Breaking the Learning Barrier for Underachieving Students: Practical Teaching Strategies for Dramatic Results

Feelings are at the core of Blue learning. If these students feel individual support from their teacher and their fellow [Page 235]students, there is no limit to what they can accomplish. Person-to-person interaction is an essential part of their style; without it, learning is not something they typically value. When they can learn new things while working, interacting, and communicating with others students, they will fully engage.

The best educational environment for Blue learners is one without conflict or an intense feeling of competition. Activities or assignments that allow them to collaborate and use their creative energy are highly favored. Blues typically like to please others, and they will go out of their way to help everyone fit in; therefore, harmony and peace in a classroom is very important to them. Often they will give up what they really want just to maintain a sense of harmony.

Blues need to be made to feel part of the educational process. It is essential that their feelings are validated as they learn. They respond well to a more democratic classroom approach. When they are made part of the team, they will expend considerable personal energy to help keep things running smoothly. They need to receive a lot of emotional support and feedback. Personal, one-on-one interaction with the teacher is repaid many times over. Writing complementary comments on their papers or using other personal touches that connect you to them are highly appreciated and noticed by Blue learners. Compliments are much better tools for correcting behavior than criticism. In fact a good ratio to use with a Blue student would be about five compliments to one criticism. That's five compliments to cushion the blow before and/or after the constructive criticism. They must believe that your criticism is given out of a genuine concern for their well-being.

Blues will usually do their schoolwork, if for no other reason than they don't want to disappoint their teacher. If, however, they are forced to choose between doing schoolwork and caring for the needs of a friend, the friend will usually come first. A good rule of thumb for understanding a Blue learner is that people and feelings come before any other considerations.

Blues are usually very well behaved students. They can often get off base if they are sitting near their friends in class. [Page 236]This is because it is often more important for them to communicate with their peers than it is to listen to a lecture. If their feelings get hurt, however (and this can happen very easily), they can pull inside and shut themselves off from the very support they thrive on to feel good about themselves. They can usually be put back on track by having someone privately remind them that their behavior is hurting other people. Remember, their feelings and the feelings of others are their first consideration.

They typically enjoy subjects that are people-oriented, such as English, history, humanities, psychology, creative writing, languages, drama, art, dance, music, and other social sciences. Sadly, they tend to shy away from the solitary and analytical subjects like math or science. When they are able to see the value that these subject areas could have in helping them assist others, they can quickly make a connection to a subject area which otherwise would have little or no interest to them.

The opposite learning and teaching style of the Blue is the Green.

• Make sure they know you care about them personally.
• Focus on feeling, not just on facts.
• Create a pleasant and inviting learning environment.
• Create assignments that require students to use their creative abilities to complete.
• Reward them with small personal interactions such as notes, smiles, approving looks, and so forth.
• Teach principles, not facts.
• Create learning teams.
• Allow them to do open-book work.
• Assess their knowledge in creative ways.
• Be enthusiastic about the students and the subject matter.
• Be happy and upbeat.
• Smile and laugh a lot.
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• Don't give “assignments,” get them involved in “projects.”
• Use their own values and interests to motivate their learning.
• Be whimsical and allow them to do the same.
• Show care for the individual learner.
• Create a harmonious classroom environment.
• Focus rules on helping each other excel.
• Focus class discussions on subjects at the feeling level as well as the intellectual level.
• Use multisensory and imaginative lessons.
• Use open discussions.
• Use cooperative learning techniques that avoid the creation of winners and losers.
• Make sure people come before any other consideration.

Structure and order are at the core of Gold learning. These learners need to have the confidence that they are learning in an environment that is well organized and planned out. Confusion, chaos, and disorder are very unsettling and frustrating to a Gold learner. The person-to-person interaction they need to have with their teacher is one that is professional and traditional. Normal teacher/student roles are expected and preferred in the classroom.

They are normally very obedient and respectful of teachers and administrators. Gold learners are traditionally hardworking and dedicated students who receive great personal satisfaction from doing their work well and on time. They fully appreciate detailed course outlines and syllabi and need firm direction and clearly defined details to feel completely comfortable with their coursework and assignments. Once they know precisely what is expected in an assignment, they will usually be diligent in getting their work done without a lot of outside coaxing or reminding. Often they will take detailed notes during class and [Page 238]remind the teacher of details or class requirements that might be skipped. In many ways, they are ideal students.

The learning process for a Gold learner needs to be straightforward and systematic. Because they are sensory in the way they gather information, they can become overly concerned with achieving perfection. This drive to excel scholastically will internally motivate them to work hard to get A's in their coursework, but sometimes, in the process, they miss the real purpose of learning along the way. Gold students are pleasers, especially when it comes to people in authority. They will do the right thing because they know it's the way things are supposed to be done. Their strong sense of loyalty and duty often earns them the negative label of teacher's pet. They love to take positions of leadership or service, and they strive to help the teacher maintain the proper order and structure they believe should exist in a classroom.

Gold learners are better assessed in more traditional paper-and-pencil tests. They prefer activities that are more fact and knowledge based, rather than ones that are more speculative or open to personal interpretation. They respond well to a more traditional teacher-centered classroom approach.

They need things to be fair and believe that students should pull their own weight. However, they appreciate opportunities for extra credit to help make up for any oversights which might occur. They are motivated by tangible educational rewards such as certificates, medals, trophies, good grades, honor rolls, and so on. They respond well to verbal praise and acknowledgment of their good efforts. The more tangible the feedback, the more clear it is for them. Their desire for these kinds of rewards can be used to keep them on task and help them put forth the effort necessary to grow and develop through most of their personal challenges and difficulties.

Gold learners will usually do their schoolwork because it is the right thing to do. Often they will be self-motivated to do their homework before they will do anything else. They are naturally motivated by duty and responsibility, and believe that work must come before play. A good rule of thumb for [Page 239]understanding a Gold learner is that real happiness is achieved by having everything in life in its proper order.

Gold learners typically enjoy traditional subjects, but they will work to succeed in classes they don't naturally enjoy, simply because it is required. There is no particular subject that they shy away from except those that are highly theoretical, subjectively assessed, and/or lack hard black-and-white answers. Courses that are touchy-feely and have no clear criterion for assessment tend to make them uncomfortable.

The opposite learning and teaching style of the Gold is the Orange.

• Make sure you treat them professionally and with respect.
• Focus on traditional approaches.
• Make sure all learning expectations are clearly explained and outlined.
• Reward them in tangible ways.
• Teach in a step-by-step fashion.
• Be highly organized and establish a predictable routine.
• Follow your own rules and make sure the class does as well.
• Be fair and just.
• Clearly explain what behavior is acceptable and expect them to do the right thing.
• Teachers must be professional.
• The classroom must be orderly and traditional.
• Class discussion must be kept on subject and not allowed to wander off in unrelated areas.
• Lessons and assignments need to be clearly focused, direct, and organized with specific goals, objectives, and modes of assessment.
• When assigning group projects, create clearly identifiable tasks and responsibilities.
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• Help them see there is more than one right answer to many questions.
• Provide opportunities for makeup work.
• Be prompt in grading and provide specific feedback on their tests and assignments.
• Give them opportunities to take notes.
• Give them enough time to do an assignment well.
• Let them work in leadership or service positions.

Green learners make up a large percentage of dramatic learners. The reason is that they have a natural desire to learn, but a nontraditional preference for how and what they want to learn. Thinking and analyzing are at the core of Green learning. If this style of learner believes his or her teacher is competent, then, and only then, can learning happen in the classroom. Green learners develop deep contempt for teachers they believe do not know more about a subject than do they.

They love to learn in impersonal and theoretical ways. Group projects are not highly motivating unless they are able to work with a group of like-minded individuals. They often like to learn in solitude, and they prefer to use the teacher as a resource. When motivated, they are the most independent and dedicated of all students in the acquisition of knowledge. When they are not, they can be the most challenging to deal with. They will engage in learning only when they are personally interested in it.

The best interactions with Green learners are often those that allow them to share something they have learned or that has increased their understanding in a particular area of interest. These learners are filled with endless why questions. Teachers who learn to channel and satisfy their real need to know why will gain the unique ability to reach them where it counts. This does not mean that teachers need to know all the answers; they just need to recognize that these learners are [Page 241]generally more inquisitive, and therefore need teachers who are competent in helping them find the answers they need.

Green learners, like their Gold counterparts, need sufficient time to complete tasks. Often, if they feel they are not given enough time to complete an assignment to their personal satisfaction, they will not do it at all. Activities or assignments need to be meaningful. Assignments need to help these individuals actually increase their knowledge in a subject area or help them demonstrate, in a meaningful way, what they already know. Anything that is perceived as busywork will be devalued by these learners.

Greens are more interested in pleasing themselves and expanding their own areas of knowledge and interest than they are in pleasing others. It is usually not important for them to feel like they fit in with the rest of the class. In fact, many relish the fact that they are different and do not follow the herd mentality of their conforming classmates. Often they will maintain a course of dialogue or action they believe to be the moral or intellectual high ground, even if it causes disharmony and disrupts the normal flow of the traditional learning process. They are usually not afraid of conflict or heated debates, as long as the discussion focuses on ideas and concepts and not feelings or emotions.

Greens feel a need to challenge established procedures and methodologies. This is not out of any dark desire to establish a state of anarchy in the classroom; they just believe there is always a better way to do something. You could say their motto is, “If it isn't broken, it still has room for improvement.” They respond well to a more democratic classroom approach. Like their Blue and Orange peers, they like to take some ownership in the establishment of their learning environment. They have strong preferences when it comes to these issues. They do not need to receive a lot of personal emotional support, but they need real support for their ideas and their thinking skills. Teacher compliments must be truthful, sincere, and accurate or else these learners quickly lose respect for their teacher. Green learners are their own worst critics. They shine best when given [Page 242]creative opportunities to share with an appreciative audience the things they have learned.

Greens will usually do their schoolwork if they can see it will get them where they want to go, or if they are personally interested in doing it. They will not do it simply to please others or to keep harmony. Often, if they think a job is too simple for them, they will not do it at all. A good rule of thumb for understanding a Green learner is that learning is a joy in and of itself. They don't need the motivation of a grade to spur them. In fact, many turn their backs on grades as arbitrary indicators of gained knowledge. For this reason, it is useful to help them learn how to play the educational game for their own benefit and not for the benefit of others.

Introverted Greens are usually very well behaved students. Their quiet nature concerns their teachers and parents who don't understand introversion. Extroverted Greens can appear to be Orange unless you really know the difference. Their outward nature is what makes them look and act Orange, but inwardly they are motivated by the Green preferences that have been previously listed. Both the extrovert and the introvert can often get off base when they begin to go down a channel of personal interest. They are typically very good at beginning projects and research, but they are not as good at completing them. It is so easy for their vast natural interests to lead them from one topic of interest to another. Therefore, it is essential to help them learn to focus their energies and complete their tasks and assignments. Remember, their thinking and analytical skills are most important to them. When you respect them in those areas, you are opening the door to their souls.

Greens can enjoy and excel in any subject. Many are drawn to the science and math fields because these subjects readily reward their thought-based learning preferences and analytical nature. They often tend to gravitate to fields that allow for the exploration of new ideas and concepts and ones that they believe will not relegate them to the task of memorizing things that are only seen as black-and-white. When educationally motivated, they can be found in any field of pursuit or subject area that challenges their minds and expands their understanding.

[Page 243]The opposite learning and teaching style of the Green is the Blue.

• Be competent as a teacher.
• Avoid approaches that are black-and-white or that seem to rely on feelings or baseless conjecture.
• Make learning as individual as possible.
• Create a stimulating and research-oriented classroom environment.
• Create assignments that are thought provoking, meaningful, and require students to use their analytical and creative abilities.
• Recognize them for their ability to think and work with new ideas.
• Teach theories, not just facts.
• Create meaningful, compatible research teams.
• Allow them to focus their learning in a field related to their own interest.
• Assess their knowledge in as many alternative ways as possible.
• Provide multiple and continuous access to learning resources.
• Serve as a learning resource to your students.
• Be willing to use quiz-type formats for teaching.
• Help them to understand the real-life whys of an assignment.
• Provide opportunities for them to assist others in learning what they know.
• Provide opportunities for them to develop alternative approaches and assessments.
• Put them in the role of a researcher or scientist.
• Be personally inquisitive, and reward their inquisitive nature.
• Let them experiment.
• Rules must be flexible and reasonable.
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• Class discussion must focus on facts, theories, and proper analysis of data, information, and knowledge.
• Lessons need to engage the mind of the learner.
• Students need to be free to follow their own educational agenda, as far as academically possible.
• Cooperative learning is best when like-minded people are allowed to work together.
• Individual knowledge acquisition needs to come before any other consideration.
• Assignments need to be thought provoking and meaningful.

Orange learners make up the largest percentage of dramatic learners. This is because fun and excitement are at the core of Orange learning, and these elements are usually seen as the antithesis of most traditional educational approaches. These learners need to gain an understanding that learning can be the greatest rush of all. When they do, they can gain a voracious appetite for learning and knowledge acquisition. Traditional lessons, lectures, worksheets, structure, and repetition are very unsettling and frustrating to Orange learners.

They need teachers who are willing to laugh and learn with them. They often see normal teacher/student roles as stifling to the learning process. Teachers of Orange students would do well to see themselves more in terms of coaches than traditional classroom teachers.

Orange learners are often seen as the troublemakers and jokers in class. They do not naturally show respect for teachers and administrators. In their eyes, people in positions of authority deserve no special honor or treatment for the sake of their age or position alone. Respect is something that has to be earned. Often, to the chagrin of parents, teachers, administrators, and others in authority these learners will treat adults as equals.

[Page 245]They are not traditionally hardworking or dedicated students. This does not mean that they aren't hardworking by nature. On the contrary, they have tireless ability and stamina that can boggle the mind when they are involved in pursuits that are valuable to them. Many Oranges have come to believe that school is their last choice when it comes to the spending of their time. They often attend school only because they are forced to, and, therefore, they seek every opportunity to be somewhere else. Many will stay in school for the social or extracurricular activities, but those who are not drawn by either of these factors often drop out if they do not have the proper parental or peer support.

They are typically unorganized and unprepared for class. They are not usually impressed by a detailed course outline or syllabus; rather, they see it as evidence of the traditional classroom structure they dislike. They do, however, need clear direction to be successful. Once they know what is expected and what it means to them personally, they will usually do their work. It isn't always on time or up to the standards of the teacher, but it is often done. They typically do not take class notes, learn, or memorize in traditional ways.

The learning process for Orange learners, as with the Gold learners, needs to be straightforward and systematic. Because Oranges are sensory in the way they gather information, they need to be able to deal with things in a very practical way. If they can't see the immediate reason for learning something, they will often dismiss it as stupid or boring. Orange students are more interested in how they feel about things than how others feel. They often let their gut response to an issue or a situation determine what they will do, and they often act without thought of the consequences to themselves or others. For this reason, they often get in trouble even before they know what they did wrong. Teachers who can learn to ignore these outbursts can often gain the respect of these learners very easily. That isn't to say that the students should be allowed to get away with bad behavior. It is to say that the teacher who learns to ignore some of the first [Page 246]impulses of these students will often avoid many unnecessary confrontations.

Oranges love to perform in front of the class and take positions of leadership. This kind of attention is a great reward for them. Though they may not deserve these kinds of privileges, they will grab the spotlight one way or another. It is best, then, when this attention seeking happens with the teacher's blessing. This show of support, from a teacher, can often win much-needed buy-in by the student and his or her peers. Oranges' natural physical propensity usually means that they are better assessed when a variety of methods are employed. The more ways that can be used to test what they have learned, the more accurately they can demonstrate their knowledge and skill acquisition. Traditional paper-and-pencil tests are often the least accurate way to assess what they know. For this reason, they often do not see themselves as being good test takers.

Because they do not pay close attention to deadlines, extra-credit work offers them a much-needed second chance to make up for their oversights and procrastination. They thrive in learning environments that give them several options rather than environments that are totally rigid and spelled out. They are not always motivated by good grades or other tangible academic rewards; therefore, teachers often need to find alternative methods for rewarding their work and behavior. Providing immediate tangible rewards that are deemed important seems to work really well. Free time or extra privileges for completed assignments are examples of these kinds of tangible rewards. They respond well to verbal praise, but something they can see, feel, and use is more valuable.

Homework is not the strength of an Orange learner. Play will typically have a higher priority than will work. Therefore, if homework or other assignments are seen as something that is fun to do, those assignments will move up quickly on their priority list. Because these learners are not usually self-motivated when it comes to schoolwork, it is good for a teacher to provide constant reminders of upcoming due dates and tests. A good rule of thumb for understanding Orange learners is, when they think learning is fun, they will go to great lengths to participate.

[Page 247]The opposite learning and teaching style of the Orange is the Gold.

• Teachers must be engaging and fun.
• The classroom must be stimulating and active.
• Focus on nontraditional approaches.
• Make sure all learning expectations are clearly explained and presented in a step-by-step process.
• Create a learning environment that is engaging and full of variety.
• Create assignments that have specific goals, objectives, and modes of assessment, but don't share these with the students.
• Teach them to enjoy doing Gold things.
• Be flexible.
• Allow them to be involved in the discipline and rule-making process.
• Be willing to negotiate.
• Be willing to overlook certain behaviors.
• Make sure to remind them continually concerning due dates and assignments.
• Use humor.
• Establish an unobtrusive routine.
• Class discussion must be lively and entertaining.
• Lessons need to be fun, flexible, and hands-on.
• When working together in a group, each person needs to have a clearly delineated responsibility.
• Help them learn to keep on task.
• Provide opportunities for makeup work.
• Provide opportunities for alternative assignments.
• Use learning games and activities.
• Let them work in leadership or service positions.
• Lessons need to be high energy, multisensory, and physical.
• People need to learn by doing.
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• Cooperative learning must create a sense of healthy competition.
• The reward for learning needs to be as immediate and tangible as possible.
• Assignments need to be creative and fulfilling.

As you consider the way each learner prefers to be taught, it may be interesting to compare these learning styles with the teaching styles listed below. It should become immediately apparent why you are able to easily reach those learners whose style matches the way you teach. It should also help to see why you may have problems meeting the learning needs of those with opposite educational preferences. How much power would you gain as a teacher if you could learn to enhance your teaching abilities by using the teaching preferences of other educators?

• Seek to nurture students.
• Focus on feelings and educating the whole student.
• Provide positive feedback for students.
• Seek to build the student first.
• Foster one-on-one interaction.
• Create multisensory learning activities.
• Create a safe, peaceful, and harmonious learning environment.
• Seek to create a democratic learning environment and disciplinary structure.
• Want to be well-liked by the students.
• Encourage cooperative learning situations.
• Often create their own lesson handouts and other educational material.
• Use creative and unconventional instructional approaches.
• Find ways to grade effort as well as achievement.
• Avoid confrontation and do not enjoy dealing with disciplinary issues.

• Seek to create an analytical learning environment.
• Expect students to be naturally interested in learning.
• Create logical and theoretical approaches to subject matter.
• Seek to inspire the intellect of their students.
• Rely on lecture/Socratic method for presenting information.
• Are flexible in their approach to lesson planning.
• Create research-based learning projects.
• Seek to create an independent learning environment.
• Strive to maintain a high level of content knowledge and/or subject competency.
• Encourage divergent thinking.
• Expect students to be self-disciplined.
• Use creative and unconventional instructional approaches.
• Use scientific exploration as a means to foster greater learning.
• Focus more on the intellectual needs of the students, not on their emotional needs.

• Create highly structured learning environments.
• Focus on the standards and assigned curricular issues as the basis for their work in the classroom.
• Follow very traditional teaching practices.
• Create and follow detailed lesson plans.
• Use concrete and no-nonsense learning activities.
• Establish firm disciplinary guidelines.
• Create and maintain a neat and orderly classroom.
• Rely highly on lecture as their main instructional tool.
• Want to be seen as a professional in the eyes of their students and other educators.
• Encourage school-based learning projects and activities.
• Rely on the educational material that is made available through the district.
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• Expect students to be responsible.
• Rely on standard and traditional grading approaches.
• Assess through standard pencil-and-paper testing.

• Create highly interactive and engaging learning environments.
• Seek to bring fun and humor to the classroom.
• Use very spontaneous teaching practices.
• Loosely follow open-ended and unstructured lesson plans.
• Use hands-on, kinesthetic learning activities.
• Use unstructured and varying disciplinary approaches.
• Enjoy an active, busy, and even noisy classroom.
• Rely on entertaining presentations and learning activities as their main instructional tools.
• Want to be seen as an entertaining teacher in the eyes of their students.
• Encourage hands-on learning projects and activities.
• Create their own approach to required course content.
• Expect students to engage in the learning process.
• Rely on creative grading approaches.
• Assess student knowledge in as many ways as possible.