In this classroom situation I would use small groups and within those small groups I would have a mixture of low, medium, and high cluster students. With this type of blended classroom you never want to show who's smarter than whom. Though depending on the age group of the student, they will tend to help each other out when it time for lessons. Make sure you regularly switch the groups to allow your students to become more socially interactive. This I think will help you become a better teacher and a facilitator.

I am in classes set up this way. I find it best to teach to the group as a whole, then break up into stations. If you have 2 teachers, 2 stations should be a different skill, it provides closer attention to those who need to the help. The third station is independent work of review material.

I find that my lowest students have the most difficulty with independent centers. So at the beginning of the year I have had some difficulty adjusting them to group rotations. I would make sure that you have plenty of modeling and practice for activities that you plan to have at independent groups. This diminishes any disruptions for you while teaching a small group and increases student participation.

With this type of problem I would the desks set up in small groups with at least one high and medium learner in each group. I would also try to implement fun group activities such as jigsaw to help the students learn a bit better.

I would have the class start by teaching the lesson all together. This will eliminate the temptation to talk to other students, and eliminates distractions. Then I would break them into groups, but have the groups predetermined. In the groups I would carefully place the students in groups that compliment each other, to maximize the learning potential.

Grouping your students with low, middle, and high students will help the students work together to ensure all members understand the material. It also allows them to work on their social skills.

I agree