Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom: Strategies and Tools for Responsive Teaching,   ISBN:9780871208125

Customer Rating: 

I've read two other books by Tomlinson (How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms; Differentiation in Practice: A Resource Guide for Differentiating Curriculum, Grades 5-9). I went to a full day workshop with her. At this point, I not only agree with the rationale of DI, I can even explain the theory and philosophy to someone else. However, I have not a clue on how to design one single differentiated assignment. About 10 of my colleagues who read the books and went to the workshop with me felt the same frustration - we understood the "why" after the first 10 pages of the first book, or after the first 10 minutes of the workshop presentation - must she repeat the why all book long, all day long, and never get to the "how"?

"Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom" fulfills the theory, rationale and generalities that Tomlinson already repeated in all her other books. Just like the title, the book itself sounds promising, but wordy. The writing is stuffed with references and quotes from other DI experts, which one couldn't care less, and heavy on terminology and rephrasing of the same ideas. I fully agree with the rationale and theory laid out in the books, but really, an educated reader "gets it" after only 10 pages.

During the workshop, Tomlinson told the 200 attendees that we could put our questions/suggestions on a big board. At lunch time, after all morning listening to the theory, I put: "I read your books and know the theory and generalities pretty well. Can we get to the practical applications sometime today?" After I wrote that, people in the first row applauded and told me, "Amen, brother. That's what we were talking about." Sadly, Tomlinson never even looked at the board, and of course did not address our concern. She spent the entire afternoon on more theory. About a third of the people left. When she did get to the application part toward the end, it was again very general and vague.

Looking at examples of DI assignments in other subject areas really doesn't help me. I am a middle school Latin teacher. It's easy to say I'll design an assignment where some kids do a song and dance, others do a written translation. The question I have, that wasn't answered in 3 books and 1 all-day workshop, is this. If assignments are differentiated, then you must differentiate the assessment. I'd be interested to see how a test on Ablative of Manner can be given using a song and dance. As wild as my imagination can run, the knowledge is best assessed in the old pencil and paper format. All my "traditional, one-size-fits-all" assignments are practices leading up to that test. So, if some kids failed the test because they were doing song and dance while others practiced the test format for two weeks, I'd like to see how I don't get a phone call from their parents.

These concerns were never addressed anywhere by Tomlinson, and these are the concerns shared by my colleagues who are trying very hard to develop DI in our school.

Customer Rating: 

This was purchased for college Spring 2010 semester. Instructor said was a very good book. I'll know this spring.

Customer Rating: 

I needed this book for a class. The book came in a timely fashion. I was not disappointed at all

Customer Rating: 

From the other Amazon readers' reviews, I anticipated a useful guidebook. It is not a practical guidebook, and I would advise against buying it if that's what you are looking for. Instead, this is a nice book that pontificates on points that hopefully we, as teachers, already agree with: get to know and connect with your students, etc.

I also think that the 2 main metaphors of the book, woven into every chapter, are awkward at best. The first comes from The Little Prince by St. Exupery. One idea is that we must tame our students as the Little Prince tames the fox. The author stresses that this means forming a mutual bond with the fox, not the traditional sense of taming, which would be antithetical to best teaching practices. However, it's hard to put aside the common understanding of the word "taming" and keep in mind the author's kinder version. The second metaphor describes the teacher, student, and curriculum as "cogs" in a machine. Again, the author means well by this, and the cogs are full of positive words like "affirmation" and "persistence". Yet for me, the idea of being a cog in an educational machine evokes an image of grinding up students in a cold industry of automated mass production to create uniform end products.

While the author clearly has the opposite in mind, it seems a poor choice of images to make her points.

My main disappointment is that the book is not useful to me in my practice, as I already am trying to do the things it advocates - I would just like some practical, everyday suggestions for how to do it better.

Customer Rating: 

I found the book to have many different ideas and examples that I can use with my students. It is a great resource for the classroom.