The Differentiated Classroom

As I observe my practicum teacher's classroom and her teaching methods, I see little in the way of a differentiated classroom. If that were my class, the first thing I would do is group the desks (no more tightly grouped rows!) I would take out any unused desks to make movement around the room easier. Then I would make seating assignments according to different levels of need and learning styles. I understand this would take some time in the beginning, but I also think the effort would be well worth it.
Next I would consider having alternate activities for each lesson, if possible, so the students could show they learned the material in a manner that matched their learning style. For example, I am terrible at taking tests even though I am at every lecture, read all the material, and can hold an intelligent conversation. For me an essay or an oral report are better methods for me to show what I have learned.
I had a teacher at Front Range who ran a differentiated classroom and I felt so comfortable in her room. The first few meetings we spent time bonding as a class. We played getting to know you games. When we received the syllabus for the class I noted the semester was divided into 4 sections. Within each section we had 2 medium sized assignments due. (That makes 8 assignments for the semester.) Then she gave us four categories of assignments: Quizzes, Essays, Oral Reports, and Art Works such as collages or scrapbooks, etc. She told us we had to do one assignment from each category, but the other four assignments we could do whatever we wanted. I LOVED the options! I could decide when I felt comfortable enough to take a quiz. I could also decided which assignment lent itself to an art project.
We worked together in groups for many of the units though we all had different projects in the end. As we worked on our projects we shared them with each other and explained what we were doing and why . This really increased our understanding.
The last thing I want to do different in my English class is to have whole group discussions. I think when some of the students who struggle with comprehension and literacy hear how the other students came to certain conclusions they begin to realize how they should be looking at the text. Also when we verbalize our thoughts they become more concrete.
I know it is not possible to teach to every student for every lesson, but I hope with practice I can learn those methods that allow me to stimulate as many students as possible.