differentiated instruction

I read “How to differentiate Instruction in a Mixed Ability Classroom.”  This article is actually one that I am currently using in my comp writing class.  I really like how easy Tomlinson makes the content of the article.  It is easy to understand and makes it clear what differentiated instruction is and isn’t.  The article literally goes through things that make differentiated instruction and what doesn’t.  It states that it shouldn’t be chaotic, it isn’t the same as the model in the 70’s, and it isn’t just away to group different leveled students. It is organic, student centered, proactive, provides multiple ways to get to the same result, and it’s a blend of whole class, small group and individual instruction.  My favorite quote from the article is, “At its most basic level, differentiating instruction means "shaking up" what goes on in the classroom so that students have multiple options for taking in information, making sense of ideas, and expressing what they learn. In other words, a differentiated classroom provides different avenues to acquiring content, to processing or making sense of ideas, and to developing products.”  This quote has been helpful in thinking of what differentiated instruction really is.  I also am using in my paper the example that is given of a typical classroom where differentiated instruction isn’t used: 1st graders may listen to a story and then draw a picture about what they learned. While they may choose to draw different facets of the story, they all experienced the same content, and they all had the same sense-making or processing activity. A kindergarten class may have four centers that all students visit to complete the same activities in a week's time. Fifth graders may all listen to the same explanation about fractions and complete the same homework assignment. Middle school or high school students may sit through a lecture and a video to help them understand a topic in science or history. They will all read the same chapter, take the same notes, complete the same lab or end-of-chapter questions, and take the same quiz. Such classrooms are familiar, typical, and largely undifferentiated.  It really opens my eyes to how many kids might not be getting the education they really need.  Or how much better prepared for the world after school kids could be if they were taught in a way that worked for them.