From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankar Vedantam. This is my unsung hero, stories where one person reached

out to help another in a time of need.

My unsung hero was my algebra...

He saw me came over and asked how I was doing and if I needed help.

So whoever you are, thank you so much.

Today's story comes from Alexandra Middlewood.

She's a professor of political science at

Wichita State University. During the fall 2021 semester Alexandra began

hybrid teaching.

Some of her students in masks in front of her,

the others simultaneously on Zoom.

So wearing a mask for a 75 minute lecture,

while wearing a microphone, while trying to make sure that my students

who are on Zoom are engaged, my students who are in the classroom are engaged, while

also trying to, you know, navigate PowerPoint and my own lecture notes and writing

key concepts on the board.

I don't know how I'm going to do this all semester. I don't know how I'm going to try to navigate

teaching to two classrooms essentially.

One Monday morning, three weeks into the semester, Alexandra was feeling especially overwhelmed.

So I was lecturing on the material.

I had just finished writing something on the whiteboard and I turned around and I looked up and I have

this room full of students. Most of them are, you know, maybe not as engaged as I would like.

...