the course and each day with compelling questions. Invite student inquisition.
Construction: Build your lessons using "modular activities" and rearranging them from lesson to lesson. Give them a visible structure to the lesson through an agenda, oral signposts, etc. use images. Accept the ebb and flow of attention and plan lessons that flow with it.
Confound/Convey: Lang calls them "signature attention activities" which basically are designed to "awaken students to the wonder of your discipline." We do this by helping students look more closely than they have at something, helping them create, and helping them connect course material to their everyday lives and what matters most to them.
One of the most powerful takeaways for me was Lang's suggestion to practice mindfulness and self-compassion, as this helps you as the TEACHER to be attentive to your students and not be distracted so that you can respond with compassion to them in their efforts to attend to your instruction.
SUCH a powerful book and can't recommend highly enough. (Five stars is reserved for truly life-transforming books. This one was incredibly helpful and instructive, but I wouldn't consider it life changing.).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2024
I have been a big fan of James Lang since he spoke at some pedagogy conference I went to back at the beginning of my teaching career. This was during his SMALL TEACHING heyday, and I remember him using Poll Everywhere to elicit live feedback from a rather large audience. His presentation was clearly a performance, authentic and genuine as it was, and it had a seminal impact on my own teaching persona.
In DISTRACTED, I find more of his common-sense, empathetic approach to teaching. I sometimes feel like an outsider among my colleagues when I hear them talking about computers in the classroom or whatever technology discourse is causing people to clutch their pearls today because I don’t feel like the situation my students are in is fundamentally different than the situation earlier students found them. Can cellphones and social media distract? Definitely. Were students 25 years ago less distracted? Definitely not. It’s not the devices; the instruction is, in part, the solution to the distraction.
The book is loaded with good ideas, though not for the first time, I find myself wondering who this book is for. It spent an entire chunk of one chapter explaining why learning your students names will help them pay attention. I mean…obviously, right? If you are someone who doesn’t feel it’s necessary or useful to learn your students names, are you going to be self-aware enough to read a 250 page book about best-practices in the classroom? I kind of feel like the people interested in his book are not the people who would learn much from it.
That said, it is nice to have my own pedagogy reflected back at me. I’m not so egotistical that I won’t feel good reading a book that explains the educational theory behind my intuited pedagogical choices. And there were a few suggestions I am going to incorporate into my Spring Semester (the in-class connections journals, for one).
In the end, Lang is a good read. This book can quiet some of the fears you might have about technology in the classroom, and though some of the advice would likely seem obvious to anyone who has spend even the smallest amount of time thinking about their teaching, it never hurts to be patted on the head and told you’re doing it right.
In DISTRACTED, I find more of his common-sense, empathetic approach to teaching. I sometimes feel like an outsider among my colleagues when I hear them talking about computers in the classroom or whatever technology discourse is causing people to clutch their pearls today because I don’t feel like the situation my students are in is fundamentally different than the situation earlier students found them. Can cellphones and social media distract? Definitely. Were students 25 years ago less distracted? Definitely not. It’s not the devices; the instruction is, in part, the solution to the distraction.
The book is loaded with good ideas, though not for the first time, I find myself wondering who this book is for. It spent an entire chunk of one chapter explaining why learning your students names will help them pay attention. I mean…obviously, right? If you are someone who doesn’t feel it’s necessary or useful to learn your students names, are you going to be self-aware enough to read a 250 page book about best-practices in the classroom? I kind of feel like the people interested in his book are not the people who would learn much from it.
That said, it is nice to have my own pedagogy reflected back at me. I’m not so egotistical that I won’t feel good reading a book that explains the educational theory behind my intuited pedagogical choices. And there were a few suggestions I am going to incorporate into my Spring Semester (the in-class connections journals, for one).
In the end, Lang is a good read. This book can quiet some of the fears you might have about technology in the classroom, and though some of the advice would likely seem obvious to anyone who has spend even the smallest amount of time thinking about their teaching, it never hurts to be patted on the head and told you’re doing it right.
September 4, 2021
As a business educator, Distracted directly supported my Spring 2021 online classes. When I planned for a Fall 2021 return to campus, I again looked to Distracted for reminders about what face-to-face student interactions used to look and feel like. Now, how might we combine the best of our remote learning experiments with Lang’s recommendations to cultivate attention?
Lang’s format and sharp writing create a fairly fast read, so consider my attention cultivated! I particularly appreciated chapters about signature attention activities and how we sequence these essential moments. He writes, “In this respect, I think teachers need to think more like composers or playwrights, envisioning the classroom experience as an unfolding one, featuring change and variety” (154). Educators naturally fall into our roles as experts in subject areas, yet when we nudge our own perspectives to think about the cadences of other disciplines, we all benefit. We more effectively organize variety and activity flow for renewed attention.
The final chapter about “Mindful Attention” shows there is work to be done. I appreciated that such an ephemeral, potentially unfocused topic landed in a book about disciplined attention. Perhaps educators will integrate calm, mindful moments as signature activities that will replenish students’ motivations and flow states. Should Lang follow additional research in this area, I could imagine an updated version of this chapter that reads with the same fundamental, principled activities as knowing our students' names.
Paradoxically, I find myself energized by how Distracted showcases non-business fields and depleted by how few business education examples were included. While I benefited from reading and reflecting about other disciplines’ approaches to attentive classrooms, I hoped other readers wondered how a business classroom operates.
I also realize the importance of variety in my own book choices: I appreciated that I previously read Distracted’s references like Paradox of Choice and Curious. Yet, this excitement diminished as I questioned if I was reading in an echo bubble of my own distraction.
Lang’s format and sharp writing create a fairly fast read, so consider my attention cultivated! I particularly appreciated chapters about signature attention activities and how we sequence these essential moments. He writes, “In this respect, I think teachers need to think more like composers or playwrights, envisioning the classroom experience as an unfolding one, featuring change and variety” (154). Educators naturally fall into our roles as experts in subject areas, yet when we nudge our own perspectives to think about the cadences of other disciplines, we all benefit. We more effectively organize variety and activity flow for renewed attention.
The final chapter about “Mindful Attention” shows there is work to be done. I appreciated that such an ephemeral, potentially unfocused topic landed in a book about disciplined attention. Perhaps educators will integrate calm, mindful moments as signature activities that will replenish students’ motivations and flow states. Should Lang follow additional research in this area, I could imagine an updated version of this chapter that reads with the same fundamental, principled activities as knowing our students' names.
Paradoxically, I find myself energized by how Distracted showcases non-business fields and depleted by how few business education examples were included. While I benefited from reading and reflecting about other disciplines’ approaches to attentive classrooms, I hoped other readers wondered how a business classroom operates.
I also realize the importance of variety in my own book choices: I appreciated that I previously read Distracted’s references like Paradox of Choice and Curious. Yet, this excitement diminished as I questioned if I was reading in an echo bubble of my own distraction.
November 14, 2021
I approached this book with some hesitancy. I'm familiar with and have read other works by Lang and generally like his writing in the Chronicle of Higher Ed and previous books. But I have a bias towards works that frame students as the problem and this book's title does that to some degree. However, overall, it was an insightful book, for the most part, exploring the challenges of distractedness and pedagogically approaches to keep students engaged in the classroom. Early on, Lang does what I think is not done enough and that is, contextualized distractedness as something that has been a concern for society for millennia. He calls out the idea that there was some mythic "before" when we all concentrated perfectly but then technology came along and ruined it for us and now youth is stupider as a result. He largely throws that out the window and shows how it's always been a problem, but one that we're more actively engaged in talking about today because, well, technology allows us to have much bigger and broader conversations about how technology is distracting us. From there, Lang pivots into the research on the subject and though he favors some of the negative aspects a bit more than I can agree with, he does try to give it a fair exploration to illustrate that in the classroom, teachers should make blanket fiats against technology--after all, abstinence-only approaches around things that we inevitably will engage with is never successful. He moves from there into classes he's visited and observed, discussing practices and activities to reduce distraction and bring the student more fully into the classroom. In that way, I find his work is quite useful for instructors of any sort and those who work with instructors.
July 15, 2022
Another great pedagogy book by James Lang. Some of the many elements I appreciate about his books are how they are rooted in science about how the brain works and/or how students learn, and how he gives specific, concrete examples of teaching tips, tools, and tricks that pair with each big-picture argument he makes.
While this book was finished just before the pandemic began, as Lang states in his introduction, he thinks these methods for capturing, holding, and re-capturing students' attention will still be useful during the pandemic (because the pandemic's not over, folks!). Indeed, in my experience, what students appreciate most about returning to in-person classes is the interaction, but with all of the pandemic stresses, that doesn't necessarily mean that students are able to pay more rapt attention in class. The opposite is likely true, and this book shows how we can help keep students as focused as possible so they can get the most out of class.
Another element I appreciate about his books is that this book shows how we can capitalize upon the teaching tricks we already have up our sleeve, and present them in different ways to capture and re-capture students' attention. Even simple things like giving students cues about where the lesson is going, or saying out loud "now we are moving into the second phase of today's class" can serve as miniature moments to refocus the class before moving on.
Probably the greatest praise I can give is that I read this book smack dab in the middle of the summer and it made me excited to get back into the classroom in fall. It was truly invigorating.
While this book was finished just before the pandemic began, as Lang states in his introduction, he thinks these methods for capturing, holding, and re-capturing students' attention will still be useful during the pandemic (because the pandemic's not over, folks!). Indeed, in my experience, what students appreciate most about returning to in-person classes is the interaction, but with all of the pandemic stresses, that doesn't necessarily mean that students are able to pay more rapt attention in class. The opposite is likely true, and this book shows how we can help keep students as focused as possible so they can get the most out of class.
Another element I appreciate about his books is that this book shows how we can capitalize upon the teaching tricks we already have up our sleeve, and present them in different ways to capture and re-capture students' attention. Even simple things like giving students cues about where the lesson is going, or saying out loud "now we are moving into the second phase of today's class" can serve as miniature moments to refocus the class before moving on.
Probably the greatest praise I can give is that I read this book smack dab in the middle of the summer and it made me excited to get back into the classroom in fall. It was truly invigorating.
March 23, 2022
"The challenge we face in the age of omnipresent digital distractions is that we are narrowing the kinds of life experiences we are giving to our brain and reducing the demands we make of it. We no longer ask it to grapple with idle time (in which we turn to our social media), or navigate our way through the built environment around us (for which we use our GPS), or memorize basic knowledge (for which we use Google). We limit our opportunities for connection with the physical people around us when we immediately turn to our phones in public settings (such as a classroom), and we limit our opportunities for creative thinking if we expect it to come only through digital work (such as internet searching)" (241).
"But even as we recognize the productive power of our time in the digital world, we should recognize that gains sometimes bring losses...[Student's] brains are being shaped largely in the presence of those screens; we should view this as negative not because screens are bad, but because excessive time with them is limiting their access to other forms of thinking" (241).
Adding this book to the repertoire of incoming and veteran teachers is important so that we remind ourselves that everyone, not just students, gets easily distracted. Filled with practical strategies to implement into our classrooms, and offering great suggestions and new ideas for enriching the classroom, Lang's book informs and reminds teachers of why students lose focus (become distracted) and how we can help bring them back in to regain focus of the tasks at hand.
"But even as we recognize the productive power of our time in the digital world, we should recognize that gains sometimes bring losses...[Student's] brains are being shaped largely in the presence of those screens; we should view this as negative not because screens are bad, but because excessive time with them is limiting their access to other forms of thinking" (241).
Adding this book to the repertoire of incoming and veteran teachers is important so that we remind ourselves that everyone, not just students, gets easily distracted. Filled with practical strategies to implement into our classrooms, and offering great suggestions and new ideas for enriching the classroom, Lang's book informs and reminds teachers of why students lose focus (become distracted) and how we can help bring them back in to regain focus of the tasks at hand.
September 1, 2023
Lang does it again. Thoughtful, practical, based in the best research we have on teaching, Distracted offers plenty for professors (but also, in excerpts, students and others) to think about. Instead of bemoaning "kids these days with their smartphones," consider both distraction and attention as two different, but complementary, impulses of the mind. Be bored enough with the lecture, and the ceiling tiles will be a compelling distraction. But if the classroom offers you social engagement and curiosity about something meaningful for you, you'll be happy to keep your supercomputer off in your backpack.
A few notes:
Follow the attention--if our attention is elsewhere, what does that offer to us?
Three texts dropped scores by 16% across high- and low-acheiving students in an experiment--half a grade better without minor distraction in another study
Distractions can be different purpose--learning material for a multiple choice test =/= tracing a meaningful tangent
Model it yourself--leave phone in office??
Build community in class--SOCIAL media--communities need continual tending
Values:
What are your biggest priorities? Why do they matter to you? How might they intersect with the objectives of this class?
What specific strengths do you bring to our classroom community? How could those strengths support what we are trying to do here?
Learn and use their names, but also encourage them to use each other’s names, introducing frequently
A few notes:
Follow the attention--if our attention is elsewhere, what does that offer to us?
Three texts dropped scores by 16% across high- and low-acheiving students in an experiment--half a grade better without minor distraction in another study
Distractions can be different purpose--learning material for a multiple choice test =/= tracing a meaningful tangent
Model it yourself--leave phone in office??
Build community in class--SOCIAL media--communities need continual tending
Values:
What are your biggest priorities? Why do they matter to you? How might they intersect with the objectives of this class?
What specific strengths do you bring to our classroom community? How could those strengths support what we are trying to do here?
Learn and use their names, but also encourage them to use each other’s names, introducing frequently
October 7, 2020
In all, it's a great look at current research and suggestions on student (and human) attention. The suggestions for helping students better attend to learning are very promising.
I really like the The Course Questions for each class - "What fills you with wonder?" etc that he quotes from Rebecca Zambrano's essay, "The 'Big Bang' of Motivation: Questions to Evoke Wonder in our Students." The idea of building these answers into our syllabus and first day activities to capture student attention rather than telling policies at them is great advice.
I will be trying out many of the strategies he discusses in the second part of the book to help build focused attention ... when I'm back in front of humans. Some strategies (varying physical space, moving around, and similar human to human physical interactions) don't have good analogues in a Zoom call. However, I will be finding ways to adust variations in activities and better sign-posting in my online classes to help students' flagging attention.
I was also heartened to see I'm already doing several activites (introduced in my courses this semester) from the Assessed Attention chapter. It's good to know that my approaches of low-stakes assessments and research/presentation projects are discussed positively here.
It's a good read. Lang's personality comes out even as he shares what could otherwise be dry. Recommended.
I really like the The Course Questions for each class - "What fills you with wonder?" etc that he quotes from Rebecca Zambrano's essay, "The 'Big Bang' of Motivation: Questions to Evoke Wonder in our Students." The idea of building these answers into our syllabus and first day activities to capture student attention rather than telling policies at them is great advice.
I will be trying out many of the strategies he discusses in the second part of the book to help build focused attention ... when I'm back in front of humans. Some strategies (varying physical space, moving around, and similar human to human physical interactions) don't have good analogues in a Zoom call. However, I will be finding ways to adust variations in activities and better sign-posting in my online classes to help students' flagging attention.
I was also heartened to see I'm already doing several activites (introduced in my courses this semester) from the Assessed Attention chapter. It's good to know that my approaches of low-stakes assessments and research/presentation projects are discussed positively here.
It's a good read. Lang's personality comes out even as he shares what could otherwise be dry. Recommended.
July 1, 2021
I was actually surprised with how much I liked this book. It took a more nuanced view toward distraction and technology in the classroom than I had seen previously and I appreciated Lang's ability to write about a complex issue without prematurely resorting to broad, sweeping, one-size-fits-all, solutions. One of my biggest takeaways was the notion that distraction is not aberrant; as humans, we're not in a default mode of focus and then get pulled away on occasion to other things. Rather, distraction is the norm and periodically we achieve moments/or interruptions of sustained attention. It kind of flipped this so-called 'problem' in education on its head for me, in a really compelling way. Thought-provoking stuff, for sure.
It was also one of those fun, serendipitous, coincidences of timing that I had the opportunity to attend a virtual conference in which James Lang was the keynote speaker during the same time I was reading his book for a faculty book club. I was just as impressed with his message in that venue and felt like he was someone I want to hear more from and emulate in terms of his intentioned, mindful approach to teaching and the deep thinking he has done (as evidenced in his writing) about the many, multi-faceted challenges of teaching, perhaps particularly in higher education.
It was also one of those fun, serendipitous, coincidences of timing that I had the opportunity to attend a virtual conference in which James Lang was the keynote speaker during the same time I was reading his book for a faculty book club. I was just as impressed with his message in that venue and felt like he was someone I want to hear more from and emulate in terms of his intentioned, mindful approach to teaching and the deep thinking he has done (as evidenced in his writing) about the many, multi-faceted challenges of teaching, perhaps particularly in higher education.
June 19, 2024
I primarily read this book to challenge my bias towards a strict no-phone policy in the classroom. It was a wonderful experience expanding my perspective. Lang dives into best practices in the classroom for building community and engagement, and really helped me shift my focus away from preventing distractions and toward being more intentional in preparing engaging instructional material. Although this book is specifically aimed at university faculty and professors, I found it extremely applicable to the high school setting I teach in. I took a highlighter to the pages, and have several goals I’ve set to better foster community and be more intentional in my teaching this coming school year. While several of the points Lang makes seem like common sense, he provides extensive research to back up both sides to the argument. I think this is a valuable read for anyone, whether or not you already think his content is common sense, because of how much you learn about distraction itself and our response to it. He is also candid about his practices in the classroom, but leaves room for people to diverge from his opinions. I loved his respectful and empowering writing voice. I’m so glad I picked this book up to balance my perspective on technology, because I ended up learning so much more.
April 12, 2021
There is some promise for the text in that Lang tries to dive into a perennial subject that "students aren't paying attention". Quick read because much of the material in the text can be found on about any teaching center website. The book comes across as folksy, but has a bit of a tin ear - there's a suggestion in the book that comes dangerously close to 'academic blackface' when Lang encourages his (assumed white) audience to draw upon the wisdom of black churches while lecturing. Likewise, there is no mention of neurodiversity in the book which also plays a role in what "attention" might play there. The biggest issue for this reader is that the book does not do much to expound upon the nuances of what "attention" or "distraction" means. Does attention mean - engagement, concentration, application, listening, interest? A surprising omission in the book is any reference to instructional theory (e.g. Gagne) and the act of attention as part of the first element of learning. Lang offers meaningful advice, but at the end of the day, it offers shallow one-size fits all, throw something at the wall and see what sticks, solutions. One would be better off reading his earlier book, Small Teaching.
February 11, 2021
I was quite excited to read this book because I am an attention researcher and because I teach distracted university students. I had hoped that I might be exposed to a new viewpoint and maybe even learn something new in terms of students and distractions (and can be distracted myself, of course!). Overall, I felt that the strongest part of the book was the consideration of historical depictions and references to distraction. I found the remainder of the book was a typical book that considered various teaching strategies. If you are totally new to teaching and have read no other books on teaching, then this book will present a lot of good information and things to consider for your teaching. If you are well-versed on attention and have read a variety of books on teaching (and have experience with teaching), then Distracted does not offer a lot of new information.
Thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Basic Books for an opportunity to read an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Basic Books for an opportunity to read an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews