In a college math course one is bound to find a fairly broad range of students in terms of their quickness in understanding the material. This is due to many reasons, including differing mathematical backgrounds. Inevitably, there are always a handful of very bright students who don't show up to lecture/discussion because they don't feel like they need to in order to pass the class (honestly, they're often right in this regard. In fact, they most often score the highest on exams).
However, just because they're quick to understand the necessary material to score well in the class doesn't mean that we don't have anything to offer them. I don't think we should be content with just letting them skate by because they have the natural ability to do so. This leads to my question:
How can we maintain and grow the interest of the brighter students in a math classroom, even if the bulk of our attention and effort is (rightfully so) spent with the rest of the class.