This is a story about looking at the wrong thing.

In a recent coaching cycle with a teacher, we set out to examine- and improve- student engagement in a high school math class. Hybrid and remote instruction had supplanted the usual back-and-forth energy of learning math together, with a grid of silent black boxes. The fatigue of trying to keep up the energy of class, when all that energy seemed to go one way, was a stark contrast to this teacher’s typically strong rapport with students.