Physical Activity

I have been physically active in something or another for as long as I can remember, so this comes pretty naturally to me, but besides the obvious health benefits physical activity brings, there are many other skills associated with sports and other physical activities. As someone who has spent a lot of hours swimming laps, I could not help but develop a strong and creative imagination just so I could concentrate on something other than pushing my body to the limits. This, in my opinion, is what has led me to enjoy reading as much as I do and has encouraged me to develop my creative outlets. While playing baseball and football for the many years that I did, the friendships I built, as well as the team building and leadership skills I developed, will stay with me the rest of my life. I think it is very important to know how to work well with others, while also maintaining one's own individuality and self-reliability.

Technology

At one point in my life, I'll admit, I was anti-technology. In some regards, I still am. If you've read any of the earlier posts, you know I am an advocate of reading books or just reading in general, a technology that has been around for a while. I am a big fan of going outside and finding a big tree to sit under and forgetting, if only for a little while, what time it is and what I am supposed to do next. To me, technology makes everyone too busy and in need for constant stimulation, which is hard to turn it off sometimes and just relax. Its like the character Brooks says from the movie "Shawshank Redemption," "The world went and got itself in to a damned hurry." The fact of the matter is, technology is here to stay and we really have no choice but to accept and try and make the best of it for everyone. In education, this needs to be at the forefront. Technology has enhanced an always expanding and growing global market and if we are to keep up with the rest of the world, technology and the understanding of technology will have to be utilized and cultivated across all lines.
Something I found to be an extraordinarily effective as well as simple is google docs. It has replaced the need for disks, zip drives, or any other storage devices. All one needs to access google docs is Internet access and a free Gmail account. Its that easy. Not only does this make writing papers for school easier, my own personal writing has flourished as well. I found the entirety of google and what it offers extremely helpful, but google docs will now be where I write.

Importance of Creativity

I don't know what could be more important than the need for one to utilize and cultivate self expression. Because that is all creativity is, the need to express what defines oneself as a human. The thing about creativity is, its creative and curriculum should reflect this in education. With the advent of technology, the ways in which we view the world is changing and along with this view is the discovery of ways and forms of creativity that are adding to an already extensive list. The old ways are no longer acceptable in education. Education has to reflect the modern world. We have to be creative with curriculum and have to allow students to learn to the best of their abilities. When I am a teacher, I have to realize that I am still a learner as well and the ways in which I learned, might work for about ten percent of the class.

About Colin Quina, me.

I am currently a student of Education at the University of South Alabama. I am 27 years old and working on obtaining my second degree from South. I earned a bachelors degree in English in 2005. After working in Real Estate for a few years, I realized I was broke and wanted to go back to school to become an educator. Now back in school, I want to stay as long as possible and hopefully obtain the right amount of initials to teach educators how to teach. A goal of mine is to start a school or be apart of organizing or developing curriculum for a school. I believe education should reflect the modern world around us; central to this approach is technology and the abilities it affords students to learn about different cultures, from different cultures. I believe in physical activity; it is important to be both sound of body and mind. And Lastly, I believe in the importance of creativity.
I was born in Mobile and have lived here my whole life, with the exception of two years in Baton Rouge attending LSU. My parents are Bill and Jerrie Quina and they are both educators. My older sister Lindsay also lives Mobile with her husband Jim Nagy and their two small children Hayden, four, and Lillian, one. Jim Works as a scout with the Kansas City Chiefs. Lindsay is currently working as a full-time mom, but has worked in the past in interior design.

Be an authority

Authority is not the truth. Truth is the only authority. Simply because someone holds a title or a position of some sort of authority, does not give them sole access to the truth. We're always taught to respect authority and I agree, but one must allow themselves to earn the respect of authority based on merit, not some title they can throw at you. I suggest becoming an authority yourself. What makes authority an authority? Is it what they have actually done or simply convincing enough people they are an authority? Some sort of combination of the two is probably the most logical answer, but the point I am trying to make is don't let other's do the convincing, convince yourself. Life is much better when you can agree or disagree with something and be able to explain why.

Read. Please read

Not only this post, but in general, read. Read anything or everything, just as long as you are doing it. I don't even mind if you read those teen-aged vampire books all the kids are crazy about these days; don't wait until the movie comes out, there is a reason people always say the book is better than the movie...it is!!! Why not use your own imagination and come up with your own ideas about how hot and anorexic the characters should look; don't leave it to Hollywood, where everyone is hot and anorexic, and, oh yeah, white. I prefer Bram Stoker's Dracula, myself. There are so many benefits to reading I can name from experience, it's exhausting; my vocabulary would not be one quarter what it is if I was not an avid reader. My critical thinking and analytical skills would be as sharp or not exist at all if I did not read as much as I do. For anyone who says they do not like reading, to me it says they don't like thinking and using their imagination. The more you do it, the easier it becomes and more enjoyable, so just do it!