Thanks for a good, and unusual, semester

[Zellmer, Robert]

I hope your finals went well.
I hope you are all healthy and doing well.  Same for your families.

I want to say thanks for a good semester.   Saying it's been a little
unusual is an understatement.  It should get better in Au21 with
most classes being back to in person.  Not sure if you're all happy
with this but I think it will be good.

I know I didn't get to know all of you. I know I got to see some of
your faces during our exhilarating Zoom lectures but not most of
you.  I saw some names, particularly in the chat, and I may recall
them in the future if I see them.  I'm disappointed I didn't get to see
more of you since I won't recognize you when I maybe run into you.
Since you got to see my ugly mug every lecture please say hi and
introduce yourself.  Forgive me though if I don't remember your
name.  As the years go by I often don't remember names for very
long.  Hey, I've had close to 30,000 students so far in my career.
That's a whole lot of names and faces.  They say your life flashes
before your eyes when you die so I figure it will take awhile for me
to die if I have to go through all the faces I've seen.  Besides, my
stubborn side will make me hold on as long as possible.  There's
so much I still haven't seen or learned.

I want to say a special thanks to those who continued to come to
lecture.  I'm grateful for that.  It's much easier to lecture when people
are there.  I know the situation wasn't easy for you and I'll admit not
ideal for me.  I miss the personal interaction and being able to do live
demonstrations.  I hope no matter what the outcome, you can say you
learned something.  I think there were times we actually had a little
fun and laughed a little, even at my bad jokes.  Hey, I'm not getting
paid enough to come up with good ones.  Whoever thought you
would be able to laugh during a chemistry lecture.  Maybe you even
learned something new and found a few things interesting (like how
geckos can walk on walls or how to get your clothes cleaner or how
you can drink a strong acid solution, if it's diluted properly, etc.).
Sometimes even the simple and mundane things of life can be really
interesting when you know something about the underlying reasons.
Please continue to learn as much as you can and educate yourselves
about life around you.  It will come in handy someday (maybe you
can save some money on that ring for a special someone).

A special shout out goes to those who asked questions.   Asking
questions in lecture is good.  I've gotten more questions during the
Zoom lectures than during in-person lectures.  Perhaps you feel more
comfortable asking when not in person.  Get over that.  You learn by
asking questions and if you have a question it's a sure bet someone
else has that question or maybe didn't even think about it.  It also lets
me know what you don't understand and hopefully do something to fix
the problems you're having right then.  I now know a better way to get
across about what it means to "flip" an octahedral complex. So now
when you turn over in bed you'll know which axis your turning around.
I used this during an office hour with one of your fellow students.
Maybe with all the boxes I'm getting from Amazon I can make some
models.  It will be nice to be able to do in-person demos and use
models again.  I've got to get working on that Velcro suit (now better
known as my Zelcro suit).

Another special shoutout to those who came to office hours.  That
kept me on my toes and I didn't get so lonely waiting for people to
show up.  Plus, it helped me to realize what people were still having
trouble with and when time allowed go over it again in lecture.  I hope
some of you who kind of waited until near the end of the semester
no realize how useful they can be, even when you don't have your
own questions.

Finally thanks to all of you who caught errors in the textbook, the
solutions manual and Mastering.  It helps all of you when I can send
the corrections out and helps Pearson make things better for future
students.

I know this course is tough and we cover a lot of material in 8 weeks.
Chemistry is done so you can all rest a little easier.  I know some of
you are done for good and are probably really happy about that.  I know
some of you have to take organic chem.  You'll use some of what you
learned this semester.  Review kinetics, equilibrium and thermodynamics
(Ch 19) and B-L and Lewis acid/base theories.

I know some of you may have to repeat.  That's not the end of the world,
as you may think right now.  It is not the worse thing that will happen to
you in your life.  We all know this now with everything that's going on.  It
happens now and then, even to the best of students.  If you will be retaking
the course, please speak to me before you do, even if I'm not your
instructor. I'm sure if approached properly anyone can pass this course
and do well.  I don't want you to have to repeat a third time.  Repeating a
course will not put an end to whatever your dreams are.  Believe me.

You can go onto organic with a D or a Pass in 1220 but you could struggle
if you don't make sure you learn the material better.  Also, once you go on
to a subsequent course in Chemistry and later repeat a previous course to
get a better grade the grade in that course isn't forgiven.  Keep this in mind
if you plan on going on to organic with the intention of going back and
repeating 1220 for a better grade.  This is tricky if you took a Pass for your
grade this semester.  You need to consider what your letter grade would
have been and be honest with yourself on how much you really learned.

I know it feels like forever to get your grades.  I realize it can be excruciating
wondering what your grade will be.   You should have access at this point
to all your scores and your letter grade, at least in Carmen.  They may not
have been posted yet to BuckeyeLink.  That should be done before the end
of today.

Once you get your grades (even for PA/NP),  before e-mailing to ask if there
was a curve think about what a 'normal' grading scale is and then look at
your score and your letter grade (or if you simply passed).  When we say
we "curve" the grades a lot of people think it means we add points to your
raw scores or percentages.  That's not what we do.  We adjust grade cuts.
In high school maybe you needed a 60% to pass with a D but now maybe it's
53% (just an example).  We adjust the grade ranges (cutoffs) slightly based
on the points (percentages) everyone received for the course as a whole, not
each individual piece.  Your percentages do not change.  I mentioned this in
a previous e-mail.  It's also addressed in the syllabus.

If you wish to inquire about your grade you can but again think about what it
would have been w/o any curve.  I may not be able to answer e-mails
immediately.  I'm already working on stuff for autumn semester.   I'll also
be out tomorrow as my mother is now in the hospital with an infection.  I will
try to answer e-mails as quickly as I can.

It really was a pleasure this semester.  It was interesting with being online
the way we had to.  I keep learning a lot of new things and have an excuse
to buy new computer stuff.  Stop by sometime when we get back to campus
and let me know what you thought of it.  You can e-mail me and we can
Zoom if you have questions which are better answered "in person".

Have a good break.  Only about 2.5 weeks until we start again.  Wow, not
enough time.  It's okay to get outside and enjoy yourselves but keep a
safe distance, especially if you're not vaccinated.   Protect yourself and your
family.  Try to stay positive, not with COVID that is.  This situation won't last
forever.   The more people who get vaccinated the faster we'll get back to
normal.  I was hoping for a full Ohio Stadium for football games this autumn
and have tickets but now I'm not so sure.

Good luck this next year.  I'm sure I'll see some of you roaming our hallways.
Say hi when you see me.

Dr. Zellmer

P.S.  One more bad dad joke I heard awhile back.  You might have to think for
a few seconds.

What did the bear say to the bear hunter when they met in the woods (scroll down)?





Moo!



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