Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction is based on the idea that all students in a classroom are different, based on their learning styles, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, interests, and attitudes about learning. As a teacher, I should work to make my classroom as suitable to each student's needs as possible, constantly molding and refining my instruction to handle all the idiosyncrasies of how they learn based on who they are.

This is not anything new to me, as I have been learning how to be sensitive to each child's needs ever since I started graduate school. However, what I have not yet begun to scratch the surface of is how I am supposed to implement these strategies in an actual classroom, with students who are not responsive or cooperative no matter what, and an administration who keeps me to a rigorous curriculum and standards of practice. While I found Tomlinson's book interesting, I might shelve it until I am actually in the classroom, because the concept that students are going to be as cooperative with each other and me in a real, practical learning environment seems -- not to be too cynical -- a little science fiction.

One thing Tomlinson did make me very aware of is that I should never limit students to the content on the curriculum. I should make sure they understand that they are learning about themselves and how the process information as well as they are learning about the content I am teaching them. Tomlinson's ideas of allowing higher performing students to be more free with their learning while lower performing ones catch up are very good, but something she rarely talks about is the battle of self-esteem between students, and how a class that is teaching a wide variety of concepts, from easy to difficult, may alienate some students.