I feel like the only way to keep the students' attention is to be constantly moving from one activity to the next. The problem is that students have no problem just stopping whatever their doing if it bores them. They expect it all to be handed to them. I think the attitude that many of us are seeing in our students is a sign of the times. I think that today we as a society want more, and we want it faster than any generation before us.
Patience is no longer a virtue.
Sad to say, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.