Every teacher is a special snowflake. And each one deserves a mountain of appreciation and a whole article with a catchy alliterative name to him- or herself.

But let's be real: Carol Ann Tomlinson knows. her. Stuff.

Based on her 21 years as a public school teacher and twelve as an administrator of programs designed to serve both struggling and advanced students, we'd be remiss if we didn't write an article all about her.

(P.S. Want to see some other Shmooperstar teachers? Click here.)

Don't believe us? Let's jump into qualification-ville.

• She was Virginia's Teacher of the Year in 1974, the Curry School of Education's Outstanding Professor in 2004, and the recipient of the All-University Teaching Award in 2008.
• Currently, she is the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education William Clay Parrish Jr. Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership, Foundations, and Policy (try saying that five times fast—actually, just try saying that five times). Oh, and also the Co-Director of the University's Institutes on Academic Diversity. Whew!

If you need more evidence of her vast experience in and contributions to the field of education, check out her 87-page curriculum vitae or read one of the over 300 books, book chapters, articles, and other educational materials she's written.

Needless to say, CAT's picked up a thing or two here and there. But Tomlinson has always been a champion of differentiation, even before it became such a major educational buzzword. Early in her career in North Carolina, after teaching high school for a few years, opening and running a preschool, and then settling into middle school (no big deal), she was approached by a seventh-grade boy who was about to attend her class for the first time. Before class, in the hallway, he confessed to her that he didn't know how to read. Tomlinson had what she describes as "a moment of epiphany" (source).

Though she wasn't sure how to deal with the issue at first, she recognized that she was going to have to find a strategy to help this boy get something out of her class—including, hopefully, the ability to read—while also providing instruction for students who were years ahead of him in terms of written language acquisition.

As she continued to teach that year, Tomlinson became increasingly aware of just how varied her students' abilities were and just how inadequate her planned curriculum was at reaching—and challenging—each and every one of them. It was then that Tomlinson's foray into differentiation began, and she's been on that path ever since.

Eventually, by utilizing her classroom experiences and conducting extensive research, Tomlinson became a differentiation genius and an overall leader in the field of education. Indeed, in the 2014 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings in the field of psychology, she was named the second most influential voice in higher education in the United States (Howard Gardner was first) and the 17th most influential when all education-related fields were considered together.

Tomlinson's most recent book, the second edition of The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, came out in 2014, but you can find a complete listing of her books on her website.

Yes, of course she's got her own website. That's one of the requirements of having an article about you.