Learning about Diversity in my Future Classroom

In light of today's readings, I felt that Almasi and Goldenberg brought up excellent points on the value of student-led discussion; student-led discussion is one of the goals that I am striving to achieve as a teacher.Two of the authors' key phrases that I would like to focus on are "scaffolding" and  "analysis of a student's process". I feel that those two phrases are definitely excellent methods for attaining about multiple perspectives and learning about one's students. 

While I do feel that ELLs constitute a significant factor of diversity, I ultimately believe that every child inherently contributes to the diversity in the room, because no two children are absolutely identical. Thus reading both articles made me think less about individual ELLs and minority cultures in the US. Rather, these articles turned my focus more towards what is best for my future class, which will probably be a mix of students who struggle constantly and struggle less with reading. 

It's honestly a hard question to ponder, because I agree with Goldenberg that constructivist and explicit learning are both necessary. We have talked in both sections of TE 401 on how important it is to challenge our students with critical thinking and not underestimate their intelligence. Yet I am still wondering how to achieve this fine balance of scaffolding. For example, if I attempted to do an instructional conversation (which is similar to Almasi's conceptualization of an 'authentic discussion'), I am not sure how effectively it would occur in a room where the whole class is struggling with reading (I am planning to work in a resource room) . Obviously time and practice with these discussions would allow students to grow; I have seen that in my own volunteering. 

But what would be most effective? Should I break the class into groups with the constant strugglers in one group and those who struggle less in another? This seems inherently discriminatory and unfair; moreover, it seems to go against the articles' arguments, as the students are supposed to encourage one another and bring each other to greater understanding. Yet working with ELL students and students who have less familiarity with English has taught me that if they do not have the correct building blocks (how to read a sentence, what whole paragraphs mean, etc), they will often give up in frustration. I know that as a teacher, this is my analysis of a student's process comes into play. I truly do not want to create a threatening atmosphere for any of my students where they no longer want to learn. So I am relying on the belief that involving students in their own assessments will result in beneficial consequences for all.