Tim, I agree that students get distrated for many reasons. We can try to appreciate why but ultimately we need the attention and focus for us to do our job well. Small things like circulating around the room, asking pointed questions at specfic students, or pair-share discussion are quick and easy measures to take. Breaking up the lesson into smaller segments with a variety of media or delivery methods helps keep interest too. More aggressive measures may mean whole change-ups in the current plan, such as swithing from a lecture to a discussion, or a lab activity. Getting the student up and moving around is a good strategy, however we can incorporate that into the plan. Full engagement requires work and effort by both instructor and student, is not easy to accomplish all the time, but yield dividends in better retention of need material and better student performance. Barry Westling