Without a break until Thanksgiving week, the fall semester can be grueling for faculty and students alike. In the upcoming midsemester weeks, perhaps you can give your students, and yourself, a small break.

Give yourself permission to simplify - Not every assignment, discussion, or piece of content needs to survive the semester. What could be shortened, combined, or shifted to complete/incomplete? If it would help to talk it through, reach out for a quick chat with an instructional designer.

Look beyond our campus - When it comes to GenAI, we are not alone! The Chronicle’s teaching newsletter has been covering graded discussions, alternative grading, and oral exams, even in STEM and high-enrolled courses. If you find a little breathing room, take a look. You might find an idea for the future or some reassurance that other instructors are working through these questions too.

It's Climate Week. Join Grace Maves, UM-D's Sustainability Programs Coordinator, for a conversation about campus sustainability resources and ways to connect your teaching with broader climate efforts, including Planet Blue Ambassador opportunities.

Explore campus with colleagues while using Pokémon GO to think about gamification and instructional design. No experience, or app download, is required. The optional first 30 minutes will introduce the game, and the session will end indoors with a light lunch.

Hosted by Autumm Caines

Explore how peer learning can support critical thinking and learning experiences that students cannot outsource to AI. Bring an assignment, activity, or assessment from your course and leave with practical ideas for making it more engaging, collaborative, and AI-resilient.

Hosted by Chen Wang

The Hub and Digital Education invite faculty to participate in the second year of our funded, faculty-led Digital Accessibility Learning Communities. Participants will explore practical strategies, share ideas with colleagues, and improve accessibility in their courses. Learn more about the program.

Interested in serving as a Faculty Convener? Apply using the Faculty Convener form. If you led a community last year, you are welcome to apply again. 

Digital Education also offers weekly live training sessions. See the next two sessions below:

We are sending you a recap of the week in all things teaching and learning. These notes will share timely teaching tips, recent pedagogical scholarship, teaching events on and off campus, and Hub blog posts. Use this form to unsubscribe. Missed a week? Check out our archive here.

Questions or comments? Contact Carla Vecchiola at cvecchio@umich.edu

Credits: Image by Valentin from Pixabay; all icons by Icons8