Anthony Adams

Liberal Arts Portfolio

Growth Through the Liberal Arts
Like many seniors in high school I had to decide between several different colleges in which I
would be attending the following fall. All schools seemed to have their own unique pros that
made them special. There was just something about Loras College that separated this school
from all of the others I had been looking at. Little did I know that attending Loras College was
one of the best decisions that I had ever made. Loras would challenge me both academically,
athletically, as well as help me grow into a person I never dreamed of becoming. I truly believe
that if I had not attended Loras College I would not have grown and become the same person I
am today ready to enter the teaching profession. By attending Loras College I knew that I would
not get lost in the numbers through the small class sizes. At larger colleges often times professors
never really get to know you as an individual or as a learner. Due to large class sizes it at times
can be almost impossible to develop relationships with professors. By attending Loras College I
knew I would have the opportunity to develop strong relationships with my professors, as well as
receive help almost whenever I needed it. Choosing to go to Loras College I knew I would also
be able to have an opportunity to be a Collegiate Athlete. The opportunity to play a sport while
attending college would challenge me not only physically, but also mentally which was a
massive part in helping me become the person I am today. I also knew that attending Loras
College I would have the opportunity to be in an environment that is defined by four core
dispositions: active learner, reflective thinker, responsible contributor, and ethical decision
maker. These dispositions are a major focus in all of the classes students are a part of during their
college career, also an important focus in activities outside of class. The importance of these

dispositions sets Loras students a part from many college graduates, as the focus on these
dispositions helps create well- rounded individuals. I strongly believe that my time here at Loras
has helped me become a well- rounded citizen in which I am extremely proud of becoming.
One of the special components of attending a Liberal Arts college is the numerous amounts of
diverse opportunities that are available for its students. This was evident through my time at
Loras College not only in the education department, but in every my everyday life at Loras.
Through these diverse opportunities I was given able to be actively learning in everything I
experienced at Loras College. Active learners are people who are constantly learning through
many different experiences. One of the many different learning experiences that helped me
become a much stronger active learner came through my athletic experiences at Loras College.
As a four year member of the Loras football team, this was an opportunity for me to learn well
beyond the traditional classroom and research techniques. Especially as a young college students
I felt like the football field was itself an outdoor classroom full of learning every day beyond the
xs and os of football. Through my time as a football player, I learned the importance of time
management as well as how to work with individuals with diverse backgrounds. Both of these
things are areas that are going to be very beneficial in my teaching career, and are things that are
not always learned in traditional classrooms. With the experience of playing a collegiate sport I
became an active learner understanding how I can take none classroom experiences and turning
them into a learning experience than can greatly benefit me. Seeing the importance of time
management while playing a college sport I actively was learning a skill that not only would
impact me as an athlete but a student as well. As a athlete in college you learn right away the
importance of time management. Between practices, workouts, film sessions, and games you
learn how to handle time appropriately in order to be a successful students and compete at a high

level. I feel like I would not have grown and learned about time management in any class the
way I learned it while being a collegiate athlete. Being a member of a football team you are
given the opportunity to meet others who come from diverse groups of
backgrounds. Football being the ultimate team sport requires communication and teamwork
amongst individuals that come from all sorts of backgrounds with numerous different beliefs. As
a four year member of the football team I learned to communicate and work towards a common
goal with individuals who are vastly different than myself. This is something that is done almost
every day in the teaching profession. For example in professional learning groups amongst staff
members in a school setting they are used to work with and learn from other teachers. In order
for these to be successful it is imperative to learn how to work with individuals with different
beliefs as well as teaching styles. Being able to work with diverse individuals in the school
setting creates a much better line of communication between other staff members, as well as a
stronger work environment. Learning how to work with diverse individuals through football was
also another key part in my growth at Loras that may not have been reached through the general
classroom setting. Growing in terms of time management and collaboration with others through
collegiate athletics is a massive part in my growth as becoming an active learner who constantly
understand the importance of learning in all sorts of different settings.
Many of the courses I was fortunate enough to take at Loras help students become active
learners by giving them the opportunity to work with the Dubuque Community. As an education
major at Loras I was placed in Dubuque classrooms actively learning whether it was observing
teachers, tutoring students, or teaching small groups. These experiences helped me get to
experience a world full of incredibly diverse learners and the numerous different types of
educational settings. These experiences constantly had me learning about the different types of

learners teachers have in their classrooms. I was also able to learn about different teaching styles
since I was allowed to observe and work with a variety of different teachers in Dubuque schools.
As an example working with my teacher at Cynthia Arenz at my St. Columbkille clinical
teaching experience I was actively learn and practice numerous teaching strategies. One thing in
particular that I was able to learn through this experience was how to create a positive learning
environment for all students that not only challenges the students, but meets individual needs. In
this particular classroom there are students with numerous different strengths and weaknesses.
Mrs. Arenz has created a learning environment in which students help eachother and learn from
others on a day in day out basis. Through various group activities students are able to use their
own strengths to contribute to the class. This showcases each students abilities and also
challenges them. After having the opportunity to witness this type of classroom as well as
practice my own strategies in the same classroom I was able to actively learn by picking up on
strategies and immediately applying them to my own teaching. These opportunities gave me
chances to experience new and unfamiliar opportunities outside of the college classroom that
other colleges may not have given me.
Very early on as a freshman in my second semester I took my foundations of education course
with Dr. Welsh. In this course we were taught all about the many types of injustices we see in our
public schooling system all across the country. Coming from a fairly wealth suburb of Chicago I
never really understood what it was like to be in a struggling public school with low funds. As
part of the foundations course my freshman year we were given the opportunity to observe in a
Dubuque school. I was placed at Audubon and was very anxious to begin my observations. On
the first day I was shocked at the differences between the schools I attended my entire life and
Audubon. It seemed like a whole different world compared to what I had been used to. Through

my observations I was fortunate enough to work with less fortunate students in a struggling
public school. This was an eye opening experience for me as I had never really understood or
experienced the injustices that many public schools in low income areas may face. I believe that
this was something I would not have truly understood just from a college classroom. Being able
to actually go out an experience it for myself was a huge part in my growth as a teacher and
understanding the diverse types of schools we have in our country.
What I had learned from these out of the classroom experiences in my foundations course as a
freshman had driven me to want to help less fortunate students in struggling communities. I was
given another out of classroom experience getting to work with students from a struggling
community during my J- term course in 2014 Teaching for Social Justice. This gave me the
opportunity to spend time working with students in Pilsen, Illinois. I was fortunate enough to
work with students both during and after school. This active learning experience gave me an
opportunity to see even more struggles schools from less fortunate areas may face. Seeing lack of
experiences and resources for students, and how this impact student learning was even more eye
opening to me. Getting to work one on one with students from these types of schools made me
believe that all students should be given the best educational experience possible. Some of the
experiences that members of this class were able to participate in included after school tutoring
in which we worked with students on homework and review materials from the previous school
day, as well as spend time working on reading skills with students. Another experience from this
class included teaching students after school how to better use technology such as computers to
aid them in their learning process. One of the things we were able to do with technology was
teach kids more efficient typing strategies. From experiences like this that I would have never

learned in a traditional college classroom it made me want to strive to create positive learning
environments for all my students as a future teacher.
Being able to actively learn in situations outside of the traditional college classroom has taught
me three extremely important things that will benefit me greatly and help shape what type of
teacher I strive to be in the future. Through being a collegiate athlete I have been able to actively
learn outside the classroom the importance of managing my time well and collaboration with
different types of people coming from all sorts of backgrounds. These are both things that will
benefit me as a teacher realizing the importance of collaborating with staff and other teachers in
the school setting. It also helped me understand the importance of time management which as a
teacher is huge learning how to balance work and having time for myself. Having the
opportunity to work in community schools taught me how as a teacher to be driven to help less
fortunate students in struggling communities as well as understand injustices in the school
system. As an active learner I was very curious about the world of teaching and different
approaches professionals take to help students become more successful. Through the numerous
experiences I had at Loras I was able to take this curiosity about teaching and turn it into an
everyday learning experience. These out of the classroom experiences and active learning has
helped shape me to become the type of young teacher that I am today.
As a student at Loras College not only have I grown because of active learning, but the
disposition of reflective thinking has helped me grow to be a better-rounded individual. Those
who reflectively think are able to connect ideas and new information from two or more separate
subjects. Students at Loras College are encouraged to take courses that may be outside of their
disciple area in many instances. During my time at Loras I was able to grow as a reflective
thinker all thanks to having several opportunities to take courses in areas outside of the education

department. These all helped me become a better reflective thinker which will end up benefit me
greatly as a future teacher. As teachers, reflection and having strong reflection skills is a huge
part of the profession. Teachers are constantly reflecting on lessons, strategies, and what can be
done to reach out to the need of all students is done almost on a daily and weekly basis. Having
diverse sets of classes available to me as a student and reflecting on how these classes will
benefit me were a huge part in the growth of my reflective thinking skills.
I remember the very first course that I was taking after selecting to be an education major was
Intro to Sociology. At first I was unsure how to think about taking this course because it was not
an education course, and I already had my mind set on being an education major focusing on
education specific courses. While taking sociology I learned about social norms and why people
act the way that they do. As a student I challenged myself to think about ways how I can take this
information and transfer it to my future career as a teacher. I then reflected and thought about
how sociology can help me as a teacher allowing me to understand ways in which students act
and even help me understand how parents act. I think that in many instances students who take
these types of courses not having anything to do with their major would just go into the class
with the mindset of getting a good grade and getting out of the class. Through the Loras
dispositions and trying to create more well- rounded individuals I was able to look beyond the
fact that it had nothing to do with my major, but instead reflected on ways in which this class
could help me as a teacher.
Reflecting on how experiences in many of my courses can impact me as a future teacher became
a theme for my educational career at Loras. The diverse class options that are given really have
helped me become someone who can think critically and creatively. Thinking about how none
major related courses can impact me and my teaching caused me to think more critically and

creatively in applying what I am learning to my own profession. Without such experiences at

Loras I would not have grown in my abilities to think out of the box and more critically.
Thinking about how classes can impact me as a future teacher has helped me gain much better
reflective thinking skills that will benefit me as a teacher. Already I have seen how these
reflection skills impact me in the teaching profession through my student teaching experiences. I
am constantly reflection on my lessons, what can be done better, as well as what I can do to aid
my students more are all examples of how I take these skills and use them in my teaching. I
believe that none of this would be as effective in my teaching as it is now if I havent been
challenged to think reflectively during my time at Loras. Taking a range of non-education
courses at Loras and learning how to think about how these course impact me as a future teacher
has really impacted my ability to reflect and can be used every day in my teaching.