Differentiated Instruction

I'm taking a class on differentiated instruction. I am for real serious about this class...I'm not even doing my chapter reflections in groups because I really want to read each chapter myself. I'm so hoping to get something out of this class that I don't have yet.

I've been doing some baby DI this week. We are working on character analysis essays for R&J and students are working with partners while I go around and work with each student on where he/she is. This is baby stuff. It has taken me all year to get my ninth graders to the point where they can work on their own without me. My seniors aren't even there yet.

My goal for my class is to learn how to incorporate DI in every lesson. I'm getting better at addressing students where they are on an individual basis, but I can't run my class with no whole group instruction. That doesn't lend itself well to classroom management.

So how do teachers do it all? How do teachers work in multiple intelligences into every lesson and still meet standards? How do teachers do all this magical teaching and still prepare students for standardized tests? I'm hoping that by the end of April, I'll have all the answers.