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Creating a positive learning environment where students feel supported and respected is one of the best ways to support students to learn the complex topics you are teaching. In other words, building an inclusive classroom for your students by promoting mutual respect and academic excellence. Your classroom atmosphere can be friendly and supportive, but that does not mean you are going to accept lousy work or silly excuses. Having high expectations is another way to respect students and communicating those expectations to your students should be in the mind of every faculty.

However, the tone to communicate with your students is important. If you have had a consultation with me, I often describe some professors I had in graduate school that were very tough and demanding, but they communicated their high expectations with a smile. They were award-winning researchers in their field, but their teaching was impeccable: organized, prepared, consistent, encouraging, and they were able to listen to students. The rumor was that at least one of them carried a hammer (figuratively).

Deborah J. Cohan describes here her experience being a tough professor that handles confrontation compassionately, specifically giving examples about talking to the worst performing students that were failing all their classes.

You can be a tough instructor and be supportive of your students.

The Hub organized a panel this past Tuesday Oct 22 for students to talk about the impact of GenAI and learning. This session was not recorded to protect student privacy however it was well attended so you might ask around for your colleagues' impressions. The Hub plans to share more lessons learned from the student panel, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here are two takeaways from the panel:

Faculty and LEOs are invited to apply for these grants for which you can have different levels of involvement with Open Education such as: becoming familiar, reviewing, adopting and creating materials. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

If you are interested, but have questions contact the OE committee at: oedearborn@umich.edu.

Denmo Ibrahim, Arab American playwright designed a workshop on empathy and performance. More details to come later.

The first meeting will be on: 

November 12th  - Introduction (Online) 

Crafting Stories That Sing: A Masterclass in Empathy, Performance, and Discover with Denmo Ibrahim

This masterclass offers an immersive exploration of storytelling through testimony, found images, performance, and lived experience. Participants will discover what makes a story resonate, explore the narratives that captivate us, and stand in the vulnerability of truth and fiction. Each participant will craft a 10-minute piece—a start, middle, or end of something larger. Together, we will develop and refine these works in class, leading to a final staged reading of new stories. This masterclass builds empathy, sharpens creative instincts, and helps stories come alive—for both the actor and the audience.

No experience required. Open to faculty and students.

The November DigPed meeting will be held on:

Friday, November 1st, from 10-11am (on Zoom)

This is an informal conversation about community building in online (and in-person) courses, with a focus on platforms like Slack and Discord.

See Maya Barak's email for the Zoom link.

At this time of the semester, you can make an appointment for a 30-min, 60-min, course redesign project for future semesters, or GenAI consultation:

Questions or comments? Belen Garcia, beleng@umich.edu

While the HubCap is designed with our faculty as the primary audience, others (campus leaders, directors, student services staff) may also find valuable insights within.Feel free to forward this newsletter on if you know someone who could benefit from this information.

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