Teachers craft classrooms that are good matches for their teaching styles as well as for learner needs.

In differentiated classrooms, teachers begin where students are, not the front of a curriculum guide.

Sometimes educators suffer from the "I already do that" syndrome. In those cases, we feel inadequate if we admit we have a distance to go as learners of our craft.

We need to develop a robust set of tools - strategies and routines - that help us address student variance. It's easy to come to rely on two or three "trusty" instructional strategies like worksheets and lectures. Those are of little help in planning for a variety of student needs. As we develop a better toolbox, we're empowered to meet students where they are.

[Students] often have a "We can figure this out - don't just tell us" attitude. In that way, they can be less patient with "traditional" approaches to teaching.

It is not so important to have all the answers as to be hungry for them.

Assessment is today's means of modifying tomorrow's instruction.