LOST again

Obligatory spoiler warning.  You've been warned.

Going into the series finale, here are my most recent thoughts and questions.

• Who is David's mom (Jack's ex-wife)?  My guess is Juliet.  I'm pretty sure it's someone who was on the island and she's the only one I can come up with
• How do they kill someone who is already dead (aka Smokey)?
• Ben said that he thought he was summoning the Smoke Monster, but in actuality, "it was summoning me."  What the heck is that supposed to mean?
• Jacob visited Widmore?  Do we believe him?  It kind of takes me back to last week (or the week before?) when I began to re-think my ideas about Widmore being the bad guy and Ben being the good guy.  What if it's the opposite?  What if Widmore is the good guy, after all?
• How does adding Jacob's ashes to the fire make Jacob visible to everyone?  And why is he gone for good when the fire burns out?  Does that apply to Hurley, who normally sees dead people?
• How omniscient is Locke?  He seems to know things that other people don't, but he might be a good guesser, a good observer, or a good actor.
• Can Smokey kill Richard now?  Or did throwing him through the air simply knock him out for a while?  Once Jacob is gone, does Richard's immortality end or does it transfer to the new "Jacob"?
• Was Ben on the Monster's side all along?  I'm beginning to doubt him again.  For a time there, I almost trusted him, but maybe I was wrong.
• Why does everyone die if Locke leaves or puts the light out?  I'm not understanding the whole "light inside everyone" thing going on here.
• What the heck is Desmond's plan?
• How does Desmond's special abilities regarding electro-magnetism make him a fail-safe?  How can a person be a fail-safe?  I'm not sure I fully understand that concept.
• The rules have obviously changed since season ? when Ben went to talk to Widmore in his bedroom late at night.  I distinctly remember Widmore saying that Ben couldn't kill him, but Ben definitely dispatched him in the secret room.  Hmmm. . . .
• Why does Jacob sometimes appear as his younger self?
• Why does Locke want to kill Penny?  Was that just his ploy to get Widmore to spill the beans regarding his ultimate plan?
• Jacob has been watching these people - the candidates - since childhood.  How did he decide which people to watch?  How did he choose the names to write in the cave?  Did he have some knowledge that they would possibly end up alone?  And if they were chosen to be possible candidates because they were alone, why Sun and Jin?

I thought this was a shorter list of questions than it actually ended up being.  Oops. . . .  :-)

Heavy on Mythology

It's another LOST post, and this is the obligatory "spoiler alert."  If you haven't seen the latest episode about Jacob and the Man in Black, then stop reading.  You've been warned.

This episode of LOST was filling in the blanks of some of the back-story between Jacob and his arch-nemesis.  It's got me thoroughly confused, so this is my attempt to un-confuse myself.

• I thought the black and white blankets that that woman wrapped Jacob and his brother in were a clever touch.  Unless black and white mean something different on the island than what they mean to us, there's no question as to which one is good and which one is bad.  (Although, I suppose there is some of each in all of us.)
• Who is this woman?  How did she get to the island?  Were there others with her?  How did she become the "keeper" of the island?  Why are the babies so important to her?  How did she come to know about the light?
• We've seen the young version of Jacob before.  Why does Locke (or the manifestation of Locke's body) see visions of a young Jacob - reminding him of the "rules."  It's not a ghost, because other people see him, too.
• When we first saw the light, my first thought was Fountain of Youth.  Then, I thought Garden of Eden.  Now, I really don't know.
• The other people that young "Locke" saw - were they from the same shipwreck that Claudia came from?  Ghost Claudia told him that they were "his people."  Same shipwreck or different?
• Mother made it so that Jacob and his brother couldn't kill each other.  Directly kill each other?  And are all bets off as soon as they leave the island?
• Brain flash: Ben and Widmore can't kill each other.  Is it the same deal?  One is aligned with Jacob and one is aligned with The Man in Black and they can't directly kill each other.  They can just get other people to kill the other.
• I'm interested in how the donkey wheel works - how are they planning on channeling water and light to "move" an island?  Those must be some genius people to even conceive an idea like that.
• We've been told that there are "pockets of electromagnetic activity" all over the island.  Are they all connected to the light, or is it just that one particular spot?  The Man in Black said that they'd never found anything before.  (The well that Locke threw Desmond in - he knew where it was and how deep and used it to his advantage - clever.)
• The Man in Black said that by turning the wheel, he could leave the island.  Why doesn't he just turn the wheel now and leave?  Does it have something to do with him being Smokey?
• Mother thanked Man in Black for killing her?  Could she not kill herself?  Was she the smoke monster AND the light's keeper?  Is that possible?
• The Others are Jacob's people.  Yet, Ben can/did summon Smokey to protect them from the freighter folk that were terrorizing them at New Otherton.  How does that work?  Asking the enemy for help?
• I think this is how it goes: sending Man in Black into the cave of light took his humanity and made him an eternal Smoke Monster who can inhabit the bodies of dead people.  The only way to be freed, killed, or given back his humanity is to kill all the "Jacobs" - all the keepers of the island and its light.
• How did Smokey get back alive?  The Man in Black is dead and his body is buried in the cave.  Yet, he's obviously not dead, at least, not in the traditional sense of the word.

The previous was in kind of a chronological order.  The following are not.

• Mother said that Jacob and his brother could never leave the island.  Why not?
• Do Man in Black's people know about Jacob and Mother?  If they did, you'd think they would find a way to extract the secrets from her.  Are they the predecessor to Widmore?  
• "Now you and I are the same."  Is that how Jacob knows everything about the island and how to protect it?  Was the knowledge passed in some supernatural way?  Or was Jacob just clueless and that's why he never told Richard anything?
• Is something built on the site where the light was/is?  (Did it go out when Man in Black was sent in?  I couldn't tell.)  I was thinking the Others' temple or New Otherton, but it's on a river, and I don't think the temple or New Otherton have rivers running through them.  Is the cave still just out in the open?  Does it appear and disappear, depending on who is around or looking for it?

LOST

I am in a bit of shock after viewing the last episode of LOST, so I'm going to post this in hopes of making some sense of it.

If you are a follower of LOST, but haven't seen The Candidate, you might want to stop reading now, unless you're a fan of spoiled surprises.  If you aren't a follower of LOST, you might as well stop reading now because this post won't make a whit of sense (of course, considering what show we're talking about, it might not make sense anyway. . . )

First of all, why is Kate not a candidate anymore?  We knew from a previous episode that her name was crossed off in that cave.  But why?  What has she done, or not done, that the Kwons, Hurley, Jack, and Sawyer have or have not done?

Second, I'm beginning to question my hard-core belief that Widmore is a bad guy.  As near as I can tell, Ben's word is the only word we have that Widmore is bad (and the Smoke Monster/Locke thing, but I think we all agree that he's bad, so let's not complicate things).  All the stories about "Big Bad Widmore" are from Ben.  Do we trust him as our sole authority on the matter?  What if Ben is the bad guy?  Ben didn't ever directly talk to Jacob (until he killed him), Ben didn't know what/who the Smoke Monster was/is, Ben only became leader after staging a coup (?) and ousting Widmore - what if he doesn't have the best interests of the "island" and the Others at heart, either through blind ignorance (indirect) or blatant disobedience (direct)?  I'm beginning to lean towards the former explanation. 

My main reason for this is because Widmore put them in the cages to keep them safe, at least according to Widmore.  I don't know if we can trust Widmore, but Ben is MIA with Richard and Miles right now.  What if Widmore knows that they are candidates to replace Jacob and knows that Locke (the smoke monster, but I'm referring to him as Locke for simplicity's sake) wants to kill them and is trying to keep them from being killed or killing each other?    Despite what Locke said about being able to kill Jack and all his friends, I don't think he can.  I think it's against the "rules," whatever those are.  Locke can't kill them, but he can manipulate others to kill them, just like he couldn't kill Jacob but had Ben do it for him.

I had another theory about how Locke can only leave the island if he brings certain people (like the Oceanic survivors) with him, but I think it's wrong, which brings me to my third point.  I think Jack nailed it on the head when he told Sawyer that nothing was going to happen if they didn't touch the bomb.  Two reasons: First, is the island done with them?  Richard's little suicide attempt didn't work because the island isn't done with him and/or Jack.  What if it's the same principle here?  Second, if Locke can't directly kill the candidates, then a bomb designed by him won't work.  It won't go off.  Jack recognized that fact and tried to talk Sawyer out of attempting to diffuse it.  Sawyer, being the jerk that he is this season, didn't listen and BOOM.  (As a little aside, I find it ironic that, when Locke was describing "Widmore's plan" outside the plane to get them all in a confined space and blow them up, he was actually describing HIS plan to get them all in a confined space and blow them up.)

Fifth, WHAT THE HECK?!  They just killed off Sun, Jin, Sayid, and Lapidus in one fell swoop!  Are they allowed to do that?!  I'm beginning to go back to my original theory that the writers are going to kill almost everyone off sometime during the season and then have an epic sword fight/battle as the last scene that kills off any remaining characters.  At least we know Desmond is still alive.  There is still hope for Desmond and Penny's happily ever after.  (Of all the characters on the show, those two deserve it the most.)

A few remaining thoughts:

•  Where are Richard, Ben, and Miles?  They went to go get bomb-ish stuff from the "New Otherton."  Did they plant the bomb on the plane?  Highly unlikely, probably not, but possible.  
• Richard and company are barking up the wrong tree.  They're on a mission to blow up the plane so that Locke can't leave.  Well, Locke doesn't want to leave, at least not in the traditional way.  He only needs to kill off the candidates.  So, unless Richard and friends blow up the plane, protect the remaining candidates and dispose of Locke all at the same time, their mission is futile.  The sad part is, they don't even know it.
• Can Smokey be killed/exterminated/taken care of for good?  Bullets go right through him and mortar shells don't faze him at all.  Is he a mortal being, or something far more sinister?
• Jack promised Sun that he'd get her off the island and back home.  He failed.  Heart-breaking.
• How does Locke know they're not all dead?  Does he have some sort of sense of bondage or something?  He pretty much declared war on them when he stalked off, leaving Claire behind on the dock.
• What role did/does Claire play in Locke's master plans?  
• By the end of the episode, I was crying - I mean, they just killed off 3 major characters and 1 minor character - but I was going to be okay.  But when Jack and Hurley started sobbing, that's what did me in.  There's something about men crying that is just gut-wrenchingly sad. 

Please feel free to tear apart my theories and ideas.  Most of them came about in the early morning or late night (Land of the Midnight Sun - gotta love it!), and I admit they have holes in them.  Only time will tell. . . .

Why I Like Math

I grew up hating math.  I seriously hated math.  It never made sense to me.  I couldn't wrap my mind around all those formulas and facts and get them all to stay there in my mind.  I was forever forgetting things.  Now that I know a little something about learning, I think I know why.

When I was growing up, I learned formulas.  I learned that 1+1=2.  I didn't learn why; I was never shown that 1 block and 1 block make 2 blocks when put together.  I memorized.  I remember learning multiplication in 3rd grade.  We were each given a paper bowl and a paper banana.  For each timed test we passed, we got scoops of ice cream to add to our "banana splits" and then at the end of the year, we actually made those banana splits in class with the scoops of ice cream that we had "earned."  I hated those timed tests with a passion.  I ended up with a decent banana split, but I can't say I enjoyed the process at all.  In fourth grade, we learned long division.  We were taught how to do it.  As I got older, I learned more and more formulas, some of which I actually remember, most of which I have forgotten. 

This disdain for math followed me to college.  It was during our Math Methods class that I had an epiphany.  The professor was doing something on the board with repeated addition and made an off-hand comment about that being the basis of a multiplication problem.  That off-hand comment changed my life.  I never realized that multiplication is just repeated addition.  I believe my thought process was, "No way.  That's so easy.  I can't multiply to save my life, but I can do that."  Keep in mind that I was a junior in college, and that simple fact blew my mind.

From that point forward, I started seeing patterns and relationships.  When it's all boiled down to basic concepts, that's all math is.  I finally started to understand the concept of borrowing from another column when subtracting - it's all about place value.  I finally started to understand the concept of carrying the other number to the next column when adding 2-digit numbers - again, it's all about place value.  I began to understand why length times width works to find area.  I'm still trying to wrap my mind around division being repeated subtraction.  I haven't completely figured out that one yet, but I'm working on it.

Teaching first-grade, I see all these concepts boiled down.  I don't teach carrying and borrowing when adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers.  But I do teach place value, which is the first step.  I don't teach multiplication.  But I do teach adding a string of 3 or 4 numbers, which is the first step.  I do teach skip-counting, which is second step to multiplication.  Being an after-school tutor shows me the fruit of learning the basics.  The kids who come to after-school tutoring are mostly 4th grade, with a couple of 3rd graders and 5th graders thrown in to keep me on my toes.  The patterns and relationships jump out at me every day.  Those who I saw understanding the concepts in first-grade are the ones who understand the concepts better in fourth-grade.  It's not just that they're better students.  I've come to believe that anyone can do math - it's a matter of being taught the underlying concepts and relationships first.

That's why I never liked math growing up.  I was taught formulas, not concepts.  I think that, subconsciously, I wanted to know why a formula worked.  Why do we multiply length and width to find area?  Why do we invert and multiply when dividing fractions?  (I still don't understand that one, if anyone wants to explain it to me.)  Why does 6x9=54?  Who decided the answer to all those multiplication facts?  I wanted to know why and all I was learning was how.  I wanted to see the process down on paper - draw me a picture and show me 6 groups of nine circles and count them.  I couldn't make sense of it, but didn't know how to express it because I didn't understand that that was what I wanted.  Don't misunderstand, I had some great teachers when I was growing up, but they missed the mark when it came to me actually understanding math.  I've never taken calculus (I never made it past Algebra 2 and the only reason I got that far was because I was told that I would never get accepted into college without it), but if somebody could explain it to me using pictures and objects, I'm truly believe I could gain a basic understanding of it.  (By the way, that's a challenge to anyone who chooses to accept it.) 

I wrote earlier that my junior year math epiphany changed my life.  It's true.  It's certainly changed the way I teach math now.  The more relationships I see, the better I can teach the basics because I understand where it needs to lead to.  I am applying for a master's program with a specialization in elementary reading and mathematics.  The reading part is no surprise to anyone who knows me - I've always loved books and reading.  The math part is a surprise.  I want to know more.  I want to understand all those things that I missed growing up.  I want to know how I can better teach it so that no kids end up where I was - in junior high/high school/college and hating math because it makes no sense. 

The Importance of Play

I don't have any research or data to back me up in this claim, but a thought struck me last week while I was watching my kids run around the gym.  Time to play freely is so important for kids.  As educators, we are under an immense amount of pressure - on top of the job of actually teaching, we have to think about standards, testing, accountability, etc. These are good things, don't get me wrong.  But we get so caught up in them sometimes that we forget that these kids are not just really tiny adults.  They are kids who are growing and developing, and time to play is an invaluable part of that process.  I've discovered that I can use that to my advantage.  I don't always have to have a game planned for when we go to the gym.  I sometimes can leave it open and let them do their own thing.  If that means they play wild, loud, unorganized games of freeze tag every time we go to the gym for 3 days, then so be it.  Watching them run and laugh hysterically made me smile.  And when we came back to the classroom after those wild, loud, unorganized games, they listened better, they focused better, they remembered more later.  I don't know what the research says about the importance of free play, but I know what my experience says.  My experience says it's okay to say, "Today in math, we are playing math games.  Find a game and someone to play it with."  I leave all the choices up to them.  Even if they aren't playing the game completely right (by the rules), I know they're practicing some sort of math skills and playing, which just might be the most important part.